Teachers and Exams Already?

Post date: Jan 8, 2011 7:27:21 PM

January 8 - Grady Jeremiah had a good several days. ..BREATHING - He is still adjusting to not having the Aminophylline, but seems to be doing well. He has more drops in his blood oxygen levels, but continues to be able to correct it on his own most of the time. We are encouraged that his lapses in breathing now rarely lead to heart rate drops (bradychardias). The doctors say he should be able to stay off of the medicine. Please continue to pray for these "desaturations" to completely diminish.FEEDING - He also is continuing to learn how to breast feed and take a bottle. Yesterday the speech therapists came in to help teach him (and us!) how to better do breast and bottle feeding. Yes, it is the speech therapist who is called in to help premature babies learn how to feed! It was a very helpful time of instruction for us. They taught us how to watch his body language to learn if he is getting too much or not enough milk. It is amazing how much he can communicate to us in this area just by us watching body language. It also was a good report from their examination of him. His reflexes for feeding were great!

Speaking of his feedings, he has been able to get up to 30 of his 43 cc feeds via bottle. He still can only get about 10 cc via breast. Please pray that he will be able to quickly get to full feeds on both breast and bottle.

  1. GROWING - Grady Jeremiah continues to grow! He is now 4 pounds, 14 ounces and it is fun to see him "fattening up" :-) The doctor showed us his growth chart and it continues to look great. They also showed us the growth chart for his head circumference and it is exactly what they want! The doctor said that head growth indicates brain growth, and they are very encouraged with Grady Jeremiah's progress in that area. Please continue to pray that his growth will continue and that he will stay healthy and free from any setbacks.EXAMS! - Grady Jeremiah had two exams this week, both with good reports.Eye Exam - He had his second eye exam on Wednesday, and hated it just as much as the first one! It still is too early to tell much, but there were no signs of any problems or complications.

Developmental Exam - A developmental specialist came in to see how Grady Jeremiah is progressing. She was very pleased with his progress. His muscle tone and strength were very good. His ability to grasp and move his limbs was great. His neck strength was great. His reflexes were great. His eye movement to follow objects was also great! The developmental specialist said he did so well, she does not need to see him again! He passed :-) We did have a conversation with her about implications of him not having the septum that divides the hemispheres of the brain. She told us what the doctors have already said, namely that it is not an indicator of future performance. However, she also gave us some things to be watching for and to do with him once we get home to help him with his development. Please pray that Grady Jeremiah will not have developmental difficulties related to his prematurity or missing this septum.

Over the next two weeks, Grady Jeremiah will have an additional eye exam, a hearing exam, and an MRI. We'll keep you posted on his progress. Thank you for joining us in this journey through your prayers and encouragement!