July 18, 2008

So, I have my friend, Ashley, who is a speech therapist come do a visit with me and Liam to look at his poor suck, his sloooow
eating and just general issues with his mouth and oral aversion kind of
things. And guess what my little micro-hero did? For only the second
time ever, he finished the entire bottle in 15 minutes!!!!!! The only
other time he did that he threw it up! Wouldn't ya know- Murphy's law
for Liam Murphy.... A therapist comes to watch his poor eating and he performs pretty great! So Ashley showed me some things to do to help Liam
get better at sucking and coordinating his eating. He seems to get hungry sometimes but doesn't seem to coordinate well. Walking really quickly seems to help him hang in there and eat.

And Ashley- ya know
how I said he only gags when I give him the bottle or when he doesn't
want it and sticks his tongue out? Well, when I woke Liam up this
morning he coughed and gagged over and over. Good thing his tummy was
empty!

July 14, 2008

Where does the time go? I haven't posted in a week! Liam had his neurology appointment last week. The technical stuff is as follows: Liam's cerebellum is extremely small, his corpus collosum has a thin layer of myelin (should be thick) and he does have mild PVL. She said the PVL is insignificant- so that was great news. The myelin can thicken up as he gets older and gets more developed. The only real issue was the cerebellum. She said he will walk and run (altho he may run funny) but that she expected him to do good. She said he wouldn't be an Olympic athlete and that mad Rylie mad! As Rylie so elloquently put it- "She has no idea!" And they don't know. The Dr. said it is all up to Liam as to what he will do.

The PT came last week for her two week visit and decided she wants to up Liam to once a week. I don't think she likes the fact that Liam isn't really getting his head up in any position. He just drops his head like a lead balloon. I have talked to other micro preemie moms and they have said that it can take a while for him especially if he can't see well. We got to Duke on Monday- and I can't wait to hear what she has to say. I am DREADING the drive. Liam is so much older than when we went the last time.

Liam is still refluxing. It would be wierd to have a day where he doesn't vomit...

July 7, 2008

Liam is still vomiting even tho he is on the Zantac. I know it takes some time to get it in his system but he seems to be doing the same amount if not more of spewing precious calories. He did it twice today. His gag reflex is so strong that it makes him throw up. He coughed today, gagged and then threw up. Poor guy. That can't feel good. I had to give him a bath twice today! The second time I put him in the big tub with me and he had a ball! It was a riot. I laughed so hard I was crying! I would hold his head and let his little body float in the water and he would splash and kick his legs like crazy! Then he would giggle and squeal and start kicking harder. I don't remember the other kids getting a kick out of their baths so early on. He seems awefully young for that cuz Liam is just 3 1/2 months corrected. And Liam LOVES to swing on the big swing outside. If you get going high enough he squeals and kicks his legs. I think he loves the sensation of having his tummy "taken away". He is setting his entertainment bar high already!

July 6, 2008

Liam ate over 500 cc's last night. Thats the first time ever and was 6 cc's shy of 17 ounces. And he only threw up slightly yesterday. His Ped. did decide to put him on Zantac. Liam has this bizarre cough that he does once in a while wear he bears down really hard and grunts. It sounds like it would really hurt if you were to cough that way. He doesn't do it all the time but he did do it while in the office and she thought it was a marker of reflux. The Zantac tastes NASTY but I mix it with a bit of milk to get it down. I just need to train myself to get the night time dose in. I keep forgetting that one.

His Ped thought he had changed a lot vision wise. She felt he was much more alert and she thought he looked at her. Now, how clearly he can see us remains to be seen but at least I'm not alone in thinking he saw a person!! He did that little focus thing and smiled at me again the very next day so he did it twice in a row. I haven't gotten him to do it again but two days in a row meant something! He is almost 11 lbs and is 22 inches long.

Aidan is counting down the days until her birthday. Only 22 days until she's 7. I know parents say it all the time, but where has the time gone? Rylie's clothes go right from her closet and into Aidans- which Rylie hates... lol. Aidan loves it for now. And Ian now wears a mens size 7!! He has passed Rylie in shoe size but she is still taller- for now...