So today was the day to "see what he could do." And all his developmental milestones will be evaluated to his "adjusted age" - which is 3 weeks. (Not his chronological age which is 4 months). They assessed his skill level in the following areas: adaptive, personal-social, communication, motor, and cognitive.
I had suspected this since he has come home, but the physical therapist did confirm that his neck muscles are a weak for his age. We have been doing tummy time, but that silly head is just too heavy. They gave us some other ideas to try and help him: holding him on our chest, laying him belly down on my lap, and then the classic "tummy time" on the floor. She also said to limit his time in the "bucket seats" stuff - the swing, the bouncy seat, the infant carrier - places where he actually can rest his head to the side, so he doesn't have to use those neck muscles as much. Floor time is good time. Now Ellie and I will have to work even more to entice him to strengthen those neck muscles.
So after evaluation today, Beckett did qualify for physical therapy, a nutritional consult with a dietician (just to make sure we are all on board with calories, and his weight growth), developmental specialist (who will work with Ben and I on maximizing the exercises we can be doing to maximize his developmental potential...what stuff to look for), and than our case manager, Sarah. We did get to see Ellie's case manager, Melissa, today too! We were so happy to see her, but still real sad we can't have her on Beckett's case. We had to go to the office for this evaluation, but the rest of the visits from the therapists will be in our home. So thankful for that!
