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| Our best attempt at capturing a photo of Archer's teeth |
Apparently Santa decided to bring Archer’s Christmas gift a
little early this year…his bottom two front teeth! That, or we jinxed ourselves by
praising Archer’s happy, easygoing nature and progress in sleeping through the
night in our last update! The signs were apparent that those teeth were going
to appear soon, the tenfold increase in drool and chewing on anything within
hands’ reach, but we were hoping Archer would be one of those babies who
breezes through teething with a smile on his face. Nope! The constant smiles
and giggles are now occasionally interrupted by periods of crankiness and
tears, and those 10-12 hour stretches of sleep have become less frequent.
Archer does look pretty cute with those teeth popping up though!
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| Doing push-ups |
Archer’s menu has expanded, and he has been trying out some
soft table foods. He is drinking from a sippy cup with help as well. Archer
continues to LOVE the Jumperoo and has made a lot of improvement in sitting up
on his own for longer periods and rolling over. He still prefers to stand, but
he is doing well with kneeling, creeping, and is dangerously (for the cat)
close to crawling! He is able to crawl backwards, and he did make some great forward pushes this morning!
Archer enjoys playing peek-a-boo, listening to songs, clapping
others’ hands, and grabbing anything within reach. He also giggles through a
game of “catch” with a small beach ball.
Archer had another visit with his pulmonologist on Friday, and he is now over 15 pounds and 26 inches long. His doctor is very pleased with his growth and said his lungs sounded great. We will continue to give Pulmicort (an inhaled steroid that prevents swelling in the lungs) through the nebulizer once a day as a preventative measure for now, although we will try a second attempt at discontinuing Archer’s reflux medicine.
The main topic of our
visit with the pulmonologist was RSV season, which coincides with cold and flu
season. RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is pretty common among children, and
most will develop it by age 2. In healthy, full-term babies, RSV generally
isn’t a big deal and just appears like a common cold (congestion, runny nose,
sore throat, dry cough) that goes away in a week or two. In premature babies who
did not benefit from the boost of antibodies from mom in the last trimester and
whose lungs are not fully developed, RSV can lead to serious lung infections
like pneumonia. Because Archer was born just as his lungs were beginning to
develop, his lungs are still very fragile, and infections can cause breathing
problems that would likely land him back in the hospital and on oxygen
support. The pictures show
how a preemie’s lung capacity is drastically smaller than a full-term baby’s and
why respiratory illnesses can be severe.
Just like colds and the flu, RSV can be caught at anytime
during the year and is passed through the air when someone coughs or sneezes.
The virus can live for 6 hours or more on surfaces as well. RSV is much more
prevalent during Fall through Spring, so many families with young preemies go
on “lockdown,” which basically means avoiding public areas (stores, church,
crowded gatherings), people who may be sick, and young children. Archer will
also receive a shot once a month, from November through April, which will
provide some of the antibodies Archer missed out on. While these antibodies
cannot totally prevent RSV, they can help lessen the severity of symptoms and
hopefully keep him out of the hospital (which is why the insurance company pays
A LOT of money to provide the shots)!
We share this information with our loved ones because we
need your help in keeping Archer healthy! So we have a few requests if you plan
to visit Archer:
- Postpone your visit if you or someone you’re close to has been sick in the past week (runny nose, cough, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc).
- If you are a smoker, shower and change your clothes before visiting. Even third-hand smoke can be harmful to Archer’s fragile lungs.
- Take off your shoes when coming in; they can spread germs throughout Archer’s play area.
- Wash your hands when you arrive, each time prior to touching Archer, after using the bathroom, eating, and blowing your nose. The virus can live on counters, door handles, steering wheels, pens, cell phones, keys, etc. for 6 hours, so frequent hand washing is important!
- Save kisses for the forehead.
Other things you can do: get a flu shot and Pertussis
vaccine, and, if you don’t already, keep yourself healthy by making a habit of
washing and sanitizing your hands, especially after being in public and around children!
If you’d like to learn more about RSV and keeping
preemies healthy, check out these links:
- http://www.preemievoices.com/pdfs/Preemie_Lung_Card_Eng.pdf
- http://preemievoices.com/pdfs/RSV_Eng.pdf
- http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvfaq.htm
- http://www.preemiecare.org/lungs.html
- https://www.rsvprotection.com/how-rsv-disease-works.html
- http://handtohold.org/resources/helpful-articles/5-things-every-nicu-parent-should-know-rsv/
- http://aintnorollercoaster.com/our-experiences-with-rsv/#more-1036
- http://aintnorollercoaster.com/tag/preemie-bubble/
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| Archer's 1st finger painting experience |
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| Archer playing with the activity board Grandpa made |
