August-October 2014

August

Landon's incisions have healed nicely since his surgery, and thankfully he has had no complications.  His weight gain slowed down for a couple of weeks, but he has picked up again he last two weeks.  On the 4th, he weighed 9lb 2oz and he was 23 1/2 inches long!



















His development is still on track and he is still between his adjusted age and actual age.  He is smiling and talking (cooing) all the time now.  He reaches for and grabs things then tries to bring them to his mouth, and he holds his head up well when held upright and in his bumbo chair.  We are still working at tummy time.  Our goal for now is just to keep him from screaming the whole time he is on his tummy.  His home health nurse says he really just needs to get bigger and get more muscle and that will help.

Landon has done pretty well off of the oxygen.  He sometimes slips down into the 80s when he is sound asleep, but usually not for longer than 20 seconds.  The doctor says that is normal.  We have had to put the oxygen on him a few times that he hasn't come back up after a minute, but we haven't had to do that for a week.

Our newest issues are his extreme reflux and teething.  His Zantac worked for about a month, and then he started spitting up just as much as before.  He has also started screaming through most of his feedings, like crazy, loud, inconsolable screaming.  So, the doctor increased his dose to .7mL three times a day, and I've recently started adding a little rice cereal to his bottles to thicken the milk.  I don't know what to do about his teething.  He screams until I rub my finger or the nipple on his bottom gums, so I'm basically waiting for him to cry himself to sleep then get his milk down him while he sleeps.  Hopefully this phase won't last for long!

On the 18th Landon turned 7 months old (3 1/2 months adjusted) and weighed 9lb 5oz.  We went to his NICU follow-up clinic where he was measured then saw audiology because he was on Gentamycin in the hospital and apparently it can have odo-toxic effects.  He passed!  Next, we met with the nutritionist.  She said she would have liked to see him gain more weight up to this point, but he's on track for how much he should be gaining from now on which is 15grams per day (half an ounce).  I've started adding 1mL of coconut oil to each bottle for extra fat grams, so hopefully that will hep with his weight gain.  He eats between 70 and 80mL usually for four bottles each day and nurses between four and six times a day.  Finally, we met with both the occupational therapist and pediatrician.  The OT did his evaluation and Landon was really showing off! He put him on his tummy and he pushed up with his arms and chest and looked around at everyone.  He didn't scream once!  He just kept smiling his big smile.  He did very well and the OT said he looks good developmentally.  The doctor also said he looked good.  He will go back to NICU follow-up when he's 9 months adjusted.

Yep, this is seriously how much milk I have frozen still!

Landon started rolling over the last week of August!  I think he has been extremely motivated by his hatred for tummy time.  Every time I put him on his tummy now he starts trying to roll over.  He weighed 9lb 13 oz at his doctor appointment the same week which is much better weight gain, so he doesn't have to go to a weight check for a month now.

We also went to his NICU reunion at the Roy Aquatic Center.  I took Landon in the pool; he wasn't quite sure what to think of it all.  There were way more people there than he's ever been around before.  We Drs Sheffield, Christensen, and Rich-Denson, as well as RT Sherri, RNs Angie, Heidi, and Rose, Christy the parent coordinator, and Barbara the OT.  We also met up with Amy and Kassidie Kendrick, Landon's little roommate in every room of the NICU.

September

Landon weighed 10lb 2oz on the 9th and measured 25 inches long, that's twice his birth length! He is breathing better without his oxygen and hardly ever beeps below 90% now.  He sleeps really well at night.  He will sleep from about 9:00 pm to about 8:00 am with me waking him up once around midnight to eat.  On the other hand, he is a super-active little boy and doesn't reliably nap during the day.  If I'm lucky he'll sleep for a continuous hour, but most likely he just sleeps 15-30 minutes after eating while I hold him and if I try to set him down he wakes up.  He is all about getting attention, talking, smiling, and putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.

On the 24th Landon weighed 10lb 10oz.  He is full of smiles and loves talking to his toys, his reflection, and sometimes even to people.  Mike can even get him to laugh when he kisses his neck, it is pretty cute.  He is getting so strong and pulls himself forward to support his own weight when I sit him on my lap.  He holds his head really well now when upright, but can't quite hold his own when sitting.  His cute little smile brightens the day of everyone he meets.  One lady saw him and said "Oh, a brand new baby!" Landon gave her the biggest smile and she looked so surprised as she asked "How old is he?"  Yes, my 8 month old baby is the size of a newborn.  But I am so proud of him and thankful to my Heavenly Father that he has gained 9lbs since his birth.  He is truly a miracle.  Now we've got to focus on keeping him from getting sick this flu and cold season.

October

At Landon's 9 month wellness visit he weighed 11lb 3oz, measured 25.6 inches in length, and his head was 17cm.  He is getting so long.  His head is actually on the growth charts now and his length is just about there too.  His weight is another story, but it is still slowly sloping upwards towards the curve.  He smiled and laughed at the doctor all through his appointment.  He is just a social and happy little guy!

He is learning and doing new things almost daily.  He talks and laughs a lot (especially at Mike) and it almost sounds like he is trying to say "Hi" sometimes.  He pushes his chest up while on his tummy and pulls his legs up under and pushes them out like crawling motions, even though he doesn't go anywhere yet.

Mike Wazowski for Halloween!

My little monster!

He recently started eating solids.  Although he doesn't care for rice cereal, he seems to like yams, carrots, and squash so far.  He even has a high chair now.  I can't believe he's starting to do all these "big boy" things.

We also had family pictures done by ourselves and with of our families.