Five Months Old!

Nick is five months old today (three months adjusted age.) He has changed my life so much, it's hard to believe he was only born five months ago. Here is his monthly update:

Weight

Nick weighs a little over 13 pounds, so he's about a pound heavier than he was last month. He's wearing 3-6 month clothing and size two diapers :)

Eating


Nick has always been a great eater, and usually always finishes his bottle. He takes six ounces of his Similac Spit Up formula every 3 hours or so, and is still on his Polyvisol Vitamin every other day. He is an amazing sleeper, and goes for 8-10 hours at night (!!!) without waking up for a bottle. I began introducing solid foods, like avocados and bananas, to Annabelle and Graham when they were five months old, and, when they were Nick's age, they had already been eating rice cereal for a week or so. I will introduce solids to Nick based on his adjusted age, so I will wait a minimum of another month before I consider starting him on rice cereal, but likely longer. I know he still has a ways to go when it comes to head control and sitting up before he is physically ready to swallow solids, but, with his actual age being five months, it makes me worry that he isn't going to be satisfied with only being on formula. I will definitely consult his pediatrician and physical therapists before I start down that road.

Milestones


I am still waiting for his First Steps physical therapists to reach out to me to schedule his initial appointment (and hopefully they will this week), where they will do their own evaluation of him and come up with a treatment plan to help him with the milestones he is behind on. Every time I change Nick's diaper, I do the stretches with him that his PT and OT showed me at his NICU follow up clinic, and I think they are already making a difference. He seems to be doing much better at turning his head to the left instead of favoring the right so much, and he is smiling! He is consistently smiling when he sees me and even coos every once in awhile, which is so great and adorable. I know Nick will get there, and that he will develop at his own pace when he is ready, but it is so hard not to label him as behind. I think adjusted ages are a blessing, because it acknowledges that preemies are different and need to be given space to grow at their own pace, but they can be a curse at the same time. I am very goal orientated, and it's hard not to think that Nick is falling short, especially because he is a bit behind his adjusted age as well. But, I know the most important thing is that Nick IS developing and he IS growing, which I know is the most important thing.


Coming Up

I am excited for Nick to begin his physical therapy this month, and to see how he grows with the help of First Steps. He has been using an inhaler twice a day since Wednesday (which he hates, and it seems to make him almost hold his breath when I try to give it to him.) He is still wheezing consistently, but his doctor wants him to use his inhaler for two weeks before scheduling a follow up appointment. Hopefully his doctor is right and he does just have a respiratory infection that he hasn't totally gotten over, so hopefully this issue will resolve itself by August. Thanks for reading, and for rooting for my little man! :)