Struggling to Grow

CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: 13 MONTHS
ADJUSTED AGE: 9 MONTHS
CURRENT WEIGHT: 14 LBS, 3.8 OUNCES

In the last month, Truman gained five ounces, which is very low. At this rate, he will be just shy of 18 pounds at the age of 2. There is this misperception out there that all preemies "catch up" to their peers in all ways by the age of 2. It is just simply not true in the case of micropreemies, a statement which I find myself saying to people all the time.

Our pediatrician told us that a recent study out of the UK shows that micropreemies tend to make it onto the growth chart at around 30 months. Mind you, that's not "catching up," that's just making it onto the playing field. This is a scary study considering that we've also been told all along that one of the biggest predictors of long-term developmental success in a preemie is early weight gain. I guess we can take comfort in the fact that Truman's head (and presumably the brain inside) is outpacing all the rest of his growth.

I know many preemie moms out there, and this seems to be one of their biggest struggles as well -- just trying everything to get these children to gain weight. All of the infant and childrens' nutrition books talk about starting early eating habits promoting vegetables and other healthy eating habits. Instead, we find ourselves shoveling butter, oil, carbs, starches -- anything that makes other children overweight -- into our kids. Hopefully, we aren't creating horrible dietary habits for them later in life.

It's not that Truman doesn't consume as many (or more) calories than other children when you consider the fortification to his breast milk and the butter and Neosure / Duocal added to his solid foods. It's just that he seems to need amazing amounts of calories just to maintain his weight. Hopefully he will appreciate this when he's 35.

Truman went to his first football game this month. It was important to Daddy, but it's not an outing we'll try again anytime soon. He lasted about a quarter.

Here's our little family out at the family farm during a trip to East Texas.



It's a rare moment when Truman is willing to snuggle, but he made a little time for his Papa Perry.

Truman and Daddy read his favorite book. Notice Truman is holding the pages open for himself.

In other Truman news, we learned that the white spots on his hands and feet that the pediatrician thought might be fat deposits are simply something called miliums, which is just clogged skin cells, perhaps due to old NICU needle prick sites getting clogged. They will go away on their own. In fact, one fell off this week.

Truman's latest milestones include pulling up all the time and climbing stairs. He can make it up two or three steps on his own. I'm not sure what I think about that -- time to put up the baby gate on the stairs. He is still not babbling yet, but he is making more and more noises everyday and seems to really be exploring what sounds he can make. He has a hearing evaluation next week, which is a preliminary step before his upcoming speech evaluation to address the speech delays. He has also started having separation anxiety with regard to both of us. It really makes it hard to leave for work in the mornings.

He has had a mild cold this week. It hasn't seemed to bother him other than a runny nose.

--Kara