Happy Due-Date, Dane!

Dane was born at 32 weeks 6 days... 7 weeks and 1 day ago. It is hard to believe it has been that long already. But today was Dane's due-date. We are now counting UP, not only for his actual age but also his adjusted age.

He's made so much progress since being born at 3lbs 13oz. He still has a number of little quirks, most due to being a preemie, according to the nurses and docs we deal with. He grunts a lot, which we thought at first was always due to needing to go to the bathroom, but apparently is just him practicing "talking". He also still startles a lot, but that's a pretty normal newborn thing. He had his eye exam yesterday, and while the hemorrhages are still there, they've apparently healed by about 85%. The pediatric ophthalmologist said that he doesn't expect that these hemorrhages will affect Dane's vision long term (the hemorrhages are worst in the left eye but located around the periphery of the retina...it would be more worrisome in terms of vision problems if they were located in the center of each retina.) We'll be heading back in 3 months for a follow up appointment, at which they'll see if he needs glasses (there is no reason to suspect he will at this point, but we are told that preemies are more likely to need them...)

According to most doctors, if preemies are cared for well, they'll catch up to their peers by age 2 at the latest. We've also heard a lot about using Tummy Time more frequently than for normal newborns, and how it can speed up preemies' growth and development rates. We're still working on getting Dane to breastfeed more consistently, but he's started to be able to nurse easily at 2-3 of 4 breast feedings. We're still giving him a bottle during the night feedings, as we can fortify it with Enfamil, to add a few more calories. We know that the breastfeeding isn't too taxing on him, as he gained 8 oz during the 6 days between appointments last week. So we'll just keep practicing and praying that he'll continue to improve. He's also started a Zantac prescription, which we hope will help his acid reflux. It's mint flavored, which is the first non-milk or vitamin flavored food he's ever had. The face he makes when we give it to him is hilarious. He seemed to like it at first, but since, has started to look almost horrified by it :) We have to give him a quick milk chaser or he'll spit it out. It has a cumulative effect, so while it hasn't seemed to make a big difference so far, we're hoping it will eventually make him more comfortable and hence, sleep easier.