Thursday, February 12, 2009

Therapy update

So, we went to the PT yesterday for our second visit. Rhys was a totally different baby. He was not having a good day the first visit, but this visit he was much more cooperative and did things for her that he didn't do the last time. He even gave her a smile or two, and Rhys has been pretty stingy with his smiles - only really smiling a lot for me and Cody. She said she was very "encouraged" by his session this time, though she never said anything negative after the first visit that would indicate he was severely lacking. Anyway, he is doing good things, a lot of which I think surprised her based on the first meeting. He is self-supporting himself a bit when in the sitting position, he is getting better at lifting himself on his arms while in his tummy, and he is getting better at not tilting his head back as much. We still need to work on interaction with toys.

Next week, in addition to the PT, we are also going to have a speech consult to see about the previous feeding issues. Rhys is eating SO much better lately, but I still don't think he is quite taking the volume he should be. He has increased significantly from what he was taking when we brought him home 6 weeks ago (gosh has it been that long), so we're making progress, but I still don't think he is where he needs to be. Cody read somewhere that babies that have/have had significant chronic lung disease can have problems putting on weight because of an increased metabolic rate. That combined with the fact that it is difficult for them to take the required volume sometimes makes weight gain difficult. From our scale he is gaining .5 to .75 ounces per day, which isn't much different from what he was gaining prior to us thickening his milk. The differences are (a) he has gained about 11 ounces since we started thickening the milk, but he hasn't increased his intake, and (b) he isn't fighting and screaming through the whole feed which I personally think is the most significant. But, we just started this last week so I am trying to be patient and give his little tummy time to adjust to actually being full!

Also, pulmonology appointment next week. Looking forward to that since we are now up to re-taping TWICE a day!

Today Mom tried Baby Einstein again. This time she put me in my
bouncer (which I usually don't particularly like) and sat it in front of the TV.
Even though I wasn't totally "into" it, it kept my attention for the
whole video!! I think she was excited about that new development.

busy body = tired baby

1 comment:

Parker's mom said...

Candice, I was told by his pedi to keep giving him the spoon and he will figure it out. He does need a new cannula and outfit after EVERY feed! ugh! Right now I just kinda shove it in when he is smiling at me! Hey whatever works! And I do add some to his bottle for his last feed so he sleeps longer! :) I did have a few questions for you though can you send me your email? grab mine from Amy she has it.
Mere