Happy New Year

Well, pull up a chair.... we're gonna be a while.  Kim has given me a blog-related honey-do list, the likes of which... I'm gonna stop with the hyperbole before I get in trouble.  So, let's just say Happy New Year!

To catch up, Mikaila had her Developmental Pediatric evaluation at a corrected age of 16 weeks-it must have been in October.  Her Cognitive/Adaptive skills were solidly at 18 weeks. Her Gross Motor Skills were solidly at 18 weeks and her Fine Motor Skills were at 20 weeks.  At that point, her language skills were comparable to that of a 24 week old and her Personal-Social skills measured between the 18 and 20 week level.  The doctor's only concern was understandably Mikaila's issues related to her feeds.  She recommended increasing the frequency of the visits by the feeding specialist.  We will do a follow up visit with the developmental folks 6 months from the October appointment.

You're going to notice a bunch of pictures that do a much better job of capturing Mikaila's beauty.  No, I haven't been practicing my photography.  Rather, Kim's sister Kelly brought in a photographer as a Christmas present and she did a great job.  We took a ton of shots in several outfits- my Study resembled backstage at a variety show- but the results were clearly amazing.

Halloween was interesting.  She had no less than 3 costumes to wear- Exhibit A, the Pumpkin thing below.

We slowly began introducing solids into Mikaila's diet in the fall and she seems to be making slow but steady progress.  You may recall that we began with a very exciting blend of rice cereal and breast milk.  That just sounds scrumptious, doesn't it.  Say it out loud, rice cereal.  Yum.  We moved from there to bananas and then avocado.  She really enjoyed the bananas and seemed to be liking the avocado until she developed an allergic reaction.  So, unfortunately, avocado is out. At this point, although her diet is still primarily comprised of breast milk, she does take in solids 2-4 times each day.  Likes: Butternut Squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, applesauce, long walks and sunsets.  Dislikes: Chicken, peas, mean people and war.  She has also had carrots, green beans and prunes.

I mentioned Mikaila's feeding issues.  She certainly has progressed a bit but her issues persist.  She has been on Zantac for most of her life to counteract the effects of acid reflux.  A few months ago we began exploring other options with her pediatrician in an attempt to advance her progress.  Dr. Miller prescribed Prevacid.  Initially Mikaila actually regressed so Dr. Miller upped her dosage. In parallel, Mikaila continued to see the feeding specialist (Gina) assigned by Schenectady County Early Intervention.  Gina believes Mikaila's feeding issues are related to some underlying medical condition causing discomfort and recommended we see a specialist.  We were referred to Pediatric GI Specialist, Dr. Qualia, and paid him a visit in November.  He was happy with Mikaila's weight gain and didn't think invasive tests were warranted at this point.  Dr. Qualia did express some concern with Mikaila's recently upped dosage of Prevacid and mentioned evidence in studies of bone cancer with extended over usage.  Fortunately, Mikaila was only on the high dosage for a week so we really aren't concerned.  After the visit, we severely reduced her Prevacid intake and her symptoms returned so we ended up going back to Zantac. Got that all?  We'll be following up with Dr. Qualia again later this month.

Baby Tricks

Mikaila has developed physically quite a bit since my last post.  She has been rolling from front to back for a while and recently began rolling back to front.  She can sit up unsupported for stretches while playing with a toy but falls over if she looks up.  She isn't quite mobile as of yet but she is making an effort to crawl.  We'll continue to work on that but I think she may be more comfortable on her feet than on her hands and knees; frankly, I think she is frustrated that she can't walk now.  Just this week I was holding Mikaila on the floor on her activity mat.  She was sitting but decided to use the arms of the mat to pull herself up to a standing position.  She held the position for a while unassisted.  Occasionally, Mikaila will reach for a hand that is held up to her simulating a high five.  Kim and Kelly insist she is completing a high five, others are skeptical. 





Misc

Mikaila's Physical Therapy occurs monthly. Her PT, Karen, has been very pleased with her progress  and indicated on several occasions that Mikaila is developing normally on her own so there is no need to focus on development of any particular muscle group.  She has been teething for months now but to this point, nothing has popped through.  Her gums are very bumpy but then again, they have been bumpy for months.  Perhaps she'll skip the baby teeth and go straight to adult teeth?  I'm on board; it will save us a few bucks in quarters under the pillow.

The visiting nurse still comes to the house monthly but the nurse has changed.  Her original nurse was transferred to another position. Since November, Mikaila has been given an RSV shot to reduce the chances of contracting respiratory syncytial virus, a debilitating respiratory virus that is particularly troubling for premature babies.  The visiting nurse administers Synagis at her visits and will do so through March.  Mikaila doesn't care for these shots.  Neither does her mother.

In the last few weeks, Mikaila has begun waking up often at night.  A few times each night, we'll hear Mikaila screaming and have to go pick her up and walk her for a while.  I should add that we have moved our bed and Mikaila's bassinet downstairs to the living room as we complete refinishing about 700 sqft of our hardwood floors.  So, when she yells, we hear it.  Actually, when she moves we hear it.  Last night, I had to walk her from 11:30pm to midnight and 1:30-3:00 am.  Kim got up with her at 5:30 and stayed up.  The night before, I was up with her from 3:30 am on.  Let's hope these events are anomalies and do not constitute a trend.

Mikaila's eyes are currently green although that may not last long.  Kim has big blue eyes and I have brown eyes so where they end up is anyone's guess.  Kim seems to think the shape of her eyes come from me.  Perhaps so but I think the size clearly comes from Kim.

Christmas

Mikaila celebrated her 9 month birthday on Christmas Eve by opening presents with my mother and step-father.  She actively participated in the opening of presents particularly excelling and reveling in the tearing of wrapping paper.  It seems she enjoyed crinkling the tissue paper in the gift bags far more than the presents themselves.  Mikaila scored a pretty impressive haul between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Kim's family.  Among the presents under the tree; her first pony (pictured), a dozen or so outfits, swaddles, blankets, toys and stuffed animals.

Mikaila had her 9 Month Pediatrician visit this week.  Dr. Miller was pleased with her progress and indicated that her weight gain was within the acceptable range.  She currently stands at 12 lbs 14 ounces.  Although she is still significantly below the curve, the slope of her curve very much mimics that of the ones above her.  Translation, her weight is still very low but her growth is very much in line with that of a typical infant.  Kim and I were quite amazed with where Mikaila now stands with some of the other metrics.  It seems Mikaila's growth curve for both her height and head circumference has intersected with the traditional curves for 9-month olds.  She caught up.  I guess she's just lean.  You should see her abs!

That's about it for now.  I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog.  Translation, Kim vows to step up the badgering until I comply.

I hope everyone had a enjoyable and safe New Year's Eve and that 2009 brings you all of the successes you covet.