Baby GL has been doing great this week. We've made some changes to his feedings. Instead of trying to get in a few hours of continuous feeds during the day we are nursing and bottle feeding and leaving the continuous feeds to overnights when he sleeps. The bottle doesn't go very well. He is so eager for it that he chokes up on the milk once he figures out it's not his pacifier. Even then he gets too excited. When you take the bottle away he screams, but then he's too worked up to get control. For the most part I nurse him. He does a great job nursing. We have been just watching how long he nurses and he goes for an easy 30 minutes, which is how long our speech therapist recommended. He does seem to fall asleep before 30 minutes in up sometimes.
Baby GL's weight as of Monday was 8lbs 15ozs. We are probably over 9lbs by now. He is really filling out. His cheeks are the fullest I've ever seen them.
Our only appointment this week was his eye exam on Thursday. We finally reached the point the doctor was looking for. He will not need laser surgery and we actually don't need to go back for 6 months. Most of his appointments are spread out now into the spring which gives us a little break. It also means he's doing great.
I think our goals are to work on his oxygen, which is nothing we can really help. He'll get to that point as he grows. We are hoping with the increased oral feeds we could get rid of the G/J- tube in a couple months. The biggest thing we're working on is his tight muscles. We've gotten some exercises to work on stretching him out especially through the legs and relaxing his shoulders. We basically do our own baby yoga at home. He really enjoys it, surprisingly. He lets me stretch his legs up towards his head, which babies should be able to touch their feet pretty easily. I also do gentle twists in his torso. That has the added bonus of helping his release some gas. I was working on his twists yesterday to help him have a bowel movement. He isn't quite regular, which is a slight concern. A little glycerin and we can get things moving. However, we don't want to have to keep using the glycerin.
We work on tummy time, too, when we do his exercises. He's not as thrilled with tummy time, but he's getting better. He loves being on his play mat playing with the toys that hang above. His sight, I think, has much improved because he really locks on to different shapes and colors. He'll look around just for anything interesting to look at. The tv is a big one for him. He doesn't care what's on. Just the lights and movement gets him watching.
Today I stocked up at the farmer's market on squash and sweet potato. I'm looking forward to starting spoon feeds with Baby GL. I'm thinking by December he'll be 6 months, corrected age, and we'll be able to give it a try.
Baby GL is growing so quickly now. It's amazing to compare this time with the time we had with him in the hospital. It's definitely more pleasant now having him home learning his quirks and behaviors and how they change. I think he realizes he's home, too. He looks for us and knows we'll come running to his cries and coos. So young and already outsmarting us.
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