Opthamologist and GI Doctor

Yesterday was a very busy day. In the morning Brandon went to Dr. Turtel to have his eyes looked at. He hadn't been in 3 weeks. Dr. Turtel said his eyes are improving but slowly. He doesn't need to see Brandon again for another 8 weeks and then he will probably just do an eye exam rather than pry his eyes open with the metal things that keep them open. He said babies Brandon's age get too big for that without putting them to sleep since they kick, scream, flail their arms, etc.

In the afternoon Brandon went to see Dr. Teitelbaum, the GI doctor. We originally had an appointment scheduled for February but there was a cancellation so he was able to see us yesterday. He increased Brandon's zantac dosage to 2 mL twice a day. He said you can't overdose on zantac and this way Brandon shouldn't outgrow the dose for awhile. He suggested two formulas that may help with the spitting up. I may try one. The carnation good start formula seems to be making Brandon extremely gassy and uncomfortable because of the gas so I want to switch him off of it. It only comes as a powder instead of a ready feed like he was used to. Someone mentioned to me that powder formulas cause more gas because there are more bubbles. Dr. Teitelbaum also told me to add 1 tablespoon of prune juice to each of Brandon's bottles to help with his constipation issues. I tried that yesterday and he really liked the taste of the bottles with the prune juice added.

The picture on here shows Brandon when we got back from our second appointment. He was wiped out.

Brandon finally slept better last night. The last 5 nights have been tough because of his reflux being so bad. He was up a lot throughout the nights but last night he went 5 hours straight and then went back down. He did wake up again briefly because of his reflux and to burp but went right back down again each time.

Pulminologist Appointment

Brandon went to Dr. Sembrano today for his next RSV shot. He let out a loud scream and held it out as usual. I feel so bad for him when he gets shots because they really hurt him. He was fine shortly after. Dr. Sembrano said that Brandon is doing really well. He was impressed with how active Brandon is and said that there have been no episodes on his apnea monitor. He is going to continue to be on the apnea monitor at night. Dr. Sembrano said usually around 6 months old he stops the monitor so I am guessing he will stop it at the next appointment in January but we will see. He is also still on his 2 diuretics but the dosase has not been increased since he came home from the hospital. He is weaning himself from them. Dr. Sembrano said when they run out we probably won't refill them this time. Brandon weighed 11 pounds, 12 ounces.

After his appointment we went to the NICU and finally saw Chris, one of Brandon's primary nurses. She hadn't been there the other times that we stopped by. The NICU has tons of picture holiday cards. They are taped all over the window for everyone to see. We sent one in so that was hanging too.

I spoke to Dr. O'Brien, Brandon's pediatrician, earlier. He said it is fine for Brandon to be on a regular formula now that he is over 11 pounds. So we started him on carnation good start tonight like Dr. Hudome suggested at the developmental clinic last week.

Rough Night and Pictures From This Week

Brandon had a rough night with his reflux last night. I had brought him to the pediatrician earlier in the week because everytime I would feed him he would start screaming and arching his back. This went on for 4 days. The pediatrician seemed to think it was his reflux getting worse. When she looked at his throat she could see the reflux. She changed his medicine so instead of getting zantac twice a day he was getting prevacid in the morning and an increased dose of zantac at night. I tried this Wednesday and Thursday. Last night Brandon woke up for his bottle at 2:30. I gave him an ounce and went to burp him and he threw up everything that he had drank. I gave him another ounce and the same thing happened. Every time I tried to lie him down after that he would gag but nothing came up. I called the pediatrician on call and he said it sounded like Brandon's reflux since he didn't have any other symptoms of a stomach virus. He said to stop the prevacid and to give him zantac before his first bottle this morning. It seems to really have helped doing that. Brandon has taken his usual 3-4 ounces per bottle every 3 hours today without spitting up more than a wet burp every so often. At 4:30 I finally thought to put Brandon in his bouncy seat to sleep so that he was sitting upright and he was fine until he woke up this morning. I did call a GI doctor. The soonest appointment they could give us was February 11th but we are on the cancellation list so the person that I spoke to seems to think he should get in the week after next week most likely.

Developmental Clinic

Brandon went to the developmental clinic at the hospital this morning for the first time. The developmental clinic is for babies that were born prematurely. They go every 3-4 months usually and can be seen by a physical therapist, speech therapist, neonatologist, and nurse practioner each time they go. Today he saw the nurse practioner, Dr. Hudome (one of the neonatologists when he was in the hospital), and the physical therapist. The physical therapist showed me some stretches that I can do with Brandon for his torticollis (neck stiffness) but overall said he is doing great. She said he is much more alert than your typical 2 month old (the age he should be right now). He weighed 11 pounds, 8 ounces so he gained 2 ounces from his pediatrician appointment last Thursday. It was a different scale he was weighed on so he might have gained a little more if he were to be weighed at the pediatrician. Dr. Hudome said he is looking great. She couldn't believe how big he is now. She mentioned switching his formula to carnation good start. I think we will give it a try.

We saw Alexys, one of the babies that was next to him in the NICU for awhile, and her parents. Her appointment was a half hour after ours. We will see her again when we go back in April since we scheduled our appointments for the same time as each other. After the appointment we all went up to the NICU to say hi. Dr. Alemany was working up there so he got to see Brandon.

He rolled over!

Earlier today I put Brandon on his stomach for some tummy time. Next thing I knew he was on his back. I wasn't sure if it was a one shot thing that accidentally happened so I put him back on his stomach and he rolled onto his back again. After that he would have none of it. He would cry everytime he was put on his stomach but he did roll from his tummy to back twice!

A Visit from Santa

Stu's fire department is doing their Santa runs today. Santa stopped by our house first so we could take a quick picture of Brandon with Santa.

First Playdate

Brandon has his first playdate yesterday. It was with Logan. Logan is my friend Becky's baby and was born on December 1st. Brandon is not allowed most children but he is allowed around Logan because Logan is in the same position as him right now with not being exposed to germs from other children. Becky and I grew up together so I am so happy that we both had baby boys at the same time that will be growing up together too. Brandon was awake the whole time we were taking pictures of the two babies but Logan fell asleep as soon as he was placed on the floor. Brandon kept trying to reach for Logan's hood and hand.