Bayley-III High Risk Infant Follow Up

Today we had our first follow-up with the high-risk-infant-follow-up-clinic. We got to see Maya's physical therapist, a specialist nurse and a specialist doctor.

First the basics:
Height: 63.5cm (25 inches)
Weight: 7.5kg (16lbs 9oz)

In summary she is above average for weight and head size and a little bit on the short side. Sounds like a carbon copy of dad. :-)

The tests were some questionnaires for mom & dad to fill in and play time for Maya.
Maya got to play with rings, blocks, strings, a bell and dropping a spoon. The bell made a lot of sound and was her favorite toy. The most sophisticated test was when they put the ring on a little towel just out of reach. For Maya to get to the ring she had to reach out and pull the towel towards her to finally be able to grab the ring. Our little princess figured it out right away, pulled the towel, picked up the ring and put it straight in to her mouth to chew on. They checked her reaction to sounds and our voices, her movement, strength, stability and reactions such as smiles and giggles.

All these tests are called the Bayley III scales and Maya got scored in several different categories. Normal score is 8-12 range and Maya scored 12-15 in all areas. Very good news and Maya made her parents very, very, very happy today. The final verdict read "No signs of complications from prematurity and Maya is developing normally". Those simple words mean more than you can think for worried dad.

Now, this is just a first test and by no means all encompassing but so far so good. We will be back for another follow-up in six months. This will get real interesting in the future when they start testing language skills....I hope they bring a Swedish/Chinese/English speaking doctor to assess her responses.

The paper cover on the doctors table was a lot of fun!

Maya 6 months old and yet again new numbers are in.

Maya turned 6 months last week. The week before last, we had our 6 month check-up with Maya's doctor. Maya is doing very well and continues to catch up with full-term babies. She is now 80th percentile when adjusted for her premature birth and 50th percentile compared to full term babies at 6 months. So Maya is now exactly average for a 6 month full term baby, amazing progress and Dr Rosen was very happy (and so was mom and dad). Our little Swedish/Chinese meatball was 61cms(24 inches) and 6.72kgs(14lbs 13 oz)!! She has grown so much the last two weeks that she is now too tall for 6 month clothes and we have stepped it up one size, to 9 months.

Pictures of Maya on her 6 month birthday:




This weekend we went to see the Aztec New Years Celebration at the Hispanic University. Unfortunately it wasn't the Mayan New Year but we'll try to catch that one next :-). Amazing costumes and loud hypnotic drumming. The whole area was infused with sage smoke and it was actually very interesting to see despite daddy being very sceptical at first. Maya slept through the whole event and wasn't bothered at all by the loud drums.

Better late than never - New numbers are in

The same day farmor and farfar arrived, Jan 8th, we had our 4 month appointment with our beloved Swedish pediatrician, doctor Rosen. Maya weighed 5.2kg and was 55.9cm tall.

Last week we had an appointment with the kidney doctor and they took all her measurements again. Our little Swedish meatball had gained a lot of weight and now weighs 5.95kg and is 60.3cm tall. Amazing growth in just three short weeks. Maya is now within normal range for a full term baby for weight but still a bit short. However, if she's got daddy's genes this might just be par for the course.....short and fat. We are so very proud of our dear Maya. What a fighter! Do you think she loves having farmor & farfar and mormor and morfar around or what?

The short story from the kidney doctor is that her kidneys are still improving and are so very very close to normal range on all the measurements. We managed to negotiate an extra month before the next blood draw so we now have three months until next time. Again, please keep your fingers crossed/hall tummarna, pray, think good thoughts etc for Maya. We really wish that she passes all the tests next time.