Things don’t end in the NICU…

My daughter was a ROCKSTAR while in the NICU. She exceeded all expectations and was even released before our original due date. After she came home, it was an onslaught of doctors visits. We were going to our pediatrician for regular newborn check-ups but were also seeing other doctors to help monitor her progress. She was getting evaluated quite often. At first, everything was great. She would pass her evaluations with flying colors! Little did I realize it was because she was still being evaluated for her gestational age and not her adjusted age. Finally, when she was old enough, they were able to tell that she was delayed in some of her physical evaluations. These were some things that are common with preemies. Of course, I was in denial. She had been a star and had been off the charts on things, and now you’re telling me that she is delayed…It was a bitter pill to swallow, but I also could not deny what we were seeing. She was prescribed some physical and occupational therapy. That is part of the reason why I am writing this today.

We talk about how our NICU and NICU staff are considered family, well we cannot forget about our physical therapist. Melissa Meyer.

She would come to our home twice a week, for almost eight months. Our baby girl was physically delayed and normal things such as rolling over, sitting up by herself, or even crawling, were things that she was not able to do on her own. Having Melissa come to our house and work with our daughter, along with the exercises she taught us to do on our own, made all of these things possible. In the beginning, our baby was very weak and had low muscle tone. Like anyone in physical therapy she had her things that she liked and some things she just hated. Our therapist would make her work and keep pushing. She got stronger and stronger. There were times that we would see or hear about other children her age and what they were doing and it would seem so far from where we were. But we would all keep working hard.

I don’t think physical therapists like Melissa get enough credit for what they do and how important they become. Our baby might have eventually sat up, crawled, and maybe even walked, but who knows how long that would have taken, if not for our therapist. She was there for all of our daughter’s firsts. She was there when she first crawled

She was there when she first stood up by herself.

She was there when she first walked.

To share those moments with us is something so special.

She also had to deal with a lot. There were days that our baby had a rough night before and was not in the mood for therapy. There were those times when there was an emergency blowout diaper change in the middle of a therapy session. She had to deal with our crazy dogs. Through it all, she always came to our house with a smile on her face, and all the energy and enthusiasm of someone that wanted to see our baby crawl and walk as much as we did. She is part of our family, and we still follow all that she has done and continues to do, to this day. Thank you for everything Missy!

Who was your Melissa? Leave a comment and tell us all about them!