Karis' Initial Testing & Evaluation

We are officially seven weeks in now, and baby Karis is still doing great!  She's up over 11 pounds (unofficially, on my home scale) and has undergone most of the necessary testing that the doctors would like her to complete at this early stage.  Here's a rundown of all that has happened...

Simultaneous diaper changes
on our way home from Jackson

Hearing test - Through a few connections that the Lord blessed us with, we were able to get Karis' hearing tested at the local hospital, in the newborn nursery area.  The nurse used the machine that all newborns are tested by before leaving the hospital (since she was born out of the hospital, she hadn't had this routine testing done yet).  The machine played noises in Karis' ear and then monitored her responses.  Thankfully, the machine deemed Karis to be responsive, and she passed.  It really only tests one range of sound though, so it is still possible that we may run into hearing issues in the future, so the nurse gave us a sheet of hearing mile markers to watch for during her first year of life.

Heart test - A few weeks back now we drove to Jackson, MS for Karis' echocardiogram (an ultrasound of her heart).  The sonographer took over 100 photos of her heart, and then a pediatric cardiologist carefully reviewed them for holes or abnormalities.  We were so relieved to hear him tell us that Karis didn't have any issues that would require surgery.  He said that the hole which is common in children with Down Syndrome wasn't there, but that he had found one hole, known as a PFO (patent foramen ovale).  He explained though that this hole in the heart is somewhat common and doesn't cause  problems for the heart.  He said that it's still possible that Karis' might close up as she grows, so he is having us come back when she is six months old to re-evaluate it.

Thyroid test - I actually haven't heard anything back about this test yet, which I'm assuming means it came back negative, but just in case, it's on my to-do list for Monday.  :)

Early Intervention Evaluation - As you may remember from my first post about Down Syndrome, Early Intervention is a program through the state that provides therapy and services to children with special needs until they are three years old.  Karis had her first evaluation from them just this past week.  Two physical therapists and our EI coordinator came over to our house and stayed for around an hour.  They asked me quite a few questions about her typical behaviors and certain mile markers, like eye contact, hand movement, awake times, etc.  They also did a few physical tests on Karis, like having her eyes follow an object, testing her head strength, getting her to hold a rattle, and testing her reaction to noise.  Because she's still so small, this evaluation was more simple than they will be later when she gains more skills (her next eval will be around 6 mos).  {Sorry the pictures below are so dark... I had the camera on the wrong setting & didn't realize it until it was too late!}

tracking an object with her eyes

Holding a rattle

testing her head strength

Based on their findings, she was tracking somewhere between 1-2 months old (which is right about where she is).  They decided to assign us a teacher to come once per week and work with her as well as for me to meet with a physical therapist who will tell us what types of things we can work on at home.

Remaining tests - At Karis 2 month check up we'll do a Complete Blood Count (CBC) to be sure that her white blood cells aren't fighting anything like Leukemia (low risk but still good to check out).  And sometime between now and 6 months our pediatrician is planning to send us in for a Vision Test with an opthamologist since some people with Down Syndrome are near-sighted or have muscular problems with their eyes.  There are a few of these tests that we'll also need to repeat yearly or at other spaced out intervals, like the CBC.  For now though, nothing has come up that we are needing to seek further treatment on, for which we are grateful.