15-12-2008 - Timothy Matthew

My mood while writing this blog: cold

Timothy has made some progress. He is up to 4 pounds 12 ounces. Getting to be such a big boy. He is a loud baby. the makes noises constantly. he has been able to take most of his feedings by bottle. when he doesnt take the whole thing he usually only has about 10ML left so he is getting there. The doctor wants him to get there by the weekend. He will have to have surgery for a hernia when he leaves the NICU. so the doctor wants to get him ready so they can do the surgery and he will be home by christmas. but it all depends on him. he is having heart rate drops during feeding so he will come home on an apnea monitor. boy that thing is loud. I am thinking that will put my mind at ease a little because it will tell me if he is having any problems breathing or anything. he averages about 2 ounces a day in weight gain so he will be a little over 5 pounds when we bring him home. i cannot belive he is so big already. he better come home soon before he gets too big. we spend a lot of money on preemie things!

all in all the doctor thinks he is doing very well. after his surgery we will have a follow up dr appointment with an apnea doctor. then we will have appointments with physical therapists to make sure he is developing on track. we will also see our primary physician as well as a specialist for his metabolic disorder. i am going to be so sick of doctors!

speaking of his metabolic disorder, my cousin had a son who passed away at 18 months old. he had been sick and they were giving him fluids to keep him hydrated. while at the baby sitter he went into a seizure and passed away. so we thought could he have had the same thing my son has? when my son is sick and cannot eat we will have to take him to the hospital to get an iv drip so he doesnt seize and other bad things happen. my aunt brought it up to my cousin who says why wouldnt my other 3 kids have it? we explained that there is only 25% chance of producing a child with this disorder when both parents are carriers. so 1 in 4 chance. well you had one of the 4. she still didnt believe. my aunt got a copy of the autopsy. low and behold he had come back positive for MCADD. it goes to show you the importance of newborn screening. back when my cousin had her baby MCADD wasnt tested for. If she had paid about $20 she could have gotten a few more tests done and she would have known. luckily here in missouri its mandatory they are tested for this disorder. so ladies out there if where you live doesnt do newborn screening look into it for yourself! i read somewhere 1 in 10 sids cases are undiagnosed metabolic disorders.....

so i have my 6 week post partum today. i have to get a pap smear which i luckily avoided my whole pregnancy. but now i have no excuse. if i am lucky i will also get my Implanon inserted today. if not i will have to schedule another appointment for that. That is if my DH can get off work to take me to the doctor. we had some ice here in missouri last night and i do NOT drive in that stuff. we shall see.