Final Discharge!

We had an appointment at the Children's Clinic at our local hospital on Thursday. This was our final developmental check at the hospital. I have found it incredibly reassuring that they don't just forget you once you leave the NICU. We have had several check-ups with the clinic, and are still awaiting our final 'show-off' appointment with the physio in January (she hasn't seen him since he started walking). The physio has been especially reassuring, since he was so slow to reach the gross-motor milestones. The fact that we were getting told every couple of months that he was doing well (and several times that he was able, just not confident enough to try) made it that much easier to watch babies half his age doing things he couldn't.

Thursday's appointment was mostly a cognitive development assessment. We played some games and Nikki performed fantastically - at the top end of the normal range for his actual age (or two months older than he should be). Proof that he is a clever little monkey!

We were also reassured that the heart murmur that is usually noticed by the GP when Nikki gets a chest infection is almost impossible to hear when he is healthy and is thus of no concern whatsoever. I thought as much, as they heard it occasionally when he was in special care and hadn't worried, but a confirmation is always nice!

We can now cross our fingers and hope that he never has to go into hospital again!