Splash Time

It's been two weeks since Archer's last pediatrician appointment. He was due for a weight check to see how much weight he could gain on a 24/25 calorie fortifier. He was also due for more vaccinations. On his last visit Archer weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces. For his weight check, in 15 days time, he gained 14 ounces, bringing him to 9 pounds 3 ounces! The pediatrician was very pleased with this gain and it helped Archer get back on his own growth curve. He then took his vaccinations and proceeded to be fussy for the rest of the evening. Mom and Dad are happy about his weight gain and they will see what the pulmonologist says about his weight in one week.
Archer also had an appointment with his new pediatric ophthalmologist. The doctor checked for crossed eyes, motility, nearsightedness, and other ailments that may come from being premature. After Archer got poop on Dad in the middle of the appointment, the doctor found that Archer's eyes are as perfect as they can be! He is farsighted (a very good sign), has full motility, and no signs of crossed eyes or lazy eye. He does not require glasses at this time. The doctor did stress that sometime problems can arise later in life. Archer will have another appointment in 6 months.
Archer will undergo another sleep study tomorrow night to see if he still requires oxygen. There will also be another apnea monitor download to see if any of the apnea alarms have been false or real. Many times when the alarm goes off in the middle of the night, it seems to be a false alarm. When this happens, Archer looks like his breathing is fine, has good skin color, and most of the time the electrode leads on his chest came off. A monitor download was attempted a couple of weeks ago, though all the data gathered since Archer has been home was found to be corrupt.
Archer has become a chronic bathtub pooper. He also loves to splash and kick throughout bath time as well as pool time. He is also fond of finding his thumb to suck on and doing playtime and therapeutic exercises with Mom and Dad. He can hold a toy with one or two hands. He is starting to grow into 3 month old clothes and is wearing size 1 diapers. Most of the time he acts happy and healthy. His colic seems to be slowly going away, as he is only fussy a couple of nights a week. His milk intake has been slowly increasing as well, and he is starting to spread out his feedings more. Mom and Dad have attempted other types of bottle nipples because a speech therapist showed us that he had a weak suction. A different bottle type has been used the last couple of days and it seems to be working just fine.

Rolling Over?

Archer recently had another appointment with his pulmonologist. She said that he looked very happy and healthy, though she was unhappy that his weight was still off the growth chart and that he had not tolerated a 27 calorie fortifier with his milk. The previous three weeks, between appointments, Archer gained 1 1/2 pounds. This was on track with what the pulmonologist had asked for, yet she was still unhappy. She then changed a medication to help with constipation so Archer could tolerate a 27 calorie fortifier. Archer tried out this new medication for three days while Mom and Dad added more calories to his milk. This combination made Archer do two things during this time: 1) he grunted and tried to poop 24 hours a day; 2) he ate about 1/3 of what he would normally eat. So Mom and Dad stopped this medication and went back down on calories. While on the new medication Archer probably lost a few days of growth.
One week after this visit Archer had an appointment with his pediatrician. She was not concerned that he was not on the growth chart but was worried that he started to fall off his own growth curve. She understood Mom and Dad's concerns about the calorie fortifier. She said to continue what Mom and Dad were doing before the last pulmonologist visit, when Archer had gained 1 1/2 pounds. She set an appointment to come back in two weeks for a weight check to see if Archer could get back on his growth curve with a 24 or 25 calorie fortifier. At this checkup he weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces, and he seems to have gained a few ounces in the last three days since the appointment. Archer also received a follow-up combination vaccination. He will receive the rest of his vaccinations during his weight check appointment.
Archer also visited a speech therapist, physical therapist, and an occupational therapist. They observed his motor skills and eating habits. In some ways Archer has the abilities of a 4 month old, and in other ways he is right on track with his adjusted age, over two months old. Mom and Dad received information on how to teach Archer some new skills. They are also looking into receiving more therapy to help Archer catch up with other 6 month old babies. Archer can follow someone with his eyes, even when they are fairly far away. He has good head control when sitting up or being held. Archer enjoys tummy time and has inched forward some while attempting to crawl. A couple of times he has pushed himself over from his tummy to his back when his hands were out in front of him! He is grasping for toys and verbalizing more often. He is very fond of finding his thumb and bringing it to his mouth. He could sleep more at night, though Mom and Dad wake him up to feed him to make sure he gets the calories that he needs to grow. He is still sleeping in a rock-n-play to help with reflux, which has improved greatly with a couple doses of Prilosec each day.
Mom and Dad have been trying to take Archer out more while also being cautious. Archer has been on walks, was taken to the park, had his first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Long's, and has mingled more with friends. He has also been to a couple of restaurants and taken on shopping trips but sticks close to Mom & Dad.