If I were the mother of a "regular" baby, perhaps I would heed that advice and relax a little. But the fact is, I'm not. Sure, Elliot may LOOK healthy and whole nowadays, but that doesn't change the fact that he had a very startling, unnatural beginning to life. He inspired us all during those first hard weeks with his unbelievable strength and resilience, but no matter how quickly he recovered, he is still going to be faced with some challenges as a result of what happened to him both in and out of the womb.
I've been told that the chances of Elliot having some developmental delays is about 65%. Now that's just not fair. Hasn't he already been through ENOUGH? So here I am, silently taking note of the things that he should probably already be doing by now {eating more, sleeping longer, rolling over, sitting unassisted, grabbing/holding toys, holding his own bottle, discovering his feet, etc} and trying to encourage him. This is an interesting internal battle for me, though. Honestly, I'm in no great hurry for him to do ANY of these things. I LOVE that he is still so dependent on me. He will only be this little once, so why rush things? Well, it seems that others are always questioning me about it. You should see the looks I get from complete strangers as they try to hide their shock when they find out that he is actually much older than he looks, or that he is or isn't doing a certain thing. It's frustrating.
He will be evaluated by a specialist in two months to determine whether he is reaching his milestones or falling behind. Until then, I should probably just relax and stop worrying. I'm sure he'll catch up eventually, and even if he didn't, I would love him anyway. But I'm a worrier. It's what I do!
Thanks for listening to me ramble. I just needed to get this out.
