When Libby was born and during her stay in the hospital, I thought her prematurity wouldn't affect her in the least. In fact when she came home at 7 weeks old I thought she acted pretty much like a typical 7 week old. As she's gotten older, however, it's become apparent that her prematurity has delayed her, as expected. After all, a 7 week old and a 1 week old probably act pretty similar-they both basically just lay there, stare, eat, poop, and sleep. But now that she's technically 4 months old it's easy to see she isn't acting like a 4 month old. She cannot lift her head more than 45 degrees, she cannot roll over, she cannot purposefully grab things and she certainly can't put them in her mouth with any degree of purpose. She makes the most adorable vocalizations and her smile lights up my day but she can't laugh yet. I think most 4 month olds are doing these things...but...a 3 month old is just starting to discover these things and that's where my baby girl is at. Libby's due date was August 3rd and yesterday was 3 months past her due date. Libby is sure acting like a 3 month old! She just, this week, started lifting her head to a 45 degree angle and she started clasping/bring her hands together. Today for the first time I caught her studying her hands! And when I try and make her laugh you can tell she wants to so badly but can't figure it out yet. And her weight, about 9lbs 12oz, is ridiculously small for a baby over 4 months old (it's well below even the 3rd percentile), it's not so horrible for a 3 month old. She's just about on the 5th percentile line when you adjust her age.
So while I'm still going to celebrate her monthly birthdays according to the day she was born, I need to start thinking about her as her adjusted age, which is just a day over 3 months old.
1 comment:
Libby is so lucky to have you as her mommy. You have had so much good training from your previous job, not to mention life experience. You are such a blessing to her!
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