My son and his twin brother were born three months early, and he ended up staying in NICU for two months. (His brother lived for only 21 hours.) So when he was discharged from NICU at two months, he was still a month away from his original due date. He was developmentally delayed across the board, due not only to his prematurity but also due to having suffered a severe brain hemorrhage during his second week of life. His developmental issues were very obvious, from lack of muscle tone to inability to suck (need for a feeding tube), and we were very conscious of the various things he should have been doing as an infant, that full-term infants would be doing, but that he wasn't yet able to master. Later, he was well over a year old when he finally started to crawl, and he was 19 months old when he took his first steps. Now, at fourteen, he's still very small for his age and is challenged by some social situations, but he is very healthy and incredibly loving. He is highly gifted and started reading encyclopedias when he was five. He loves reading medical journals and hopes to go to Harvard Medical School someday. He says he's got a theory on how to cure AIDS. I wouldn't be surprised if he does -- he never ceases to amaze me.
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My son and his twin brother were born three months early, and he ended up staying in NICU for two months. (His brother lived for only 21 hours.) So when he was discharged from NICU at two months, he was still a month away from his original due date. He was developmentally delayed across the board, due not only to his prematurity but also due to having suffered a severe brain hemorrhage during his second week of life. His developmental issues were very obvious, from lack of muscle tone to inability to suck (need for a feeding tube), and we were very conscious of the various things he should have been doing as an infant, that full-term infants would be doing, but that he wasn't yet able to master. Later, he was well over a year old when he finally started to crawl, and he was 19 months old when he took his first steps. Now, at fourteen, he's still very small for his age and is challenged by some social situations, but he is very healthy and incredibly loving. He is highly gifted and started reading encyclopedias when he was five. He loves reading medical journals and hopes to go to Harvard Medical School someday. He says he's got a theory on how to cure AIDS. I wouldn't be surprised if he does -- he never ceases to amaze me.
February 1, 2009 - 10:04pmThis Comment
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