Premature Birth Support Group

Well my son was born 7wks early and he spend like ten days in the nicu but other then that he has been fine matter of fact he was only 4lbs 13oz when he was born and he now is 2 and is over 40lbs! He is very advanced fro his age I dont know why since ur son was only 3wks earlyhe is having such a hard time with motor skills. I Hope you can help him with that area of probs. We didnt need any intervention i was worried about speech at one pt but now he talks up a storm. Let me know what they say when he goes for PT

Joyce, my daughter was born 3 1/2 weeks early too...and I do consider that premature since they still need help adapting to life outside the womb at that age. My daughter didnt need to go to the NICU, but she was very close in needing to because of blood sugar and body temperature problems. She's only 8 weeks old right now, so we arent to the stage that you are yet. I just wish you the best of luck, and I'll pray for you and Bailey.

My son was 6 weeks early and is still alittle behind i guess for his age. He is almost 7 months old now and is showing no signs of sitting up by himself (unless he's in the boppy or exsaucer). He didn't hold his head up by himself until about a month ago. He started rolling over at around 5 months. Babies move at their own pace. The developmental specialist told use to do tummy time for at least 20 mins every day. I keep him on the floor at much as possible to encourage him to move around. Within the last week he has started putting his butt in the air a lot and pushing himself forward a little bit. He seem behind for a little while but now it seems he is trying to quickly catch up! Maybe your son will do the same :)

They can catch up. I was born 3 months early with hydrocephalus and I graduated with my high school class with a litlle extra help.

My daughter was 9 and half weeks early and 4 months old and I'm constantly like giving her little test and obsessing over what the baby book says she should be doing for her age and for her adjusted age and I'm not sure thats a good thing to do. It just makes me worried. I'm always so concerned she is going to be behind even though I was told over and over that usually by the age of 2 preemies have caught up. If you have been told or think physical therapy is the way to go then good luck in that put your whole heart into it and helping your baby and I bet you see great improvements soon. Also try to (unlike me) not freak out and worry about it to much babies are fighters and adapt well. I'm sure your baby will catch up. I'll be thinking and praying for you let us know what you find out from the therapist.

i closed the book and internet for development.
my dr tells me what is ok or not for development.
my son didnt start rolling (in the more agressive consistant way) till he was 9 months old and he was preemie but mmy cousin didnt start to move till he was 10months and he was ful term.
there are no rules.
but i think all preemies should be evaluated from time to time.

roro116 has the right idea... as hard as it is just let them do what they are going to do, when they are going to do and DONT STRESS. Our boys were born at 30 weeks and are 13 months old now. They are mostly on track...maybe a few weeks behind (they are furniture walking but not walking independently yet) but all skills seem to take them a bit longer to get. We worried incessantly at first but we've chilled out a lot because we realized we weren't enjoying them!!! Good luck and think positive!!

Hey girly..
My daughter was born 5 weeks early and it took her a while to roll over and do other things that I saw other babies doing sooner. She didn't walk until she wa 14 months old.She cralwed at 11 months. She is 22 months now and she is very smart. She sings songs, understands the same commands/words in spanish as she does in english too. She moves in her own pace but she compensates in other areas..such as learning two languages.

My youngest was born at 25 weeks and she is now 6yrs old.. She didn't walk until she was almost 3 and didn't speak until she was 3 1/2. She immediately began recieving early intervention as soon as she was released from the hospital. She got OT,PT and Speech. At this time she is in school and is still getting her speech but the PT and OT have tapered off.. My advice is that your baby will progress at his or her's time and not the time that someone else deems.. If you sit and think about what he or she isn't doing you will drive yourself nuts! Enjoy your time with them. After spending 4 1/2 mths in the NICU I do! Wink!