Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Daddy's Turn

J was able to hold Kai today.  He could have held him the same day I did, but since it is such a process to hold him, we decided to only have one of us hold him per day.  Yesterday was such a crazy day that J was unable to hold him due to circumstance.  So, today was the day.  :-)

The physical and occupational therapists (P/T and O/T) also came today and did an assessment on Kai.  They will work with us to help him strengthen his muscle tone and work with his eating.  It was very helpful and something that would have been very nice to have had with Zuri while she was in the NICU.  The overall assessment went fairly well.  He has more muscle tone in his legs than his arms but they said that is normal for his age/stage of development.  They said that it will flip later on.  We did notice a slight delay in his left leg, but he was also pretty tired by that point so we will see with subsequent assessments to verify.

I am just excited because we didn't even know if he would have control over his limbs, and we are seeing more and more evidence that he does.  We are also seeing specific personality preferences, such as that he likes to have his feet out and uncovered.  No matter how many times we try to keep his feet tucked in or covered, he always kicks them out and knocks off the blankets.

He is also tracking pretty well (as well as a newborn tracks).  We have noticed him tracking not only us, but nurses or other staff as they walk by.  It is very encouraging.

It has been brought to my attention that I have never really explained why he has a funny shaped head.  It is not due to the hydrocephalus as some of you may think.  He was born with two hematoma's on either side of his head, which makes it look a little odd. As with everything, it is more pronounced on the left side of his head.  Basically, it is just bruising and swelling of blood and is actually quite common.  Unfortunately, it can take up to six months to disappear and usually leaves some calcium deposits, so there is a slight bump that may remain.  J had a hematoma when he was born, and although he says there is still a bump, I haven't noticed anything.

Another positive is that they have increased his feedings to 29 cc's--so he is over an ounce!

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