Results

We got the results from their developmental follow up.

D and C were both 32 months and 20 days at time of testing.

D:
Cognitive skills: >42 months
Receptive language: >42 months

Expressive language: >42 months

Fine Motor skills: 32 months

Gross motor skills: 31 months

C:
Cognitive skills: >42 months
Receptive language: >42 months
Expressive language: >42 months
Fine Motor skills: 40-42 months
Gross motor skills: 31 months

These are not hard core IQ or athletic capability tests. What this basically means is that they show no cognitive delays and some motor skill delays. What surprises me here is that C scored so much higher than D on fine motor skills but right about the same on gross motor skills. I have always seen her as more advanced than D on gross motor skills. At the same time, I didn't notice such a big discrepancy on fine motor skills. That being said, they were tested by two different people and it can be subjective.

But given that C and D in theory should be on par w/ their fine motor skills, it definitely means we need to focus on helping D more with fine motor development. Unfortunately, I find this harder than gross. With gross, we're doing a lot of what they already suggest (swimming, gymnastics) and D and C are such big climbers that all you really have to do is take them to a park and let them go. Fine motor skills are a bit fuzzier for me, but I guess I better start learning more in order to help D "catch up" so to speak. You know, so she can become as good of an artist as her mother (ha ha ha).

But in general, a great report.

.....Of course, then i came across these articles and I guess I will always worry because D was VLBW (very low birthweight). That being said, she needed no oxygen/ventilation, never had surgeries, etc, which seems to lower some of her risks. And I don't know if these kids who show a decrease in IQ previously showed some risks for developmental delays. But I'll probably always worry.

"At any rate, the research indicates that the effects of brain damage/abnormality in preemies (about 100% in preemies born below 26 weeks)either causes psychiatric problems to worsen or first become apparent in adolescence. Term-born control groups are used in these studies so it is almost certainly prematurity-related brain abnormalities that cause the problems. Other studies have shown a decrease in IQ between ages 8 and 15, and a very large decrease in the percentage of children considered to be normal (this among VLBW preemies). From a personal perspective, our son's CP was not diagnosed officially until he was 8. His autism and retardation was not diagnosed (officially) until he was in his late teens. I know from the other preemie lists that this is a common phenomenon."

Also: "Premature birth can have devastating effects on brain development and long-term functional outcome. Rates of psychiatric illness and learning difficulties are high, and intelligence on average is lower than population means. Brain imaging studies of infants born prematurely have demonstrated reduced volumes of parietal and sensorimotor cortical gray matter regions. Studies of school-aged children have demonstrated reduced volumes of these same regions, as well as in temporal and premotor regions, in both gray and white matter. The degrees of these anatomical abnormalities have been shown to correlate with cognitive outcome and with the degree of fetal immaturity at birth."