Chronological versus Adjusted Age: Kind of Funny

I have noticed that Ryan doesn't follow a lot of the patterns and behaviours that Andrea and Kevin exhibited in their first few weeks. It makes me a little worried, but I have to keep reminding myself that Ryan did arrive almost 5 weeks early, even if he looks like a full-term baby.


So, I just did a little research on how we should evaluate milestones for babies who were born prematurely. First of all, it starts with a reminder that every child develops at their own rate--even the ones born full term (well do I know that, with Andrea and Kevin!). Then, I read about how health care providers may look at a premature baby's Chronological Age versus their Adjusted Age.


The Chronological age is the baby's age from their actual date of birth. For Ryan, that would be January 23, 2010.


The Adjusted Age is the age of the baby based on his due date. For Ryan, that would be February 25, 2010.


If you do the math: today Ryan is 18 days old; he was about 34 days early; therefore . . .

Ryan's Adjusted Age is . . . negative 16 days old.

That explains a lot. I guess I shouldn't expect him to do anything, considering he's technically not born yet! ;-)