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Baby fist pump!

August 15th Donovan was 5 months old, so about 3 months adjusted. His growth assessment with the doctor yesterday went well, nothing earth shattering came out of it, which is good. The doctor is pleased with his growth and development for his age, adjusted age and with his prematurity all taken into account. In fact they don’t need to see him until March 2011 now. The doc did notice his femurs seemed a bit short in proportion to the rest of his body, but wasn’t sure or even alarmed by it. She left it up to us to decide if we wanted a referral to a geneticist / bone specialist, more as a precaution. We decided to go ahead with that, I’d like to know of any issues or concerns now, rather than find out when it might be too late and regret it.

The numbers: He measured 19.75″ long, head was 15.70″ around, and weight was 9lb 15oz. He could be 10 pounds today!

Shannon has worked at 4pm all week, so Donovan and I have spent a lot of time together. One thing I noticed this week is he doesn’t freak out so bad when it’s time to eat. Usually the way it goes: he decides he is hungry and instantly goes into a temper tantrum. I mean the “start coughing, can’t breathe” type of tantrum. Although this still happens at times, other times he will just mildly cry until the milk is warmed and ready. It’s just one of the many little things I notice changing for the better as he continues to progress.

Looks like that is what he is thinking here:

Donovan is up to 9 lbs 11 oz!

My son never ceases to amaze me. Two days ago he was 17 weeks old (8.5 weeks old age corrected). Each day he not only grows physically but mentally. He is very alert and aware of his surroundings now. Just yesterday I watched him as he sat with his mom and she ate. Often he watched her fork from plate to her mouth. It’s crazy to think he’ll soon want to start trying the foods we eat!

Reading to Donovan.

Shannon makes it a point to have books lying around to read to him, which I think is awesome. I admit too often I turn the TV on and it can distract me, so it’s a nice change to shut it off and just read to him. And when I catch him watching me turn the page, it is so worth it!

He is falling into a nice routine now. Once he falls asleep at night, you can usually count on him sleeping about 4 hours, sometimes 5. At that point if he eats well and is changed he might sleep another 3 hours. This is a big change recently, considering he used to be up about every 2 hours to eat and his feedings could sometimes take as much as an hour. So although we’re still very tired most of the time, the opportunity for blocks of sleep is at least there.

He hasn’t been on his apnea monitor for at least a few weeks now, and they officially picked it up on Monday. So he has been wireless for a bit now. The only prescription medicine he is taking every day now is Zantac for his reflux. Just like everything else though, his feedings are slowly getting better too.

Some stats: On Friday July 16th he weighed in at 8lbs 13oz and his length was about 17.5 inches. So he is putting on weight OK but not growing much yet. That’s about it for now. Thanks for stopping by!