Pedi Appointment

CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: 15.75 MONTHS
ADJUSTED AGE: 11.75 MONTHS
WEIGHT: 15 LBS, 12 OUNCES
LENGTH: 26.75 INCHES

Finally, good news on weight! Truman picked up the pace this time to reach a respectable 12 grams a day in weight gain. Still by no means a bruiser, but he gained the same amount in the last four weeks that he gained in the six weeks before that, so a very nice improvement. He also grew half an inch in the last four weeks. And, drumroll please ... Truman's head is officially on the charts for his adjusted age. I can't say the same for length and weight, but he continues on his curve, and we'll take the growth victories where we can get them.

Interestly, Dr. Suterwala noticed that Truman's temples are puffy, which he said are fat deposits from the high-fat diet he's on. So, I guess the fat is doing something -- not quite where you want to see weight gain, but notable nonetheless. We were given a pass to January for the next weight check. Yippee!

In less pleasant news, we had noticed over the last few weeks that Truman appeared to be developing a new hernia along the scar line from his bowel re-section surgery. Dr. Suterwala confirmed that it was a hernia and would likely require surgery someday to reinforce the stomach wall. For now, we'll just keep an eye on it and watch for changes, but I can't bear to think he'll have to go back into a hospital and on a ventilator again for any period of time. I'd like to avoid that as long as possible.

Dr. Suterwala is concerned about Truman's developmental progress in the communication area, in particular, so we'll be having a separate OT eval for his purposes -- a formal "Bailey's" exam. He is also concerned about the texture issues with eating, but not as much so. He also really wants to pay attention to Truman's right side (his grade IV brain bleed was on the left) to look out for any weakness and tone issues that we need to address.

In other therapy news, it seems that things are finally sorted out with insurance, and Truman will begin his second weekly session of OT next week and will also have his PT evaluation next week to get the ball rolling on that. The speech therapists are all booked for evaluations until the end of the year.

In news from home, we got Truman a push toy over the weekend, and he seems to be doing pretty well walking along behind it for a few steps until he runs it into something.


--Kara

No!

CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: 15.5 MONTHS
ADJUSTED AGE: 11.5 MONTHS

A glorious day in parenting -- he understands the word "no" and actually acts accordingly. So, now we can say "Truman, no!" and he will stop the intentional gagging and will pause a foot from the cords. We're still working on him not returning to the same activity 10 seconds later, but hey, at least we get a pause to rescue him from the danger and we're making progress. Considering his penchant for unplugging any cords he can find and then chewing on them, this is a very welcome step!!

Truman also hit another milestone yesterday -- he cruised. It was just a few steps, but he did it!

In the last week, he has also learned to pull up on the toilet lid and toilet paper holders, play with toilet paper, and flush the toilet. No, we're not starting early potting training, he's just discovered all sorts of fun things in the bathroom while Mom and Dad get dressed. That also means that our toilet brushes and bathroom trashcans now live on top of the toilet. And in other bathroom fun, Truman was standing holding onto the side of my tub watching it fill one morning while I was at the sink putting on my contacts. When I went to get in the tub, I found a water-logged stuffed pumpkin in my tub. Gee, how did that get there, Truman?

--Kara

More Teeth

Chronological Age: 15 months
Adjusted Age: 11 months

Truman is currently working on three more teeth on the top. What's weird is that both lateral incisors have broken through, but only one central incisor has broken through. There is no sign at all of the other one. Hopefully it's in there, but lots of preemies have teeth issues and many are missing baby teeth altogether. Fortunately, except for an increased need for braces due to intubation changing the shape of the plalate, most preemies only have trouble with their baby teeth.

In the meantime, I guess he'll have a gap-toothed smile. As a result of the teething, he has definitely racheted up the drooling and tries to bite everything, including us. (Luckily, he hasn't taken to biting while nursing). In a cute teeth anecdote, Truman really likes having his teeth brushed and has started opening his mouth really wide when he sees the toothbrush. We hope he keeps this great habit for his entire life.

He continues to babble "Dada" all day long. Occassionally, we hear a "ca." It seems to be more prevalent around the cats, and Truman's hopeful Mom and Dad think it could be his effort to repeat "cat" which we tell him a lot. I'm fairly certain that's wishful thinking. Unfortunately, "Mama" appears nowhere in sight. In fact, when I say "Mama" to him, he usually responds with "Dada." I really hope the cats don't get a name before I do.

The sleeping through the night pattern appears to have been short-lived. We're back to getting up multiple times a night. Perhaps someday ... a mom can hope, can't she?

We're getting a little more concerned in the eating department. Truman is still refusing most table food and has starting gagging himself to the point of vomiting when we try anything that besides baby crackers, Puffs, hard bread, or similar items, including lumpy pureed foods. There even seems to be some regression in this department, such as mashed potatoes, for example. He's also started coughing to the point of gagging and vomiting a lot more. Besides just the issue of lost calories, we are worried that some oral and sensory issues are starting to manifest in the eating department.

In addition, he just seems to be eating less. Initially, when we introduced solids, he seemed to decrease his milk intake ounce-for-ounce with the solids. Now, for every ounce of solids, he seems to be decreasing his milk intake by more than an ounce. His nutritionist is really pushing three "meals" of solids a day for developmental purposes, and we tried it, but with the increased vomiting and the decrease in overall food volume, we've made the decision to cut back to twice a day and are considering moving back to once a day. We have to pick priorities, and we really thinking packing on the pounds in more important right now than developmental progress in the eating department.

By the way, Truman was a cow for Halloween. I promise to post some photos, but work has been very hectic, and I haven't had a chance to sit down at the computer in our home office and upload any photos. I promise to soon.

I should also let you know that we've made a decision that upon Truman's homecoming anniversary on December 5, we will discontinue posting on this blog and moving to a private blog. We realize there are many anonymous followers of Truman's, but we've decided it's time to let Truman return to the private life of most babies. This blog will remain up as a resource to other parents because we truly appreciated the blogs of other been-there-done-that parents when Truman was in crisis, but we will no longer post here. If you are a friend or family member, please e-mail me or comment on the blog with your e-mail and we will add you to the invite list when the new blog is opened.

--Kara