Charlie had another visit to the NICU clinic today. 3 months ago when he and Christian originally went to the clinic the doctors had some concerns about Charlie. 1. his poor weight gain and not eating much and 2. his stiffening of his entire body as well as stiff hips. Since that initial appointment Charlie has done a lot of hard work to show the doctors what he can do. He's gone to physical therapy (PT) once a month and also worked on his PT daily at home, sometimes as much as 3 times a day. He's switched his formula to soy formula and experimented with 24, 26, and even 28 calories. Only to find out that he absolutely hates higher calorie and will not eat if its anything above 24cal. This is a lot of work for one little boy, but Charlie has proven to be one tough stud.
At today's appointment he is 9.13lbs. (up from 7.4lbs 3 months ago). His weight gain is still slow, but at this point, what can you do....the kid eats and his head and length is still growing. He's also had many blood tests and seen different doctors only for them to tell us he's a healthy kid. So, at this appointment Charlie wowed the doctors with his dashing good looks and devastatingly handsome smile. He also showed them that his hard work has paid off. He can roll over, is awesome at tummy time and has some major pipes from pushing himself up on his forearms during tummy time. His head control is great as is his strength in his trunk and the doctors couldn't believe how well he can sit (supported of course) but sit without flailing around and falling over. He showed them how good he has gotten at grabbing items and putting things to his mouth. He has really good tracking and attention to things and has become so much more vocal. He's able to play for small periods of time without screaming for constant attention. All in all, Charlie is exactly where he should be developmentally, if not, above the curve!
Both Charlie and Christian will have another NICU follow up appointment in January and I'm sure they'll both impress the doctors beyond possibility.
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