Thanksgiving came and went without a post from me, someone who has so much to be thankful for! Every now and then, I look at Joshua and shake my head in amazement at the way things have turned out. Could it really be, after all he has been through, that Joshua is turning out to be a normal, healthy baby?! God is so GOOD! Looking back to January 18, 2012, we never would have dreamed of how good he looks now. WOW!
Joshua had his 9 month check up last week. It was all good news. He is right on track with where a 6.5 month old (adjusted age) should be, developmentally. He is rolling both ways, sitting up on his own, interacting appropriately... no concerns. In preemies, the developmental milestones usually catch up to actual age by 2 years old. Eating solid foods has been a tedious process, but he's showing improvement each day, and it's not concerning at all to his new pediatrician (who we love). He is drinking 8 oz bottles every 3 hours and acting like he wants to eat more, so we are hoping he really picks up solids quickly. He likes the taste, but his little tongue can't figure out how to push the food back instead of right back out. It's something his new therapist will work with him on. Given his low birth weight, he still qualifies for the state run program to have weekly home PT/OT in Mississippi, just as he did in Colorado.
Get a load of this: he weighed in at 15 lbs 11 oz! That's almost on the scale for 9 month olds. He is gaining ground every month, and he is on track to reach that scale by his 12 month appointment. For length, he is already on the 9 month scale in the 9th percentile, and his head circumference is in the 9 month 40th percentile range. At his appointment, he had his first injection in the series of Synergis, the vaccination to prevent RSV, that nasty virus that can wreak havoc on babies in the winter. We have been expecting a hospital admission if/when it hits. The doctor told us he is no longer a tiny, weak baby, and if he catches a cold, he will most likely act like any other baby his age, so we don't have to worry. Now it looks like we'll find out firsthand because Jeremiah is getting over a case of croup, and now I have a cold. Two nights ago, Joshua had such bad nasal congestion that he woke up every 30 minutes fussing from difficulty breathing. Finally I spent the rest of the night with him on the recliner, and he slept a little better upright.
Speaking of the glamorous life of motherhood, I had one of those moments this morning that I imagine every mom has where we step outside ourselves remembering our carefree days of youth and wonder "how did my life turn into this?" Jeremiah, who as I mentioned has been sick, hadn't been sleeping well, so when he fell asleep in the stroller yesterday at 3:00 PM, we decided to just keep him in there to let him sleep. He was out for the night, and at about 10:00, I transferred the sleeping cutiepie to his bed (which is actually a blanket on the floor since he has refused his new twin bed since moving to our new house), and he didn't even stir. Well, no surprise at all, at 3:00 AM, he woke up raring to go, wanting to play with me. As I was trying to wrap my foggy, sick brain around this, Joshua woke up crying. We were all stuffy nosed and coughing, so we had a nice little party in the bathroom with the shower running. Thankfully Joshua eventually went back to sleep, but Jeremiah isn't showing any signs of slowing down. I have declared that is reason enough to pop in a little Veggietales while I (hopefully) snooze on the couch (once I finish this post). Sometimes you have to improvise and do what it takes to get through the day, even if it means temporarily using the tv as a babysitter. I'll post pictures in another post.
PS. I just finalized the above post, looking forward to that snooze, when Jeremiah jumped on me begging to read books, and I hear Joshua awake in his room. Looks like my day is up and running, fully rested or not! Have a great day!
