Developmental Assessment

Yesterday was Dalton's appointment at the developmental clinic at Oakwood's NICU.  This appointment was made when he was discharged from the NICU back in August of last year.  I've been looking forward to this appointment...since he was discharged :)  The actual date was last Wednesday, but due to the "fake blizzard" of 2011, it was rescheduled to yesterday.

As a preemie parent, you are always concerned about whether or not your little one is catching up to babies his age, whether you are missing something as a parent, and so on so I was very nervous about this appointment.  I believed Dalton was doing great...but I'm a little biased!  So we get there, with just a few minutes to spare and no morning nap.  Not a really great combination!  Well, he was such a good little guy while I filled out the paperwork and Dr. Hughes decided to come over and talk to him while he was playing with his paci.  He's had this fear of "strangers" as of late and will scream bloody murder if anyone looks at him wrong, so I was expecting the crying to start- oh no, not today, he was all smiles. 

The nurse, one from the NICU that I can't remember her name (but was not one of our favorites) came and had him weighed - 15# 15oz!- and then asked us a bunch of questions about his health and then we waited for Dr. Hughes.

She took us down to another room and soon as we walked in with Dalton, we saw 3 therapists sitting in this small room.  It kind of made me nervous!  1 physical therapist and 2 speach therapists (I think the 1 speach therapist was a resident or something because she really didn't talk much).  The physical therapist was sitting on the floor and she immediately held out her hands for Dalton, so I passed him to her.  She immediately laid him on the floor and explained that she was going to do some tests on him.  She laid him on his belly and put this big red old fashioned apple toy down, while asking me if he could roll over from belly to back.  I replied that he had done that many times when he was about 3 months old, but only when he was mad.  As soon as I said that, like on cue, he rolled over with the biggest smile on his face!  Of course he's going to make me a liar!!  She put him back on his belly to see if he would roll over again, and of course he did.  She did several things like seeing what he would grab, how he followed toys with his eyes, and so on.  The speach therapist asked us alot of questions about how many sounds he was making, did he stop crying when we talked to him, what did he vocalize, and so on.  I found out that both therapists send their kids to Dr. R and went on & on about how wonderful she was...which made me feel so good about taking Dalton there.  We love her too!

So both the speach & physical therapist said that he was not only progressing at his "adjusted" age, but that he was developing at and above his actual age!  They didn't have any concerns about him and gave us several sheets of things we can work on with him.  Dr. Hughes was very impressed with him too and said that while he was in the NICU, they didn't have too many concerns about him but that they sent all babies under 32 weeks to the developmental clinic. 

So he is officially discharged from the NICU and the Developmental Clinic, but we could call them if we had concerns up until he was 2 "adjusted".  Then Dr. Hughes encouraged us to go upstairs and visit the NICU, where we saw Doreen, one of our favorites, and Valerie, as well as Dr. Purifoy who was excited to see Dalton.  The only bummer was that we didn't get to see Dr. Baer.  Overall we are just thrilled with his development.  I still question why he came so early (10 weeks early!) but know that God had a plan and I'm convinced that He was protecting our little guy from something that could have happened later down the road. 

I can't believe he started this small...

And look at him now!



Changes!

I cannot believe how much Dalton has changed in the past few weeks!  Its like he's grown by leaps & bounds!  It seems that just yesterday he was so content to just be held & cuddled and loved to be rocked to sleep.  Now he's Mr. Independent!  He is very aware of what is going on around him-  he can follow peoples voices and follows a conversation around the table.  He LOVES his saucer and will try his best to get all of the toys in his mouth.  He is grabbing at things and will pick things up and do his best to get them in his mouth.  Sometimes he gets so frustrated when he can't get something quick enough!  The other day I took him for his eye appointment and he loved people watching-  he's not around too many people so to see him smile at other kids and watch them was so sweet!

He has a little temper- I'm sure this comes from Charlie's side :)  He gets very frustrated if he can't get to something quick enough or can't get it in his mouth and then he cries this ornery cry until someone helps him get what he wants!  Oh boy, this should be fun as he gets bigger!



Gigglesaurus

Because Dalton is a preemie, I am always concerned about him reaching his milestones.  Well, about 3 weeks ago, he started giggling!  It kind of came out of the blue...  Charlie was playing with him & talking to him while he was laying on the floor on a blanket and he was tickling him in his ribs and all of a sudden Dalton started giggling!  I heard it, but was in the other room.  The rest of the night we tried to get him to giggle again, but no luck.  The next evening I was playing with him and tried tickling him, and there it was...the most beautiful sound...my sweet boy giggling :)

18/8 weeks

Dear Dalton,

Mama can't even believe that you are 18 weeks old.  You are 12 lbs and are busting out of your 0-3 clothes.I am changing you twice a day so that you can wear all of your beautiful clothes before they get too small.  We had Uncle George & Aunt Debbie over last Sunday so that they could see you in your "Dalton's Brigade" outfit.

You are a much happier guy now that we seem to have your acid reflux under control.  And this week you started sleeping for 5+ hours a night- Tuesday night you slept 7 straight hours!  Mommy was so excited, and at the same time was checking on you every hour to make sure you were ok :)  You smile at me & daddy and you love your babysitter, Mrs. Hagie, and  smile all the time at Rachel.  I swear I have even heard you laugh.  You LOVE to be talked to and do your very best to talk back.  I have a feeling that once you start talking, you won't ever stop!  Your favorite toy is your Baby Einstein mat and most of the time you will kick and talk and smile through several renditions of the sun who sings to you.

We love you so much buddy!

Tummy Troubles

So a few weeks ago, Dalton was diagnosed with acid reflux.  He was crying through his feedings and for an hour...or two...or three after.  We tried changing formulas, changing how we were feeding him, and so on but nothing we tried worked.  A call in to the doctor got him an appointment the next morning, and sure enough, the medicine and some adjustments to his feedings helped...although there is no "quick fix" for acid reflux. 

Last night, it decided to rear its ugly head and make our little guy uncomfortable and in pain for, well, about 5 hours.  Unfortunately there isn't much we could do, but wait it out and try to sooth him.  About midnight he calmed down and fell asleep.

I was so anxious to get him up this morning and see how he would do...

geez mama, what's the big deal?

NICU Stay...2 days old 3lbs 1 oz

Dear Dalton,

Today your doctors thought that you were ready to start "real food" so mama watched your nurse, Angela, put a tiny feeding tube down your nose-  Buddy, you didn't even cry!  Mama was so proud of how brave you were. 

You lost another 2oz :( so we hoped that the milk would help you put on some pounds.  So far, you are doing great with every feeding.  They have you on 4ml.

Daddy came up to visit you today and he was so excited because you "smiled" for him!

Your bilirubin levels decreased from 6.5 to 5.9 today!  Hopefully you won't have to be under this light for very long.

Big sister Shelby got a special ok to visit you today and made you a really cool sign for your isolette.  She was so excited to be able to meet you for the first time!

That's all for today!

Love,
Mommy

So I'm a little behind...

Well, now that I am back to work on an "almost full time" basis, maybe I can actually keep up with this blog!  Dalton is a wonderful baby but likes LOTS of mommy time when I am home, so of course I comply :)  So, blogging, cleaning, cooking, sleeping, showering... come second.

I am going to go back & post my journal from when he was in the NICU along with pictures.  Bear with me here as I try to figure this all out!

Becky

Isn't he amazing!

Since Dalton has been home, we have tried to keep him on the schedule they had him on in the NICU.  He was on the "B" schedule and was fed, changed, and vitals checked on the 10,1,4,7 schedule...I had to explain to Chaz that the schedule was a rotating schedule :) and yes, Dalton did eat all night long!  Anyway...well since he's been home, he's proved to me what I thought while he was in the womb...he has his days and nights mixed up, AND it is much funner to sleep in mama's arms than in his brand new bassinet!  So nights have been very fun...he's a very content baby...but is much fussier and awake at night. SO...needless to say, mommy hasn't been getting much sleep.  So my wonderful husband has been offering to stay with him between 10 pm and 1am so that I can sleep for a few hours before I'm basically up all night with him.  Well, yesterday Charlie worked a 14 hour day and didn't get home till 8 pm and was exhausted...but still offered to hang out with Dalton until 1 am.  I argued and told him that Dalton would be fine in his bassinet and just to lay him down and go to bed.  I quickly fell asleep on the couch next to the bassinet and when my alarm went off at 1 am for Dalton's feeding, there was Charlie...sitting in the dark holding Dalton so that he didn't wake me up!  He had to be up at 5:30 to go back to work but still was so thoughtful to let me sleep!  I had to take a picture of it.  I have a pretty amazing husband!!

Well...here goes!

Well, here goes nothing...my first attempt at maintaining a blog.  This is more for myself as most people will not find what I have to write very interesting, except maybe my mom :)  I am an avid scrapbooker who is running about 3 years behind (amazing what marriage and children do for your spare time!) and thought the next best thing would be to keep a blog.  When I was sitting in the NICU with Dalton I swore that I would keep a daily journal of his every day progress...which I did...and now going back and reading it, I realize how much I've forgotten in just 30 days!  So, this blog will help me remember life's everyday moments and how much they shape our little lives!

Becky