AUSTIN
Weight: 11lbs
Austin went in for his 6 month check up today and is doing GREAT!
Growth
He is staying on his curve for height and weight, slowly making up ground. His pediatrician estimates that he will finally intersect the growth chart curves around his first birthday. As for his head, he is shooting straight up almost for head circumference. He's making room for his big brain!
Feeding
Austin is currently eating Elecare because we suspect he has some kind of milk protein allergy. We are mixing it at 22cal/oz to help his growth and he seems to be tolerating it pretty well. The plan is to keep him on it until he's around 9 months and then transition him to the next step up in hopes of him being on regular milk by the time he is 1 year corrected (December). We are also going to try and start him on baby food in the next 2 months based on how well he shows readiness for that.
After dealing with him fighting at feedings for several weeks to a month, we think he may be dealing with reflux. To help this, he was prescribed Zantac and we hope this helps him to be able to eat more at each feeding. He currently only takes about 4oz every 3 hours and sometimes will only take 2-3oz.
Eyes
We have scheduled a follow-up with his opthamologist, because his left eye is starting to track outward and not follow the right. If you remember, his left eye is the one with the Coloboma and is noticeably smaller than the right. I'm not sure what the treatment will be, but I'm hoping it will only involve patching and not surgery!
Developmental
The pediatrician has recommended we consult with a developmental pediatrician to be sure that Austin is meeting his milestones as close to on track as he can. Thankfully, he is doing well and is making progress. We just want to make sure something doesn't fall through the cracks. As with Jackson, the goal is that preemies catch up to their peers by the time they turn 2.
Because Austin was premature and spent quite a bit of time laying on the back of his head and still spends time laying on the back of his head, we have notice some flattening. At the recommendation of his pediatrician, we are going to try and help it by trying to keep him off it as much as possible during the day since he has to sleep on his back all night. The alternative would be to have him evaluated to see if his case is bad enough to need a helmet to reshape his head.
A few other tidbits:
Last Thursday Austin received his last Synagis injection.
Last Monday he was release from the surgeon! (Better be the last surgery too!)
JACKSON
We are excited to announce that Jackson was accepted into Infinity Prep, a charter school that opened about 2 years ago, to start Kindergarten this fall. Although Jackson would like to stay at Kindercare, he is warming up to the idea of going to Kindergarten. On the ride home almost everyday, we talk about what fun he is going to have and all the new things he is going to get to do. Yesterday's topic was going through the lunch line and "buying" his own lunch! He was exciting at being able carry his tray and do things like grown-ups!
I am SO glad he was select to attend! This could be the mama talking, but he seems advanced for his age and the things he knows and the questions he asks. A few days ago we had a discussion on gravity of all things. Every couple of days, he will surprise me with some subject he wants to discuss...I just hope I can keep up with him! I may have to start doing research to answer some of his questions! :)
One last thing, Jackson lost his second tooth and the third is starting to get loose! I remember they all came in pretty close together, but at the rate he is going he's not going to have any teeth!
Now for the pictures!
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| Brothers on St. Patrick's Day |
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| You can see how his head is flattening out on the back some. |
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| And one for Tax Day! |
