Early Intervention

The babies get the opportunity to work with an Early Interventionist (EI) weekly. During their appointments, the EI will help them with developmental milestones that are appropriate for their age and where they are on the developmental spectrum. It's a good way to stay on top of what the boys are doing, what they should be doing, where they are excelling and where they are behind. We are focusing on their adjusted age but are working towards getting them caught up to their actual age. We qualified to work with this program based on the triplets' gestational age at birth and their birth weight.

Our EI is named April and she comes to the house once a week. The boys love her and really enjoy their sessions with her. She gets lots of smiles and recently lots of talking from them. So far, they are all doing really well. April is so sweet and always makes sure to comment on positives that she notices. The current goals we are working towards are tracking with their eyes, reaching for toys and rolling over. Once they master those, we will update our goals. While April is here, she will also go ahead and help them with other things such as sitting up. At the end of the appointment April will write up a summary for each of the boys of what they did during the session and will give me some "homework" for the week. My homework has been things like using a blanket to help the babies with the motion of rolling over or using a mirror to practice tracking.

April and I have both noticed that Ryan seems to be a little behind his brothers. I really try hard not to compare them, but they're the same age and the same gender so it's very difficult not to make those types of comparisons...especially since I am worried about Ryan's brain due to his cranial hemorrhage. This week April asked me what I thought about her doing a physical therapy referral for Ryan. My first reaction was to feel discouraged and a little upset, but I agreed that it would be a good idea. It took me a few seconds, but I spun it around and decided to think of it as an opportunity instead of a setback. Doing PT with Ryan will give us a chance to really confirm any areas where he's delayed and specifically address those areas. April said she didn't think it was completely necessary at this point but she noticed that he doesn't put much weight on his legs and feet when you hold him in a standing position and based on that and a few other areas where he's behind his brothers, she thought it could be beneficial to start PT. I agreed and decided that it couldn't hurt; if anything it will help! So instead of waiting to determine whether the PT is necessary, we're going to start early, face it head on and address whatever may come up. If we were to wait, and it was determined later on that he did need PT, he might be further behind on the learning curve than where he is right now. Like April, the physical therapist will come to the house, which is so appreciated! April is going to make the referral next week so we will probably start a week or two after that.

Here are a few pictures of our most recent appointment with April.

William

Stokes

Ryan