5 Month Pediatrician Appointment

Brandon had his 5 month appointment today at the pediatrician. He now weighs 11 pounds, 6 ounces and is 22 3/4 inches long. He gained 2 pounds since his 4 month appointment. Brandon had 2 shots and had to drink the rotavirus vaccine which he did not like. We saw Dr. Kerensky today for the first time. He said Brandon looks great. He wants me to continue to feed him every 3 hours in the day but he said I can let him sleep as long as he will at night. He also suggested adding barley to his bottles to help with his reflux and constipation since barley is a natural laxative. He said the prune juice that we have been giving Brandon could be making his reflux worse since it is acidic. He said we can continue with the prune juice for now but if I continue to notice his reflux is bad to add karo syrup to his bottles to help with constipation.

2 Months Old Corrected

Brandon is 2 months old corrected which means had he been born on his due date he would be 2 months old today. Developmentally he should be doing things as a 2 month old would be.

Two nights ago he slept 6 hours straight which was so nice. After 4 hours I heard him making some noises but he wasn't crying so I figured I would wait until he started to cry and then take him out to give him his bottle. After 5 hours he started making noises again but still no crying. I also heard him sucking so I think he may have had his fingers in his mouth. That has been his new thing over the last 1 1/2 weeks when he is awake...trying to put his fingers or hand in his mouth. At 6 hours he started making noises again but never did cry. I took him out of his bassinet to feed him since the pediatrician said not to let him go longer than 6 hours. Of course last night he was up the first time after 3 1/2 hours and the second time 4 1/2 hours. He pretty much only gets up once in the middle of the night now. The second bottle usually winds up being between 5-6 am which is early but it is morning.

5 Months Old and Physical Therapy

I had a physical therapist come to our house today to look at Brandon's neck. She agreed with the pediatrician that it is a little stiff and he mostly turns it to the right. She did some stretches with him which he seemed to tolerate well. She also told me to have him sleep in his car seat for the next few weeks. She put receiving blankets on either side so that it forces him to keep his head straight. She will be coming next Friday to work with him again but she seems to think that he should be just fine in a few months.

Brandon is 5 months old today. He is almost 2 months old corrected (will be on December 10th). He is currently drinking between 3-4 ounces every 3 hours during the day. He is still on neosure, a preemie formula. At night he usually goes between 4-5 hours before waking up for a bottle. He is awake more and more during the day. He usually is up for a few hours in the morning and anywhere from 3-6 hours at night. Today he decided he wanted to be up almost the whole day but is finally taking a nap now until he gets his next bottle around 6:15. He really enjoys playing on his playmat and batting at the toys. Overall he is a very easygoing baby. He only cries when he is hungry or if he is overtired but usually stops when he is held. He loves his pacifier and has started to try to put his fingers in his mouth over the last week or so. He is still in 0-3 month clothes and they are fitting him really well now. A few pairs of his pants have actually gotten a little tight so I am guessing he will probably be in 3-6 month clothes in another month or so.

Early Intervention Evaluation

Two people from early intervention came to our house today to evaluate Brandon for early intervention. I had called them after our last pediatrician appointment to see if they would evaluate him after the pediatrician mentioned that Brandon prefers to turn his head to the right and that his neck seemed to be stiff and that he would probably need physical therapy for stretches. A physical therapist and speech therapist came to evaluate him and he did not qualify because he is not delayed. Everything is based on his corrected age (when he should have been born) and right now his corrected age is almost 2 months old (December 10th he would have been 2 months old). He scored between 2-4 months in all areas so he is where he should be and ahead in a few areas for his corrected age. I can choose to have him evaluated again down the road if I notice any delays. In order to be eligible he would have had to have a 33% delay in one area or 25% delay in two areas. He did not have any delays. Here is how he scored in each area:
communication development 3 months
cognitive development 3 months
social/emotional development 2 months
self-help/ adaptive development 2-4 months
gross motor 2 months
fine motor 2 months

Professional Pictures

Here are some of the professional pictures that we had taken with Brandon.

Just Reflux

I brought Brandon to the pediatrician earlier because he has been spitting up/ throwing up a lot of his bottle every so often. I assumed it was reflux but I wasn't positive so I wanted to make sure. We saw Dr. Lichtenberger who confirmed that it is indeed his reflux that is causing him to throw up some of his bottles. She increased his zantac dosage since he has grown again. He is now 10 pounds, 10 ounces! I can't believe how big he is getting.

Good News from the retina specialist yesterday

Brandon had an eye appointment in Cherry Hill yesterday with Dr. McNamara, the retina specialist. He was a little surprised that Dr. Turtel had sent us back to him. He looked at Brandon's eyes and said that it is actually looking a little better. He also said that he has never seen a baby that is Brandon's age need the laser surgery at this point. Babies by this age have already had the surgery because their eyes are bad enough that they need it. He said it just takes some babies longer for their eyes to get better than others and that they might not ever get all the way better but as long as the retina does not detach it is not a problem and it is not looking like the retina will detach. If it does he would be blind. Dr. McNamara said we can go back to Dr. Turtel and that we can wait 2-3 weeks before we go back to him.

I am bringing Brandon to the pediatrician in a little while. His reflux has been pretty bad. He cries horribly when he is burped sometimes and he has been spitting up a lot more lately...sometimes even projectile spit up which I have gotten quite used to wearing.