Birth to 3

Most of our readers, being parents of special kids too, already know what Birth to 3 is and what they do. For those of you that don't, I'll give a quick synopsis. After Livi was discharged home from the NICU at just over 5lbs and three days before her due date, one of our very first visits was from a representative of our county's Birth to 3 program. At that time, they evaluate the skills that your baby has, which of course is not much, figure in their birth history and anticipate to some degree the areas where they will need some extra support. A care plan is developed, and therapists from several different areas of need then do evaluations and decide on a course of "treatment". For Livi, this pretty much was limited to OT-Occupational Therapy and EI-Early Intervention. As the children grow and different needs arise, the therapists involved are adjusted to meet them. Livi eventually received services from PT-physical therapy and ST- Speech therapy also. When Taylor finally came home at 11lbs and 2.5 months after his due date, he was also evaluated. Over the years since that time, Taylor has benefited from the help of OT, ST, PT, EI, as well as the dietitian.

Some of these therapists saw our kids as frequently as once a week since June 2006, others saw them bi-weekly. They have seen them at their best, and sometimes at their worst. There is only me who truly knows just how much these women have helped shape who Taylor and Alivya have become. The service that Birth to 3 has offered our family is more than an hour of therapy here and there. They have cheered the kids on, celebrated their successes, mourned some of the set backs, praised them and encouraged them through the greatest challenges that infants and toddlers endure. They gave us as parents encouragement, resources, and endless reasons to be proud of the kid's sometimes slow progression through their "normal" developmental milestones. While the schedule of therapy visits, doctor's visits, and normal everyday errands was sometimes challenging for me, these women were sometimes the only adult faces that I might encounter in a whole week. They listened to my complaints, my triumphs, my hardships, and did so with a smile and sincere empathy.

As we move on, beyond Birth to 3, (happening now because the kids will be 3 before they return from their Christmas holiday) I hope they all know that their hard work has not gone unnoticed. I hope that they find encouragement to sort through their challenges knowing that their impact on families endures well beyond the point that children reach 3. I know that our preemie journey is not yet complete, but I can say that I always had so much support as we wondered naively through the great black abyss that lay in front of us at the end of our NICU stay.

So it is with a heavy heart (and some extra hormones) that we say good bye today to all of our therapists who have become staple figures in our lives. Thank you for all the work that you do and all the extra stuff too!

Mary, Liz, Nita, Dawn, Jessica, Mary, Jen and Lisa