Today we were visited by Early Interventions from the York Region. This government program is for families with children with special needs, such as autism and disabilities. They also provide some services to families with preterm babies to make sure the babies are on track in terms of development and to provide follow up therapies if babies need intervention. Today's meeting was for screening, to see if Emilia could be eligible for any services they provide such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. They are going to send us a physiotherapist on Feb 27 to have a 4-month assessment and after that, they will decide whether Emilia will get some help or re-screened at 8 months. If there is no issue, the usual course is to check on her again at 8 months.
We currently have a visiting nurse and physiotherapist from CCAC, which is also a service provided to us by the government at no charge. Initially I didn't welcome the idea of having a bunch of strangers at our home because I didn't want our home to be invaded by health care professionals, after spending 5 months in the hospital. However I appreciate the physiotherapy as it gives me a lot of insights in Emilia's postures and movements. The nurse also gives me some peace of mind.
There are quite a few funding programs also that I can take advantage of. The idea is they want us to live as normally as possible even though we have a baby who needs to be on a cardio/resp monitor and oxygen support. One such funding is the respite funding from the ministry, which sounds awesome and I am going to look into further.
Emilia was born on May 31, 2011, at 25 weeks and 5 days in gestational age. She came home on October 21, 2011 after spending 143 days in the hospital. Today she's a thriving, happy baby who continues to amaze us every single day. This blog records the journey of our miracle baby.
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