Rollin' with my homies...

"They were glad to hear the report and praised God." Joshua 22:33

Every time Kyle reaches a developmental milestone I applaud. I applaud not only to let him know how proud I am of his accomplishment, but because it is a sign to me that he is "normal."

Kyle had a very difficult start, spending four months in the NICU, but he was one of the lucky ones. He came home. And after many follow-up examinations, he appears to be healthy. While I rejoice at his will to live and our positive outcome, I can't help but wonder what impact his extreme prematurity will have on his future and, since modern medicine has just recently started saving tiny babies like Kyle, what unidentified concerns might lay ahead?

We were told at his birth that he had a 50-50 chance of survival. We were told that if he did survive, he has a 50% chance of having one of the following disabilities: mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blindness or deafness. And then again a couple months later when Kyle tested positive for CMV, we were told if Kyle contracted CMV while I was pregnant with him, he has a 90% chance of having some sort of long term disability such as cerebral palsy, vision or hearing problems. If CMV was contracted after birth, the risk of any long term affects decreased to just 10%.

Although I am elated and so thankful to God for how well Kyle is doing, at time's I can't help but be apprehensive about his future. And I must admit lately my fear for what may lie ahead was beginning to increase. The last developmental milestone Kyle hit was when he started sitting up in December. In December he also got his first two teeth and began giving Madison high-fives. Since then, he's certainly gotten more adorable, but nothing new on the developmental side for almost four months now.

The end of March Kyle had his quarterly evaluation with his physical therapist who promptly reported that Kyle had "vestibular issues" and "mild developmental delays." Although not completely unexpected, it was really the first time we had a negative evaluation. What this meant for Kyle long term, the therapist could not tell us. What she could do is give us some exercises to do with Kyle and see how his body would react to them. If they helped, then it is most likely just that his muscles needed strengthened, if we do not see improvements, it may be something more.

I am so happy to report that literally with-in hours of beginning his new exercises we were already seeing improvements! One of Kyle's areas of concern was the fact that at nine (adjusted) months old he was still not rolling over deliberately. He had rolled over several times, but it was usually not on purpose, more so that he was so frustrated that he would flop over. So, we began doing a series of exercises to strengthen his trunk muscles, such as these with an exercise ball:

We also have exercises we do with Kyle each time his diaper is changed, ways the therapist has showed us how to lay him down and pick him up, and even carry him that promote strength in his trunk area. And, lucky Kyle has also been receiving baby massages, which is supposed to help with his vestibular issues.

Our little guy is now rolling everywhere - hence the title of this post! He is rolling from his stomach to his back, from his back to his stomach. He can now go from a sitting position to his stomach. He can also go from his stomach to a sitting position.

Kyle has a few other new "tricks" up his sleeve, but I think I am going to save those for another post. I usually do not have much to blog about, but there is so much going on right now with our little guy!!! I'm so excited. I tell ya, this kid is amazing!

Much Love,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle