Andrew - born at 29 weeks!

[Marleysgirl]

https://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/Tigsteroonie/Baby/P1030006.jpg

 

[Foogirl]

What an excellent picture.

 

[Jemma_x]

aww hes gorgeous hun x

 

[seekingbaby#1]

Wow, he's such a cutie!!!

 

[sherryberry79]

Awww he is a right 'lil looker!

 

[bumpsmum]

that pic is fantastic, one to show his first girlfriend and watch him go purple x

 

[Sam9kids]

gorgeous xx

 

[Marleysgirl]

Another Thursday, another weight update!

Checked in at 4.2kg this morning, which is 9lb 4oz. No wonder he's beginning to out-grow the "early baby" (7.5lb) clothes!

Poor babs has a bit of a snuffles though, his first cold. He's propped up at the head end of his basket, and there's a muslin with olbas-oil on it closeby, and he seems to be doing okay. It's not affecting his feeding yet, which is good

He's also got a mild case of cradle-cap, which looks minging

 

[Foogirl]

Abby still has it. Nothing seems to shift it but it is better than it used to be.

 

[bumpsmum]

I always thought cradle cap only affected overdue babies as they were 'overcooked' shows what I know lol

Andrew is doing really well hun, roll on all those fab newborn size outfits you'll no doubt be dying to put on him xx

 

[Marleysgirl]

Got clarification from the Paediatrician yesterday as to what she considers "adequate growth" for Andrew (during a protracted email conversation about supplying EBM fortifier) ...

She'd like to see him put on 180g / week !!!!!!!

He's currently putting on about 100/120g, which I thought was sufficient seeing as it keeps him on the same curve on the growth chart (just below -4SD). She'd obviously like to see him starting to climb up the curves.

Can I tie fishing weights to him under his clothes for the next weigh-in?

 

[Gizmo]

Awwww I think too much pressure is put on these little guys to grow .... Im sure he is growing just fine at his own rate..... My SIL had a little guy at 32 weeks weighing 4 pounds now hes 1 and weighs 18 lb and they are at her for him gaining but when I look at him he looks just fine and quite chubby actually lol!

Fishing weights sound good to me lol

 

[Marleysgirl]

Today was the opthalmology appointment, organised by the paediatric consultant because Andrew refused to follow her finger six weeks ago .... He passed with flying colours! He has full range of vision (no problems with field of vision), no squint, is responding to light properly and basically they can find nothing wrong. Silly consultant

I'll get my own back on her on Friday. They'll weigh Andrew at the hospital and then tut-tut over his weight. So I'm going to take him to the local clinic on Thursday (where he's weighed regularly), just so I can prove that the hospital scales aren't calibrated correctly - he weighs under every time there!

Oh, and today we had a whoop-whoop moment. He didn't want to eat his puree food again, so instead I gave him some finger foods BLW-style - banana, grape & a rusk. He's never picked up food to eat himself before, but once he'd tasted the rusk, he grabbed it and held it in his mouth while he was gumming it! And the grape went down pretty well, he seemed to like the taste of that.

 

[angelstardust]

They seem to find it hard to accept that babies like to grow at a steady rate and follow a curve rather than go on a massive bulk out. I still get it and Christopher is almost 5 years old! So long as he is gaining at a steady rate and you think he's doing well, he's doing well.

 

[Foogirl]

Oh, and today we had a whoop-whoop moment. He didn't want to eat his puree food again, so instead I gave him some finger foods BLW-style - banana, grape & a rusk. He's never picked up food to eat himself before, but once he'd tasted the rusk, he grabbed it and held it in his mouth while he was gumming it! And the grape went down pretty well, he seemed to like the taste of that.

Hurrah!

We had our first go of sweet potato wedges. She wolfed them down!

 

[Marleysgirl]

Updates .... updates .... updates .... (picture a scrolling news ticker!)

30 weeks actual, 19 weeks corrected, and Andrew now weighs 4.5kg or 9lb 12oz.

He is experimenting with sitting up - unable to hold himself for long, but happy to be propped against a cushion or his gorilla-pod, at least for a while. Not yet rolling over but the wriggles are beginning to turn into rolling motion from side to side, so I reckong it's not far off.

And today we had our first interest shown in food - cauliflower cheese. Made from two cubes of cauliflower puree, some baby rice, and some finely grated (and then melted) cheddar cheese blush: mature ). It went down a storm. I reckon he's a cheese-a-holic.

 

[bumpsmum]

FANTASTIC news hun......................go Andrew my laptop ups and dies on me for a few days and its all go here! Such positive news with his vision and a great weight, dont listen to the silly hospital he's growing in the right direction at a steady pace and with all, these tasty flavours he's trying he'll be a big un soon enough.

Hmmmm I reckon your gonna need to Andrew-proof your living room very soon, once he masters the rolling its an instant mode of transport xx

 

[Marleysgirl]

Long time since I've written on this thread, but I'm bumping it with news rather than starting a new thread.

Andrew started having spasmodic episodes last week. At first we thought they were colic or constipation, but they continued after he had "a good clear out". On Saturday we took him to A&E, and he was admitted onto the ward for observation.

On Monday he had an EEG, and it's been confirmed that he has infantile spasms or "west's syndrome", which is basically baby epilepsy. It needs medication to suppress it just now, and he should grow out of it in a year or two, though it means he's also susceptible to other forms of epilepsy as he grows older.

He's still in hospital just now, starting the strong steroid medication tonight. As you can imagine, our heads are all over the place with the news. I'm staying up at the hospital most of the day and overnight.

I'll write more next week when (hopefully) he's discharged.

 

[Foogirl]

Long time since I've written on this thread, but I'm bumping it with news rather than starting a new thread.

Andrew started having spasmodic episodes last week. At first we thought they were colic or constipation, but they continued after he had "a good clear out". On Saturday we took him to A&E, and he was admitted onto the ward for observation.

On Monday he had an EEG, and it's been confirmed that he has infantile spasms or "west's syndrome", which is basically baby epilepsy. It needs medication to suppress it just now, and he should grow out of it in a year or two, though it means he's also susceptible to other forms of epilepsy as he grows older.

He's still in hospital just now, starting the strong steroid medication tonight. As you can imagine, our heads are all over the place with the news. I'm staying up at the hospital most of the day and overnight.

I'll write more next week when (hopefully) he's discharged.

Poor you's and poor Andrew. Is this something because of him being a preemie do they know? Hopefully the meds will work quickly and he'll be home soon. I can't imagine having to deal with something like this - after all you've been through, you kind of think that's it, we're home and clear now. But I suppose as they develop, anything can come out of the woodwork.

Sending big hugs to you all.

 

[Marleysgirl]

It's not linked to his prematurity as such - they are presuming that it's been caused by the intra-uterine (pre-birth) bleed in his brain. We were told that they wouldn't be able to say whether the bleed had affected anything until he was about 2 years old (and had developed normally), and any number of problems might arise in that time. So here we are.

Main thing is that the brainwave pattern could hinder his development; and the steroid treatment could also hinder his development. Kinda catch-22. We just have to monitor that, and encourage him as much as possible.