We've been getting over colds in our household. Because of us getting a little sick we have to be very careful about not making Baby GL sick. I think we did ok, he hasn't yet shown symptoms of a cold or anything worse. We have been battling more with his feedings. He did really well taking his bottle after coming from the hospital. Now he doesn't seem much interested. We have had to resort to more tube feedings which he's not crazy about. We're back to his vomiting fits again. I was so frustrated the other night with him not eating so I reconnected the feeding pump for a few hours just to get something in him. It's a constant battle.
The nurse visited this week. His weight was only 11lbs 13.5oz. Not much gain over the week, unfortunately. It's hard to say why. He really can't get much more into his tummy so we know going up on the food isn't the answer. We'll see this week if anything has changed. Hoping for 12lbs. The nurse seems to think we can be discharged again from her services. Baby GL is doing very well and there isn't much that she does anyway. Her visits are just to weigh him and check his vitals. Even with discharge she'll be back once a month for his synergist vaccines.
We finally were visited by Birth-3, a program for children in need of developmental care. They set up time with OT, PT and Speech teams to work with special needs children. Once they are 3 if they still have special needs the school district begins offering assistance. After our initial evaluation with a social worker we have to have an evaluation of his needs with therapists and that's not for a couple weeks.
We had the start of our follow-up appointments this week. It was the big one measuring his development. A lot of questions by the nurse about how he is at home. That was followed up by OT, PT and Speech doing an evaluation on Baby GL. They rolled out a carpet and all sat on the floor and played with him. Purposeful play. They watched for how he grabbed things, was he able to reach across his body, bring things to his mouth, etc. They even called out his name to see if he knows it. He reacted and looked at the one speaking so he passed that test. Overall, his movements and range of movements mimic a typical 4-5 month old. Not too far off his corrected age of 7 months. His vocals are closer to a 3 month old which is not surprising since he's been intubated so many times. Their recommendation was to get Baby GL weekly visits with a physical therapist. Birth-3 tends to not offer enough therapy services so we are mostly likely going to have to outsource our therapy.
After therapy we went upstairs for a hearing test. He passed with flying colors. No worries with him hearing. in fact he shows up he hears so well that he's actually oversensitive. He is startled by most any sudden noises. Also by any quick things happening in his range of sight. I guess it's typical with some babies and preemies. That's another thing we'll be working on with him.
It's coming to a point that we will need to work even more each day on his needs. His favorite thing is being on the floor playing. While I'm sitting here writing about Baby GL he just let out the loudest burp. Just shows how big he's getting. Anyway, once he's on the floor he manages to scoot himself up the floor. He arches and kicks his feet and moves right off his play mat. That alone is huge progress in our eyes.
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