15 Month Well Visit, 12 Months Adjusted, and 911 Call

I haven't had a chance to update about the past several days. On Thursday after work I picked Brandon up at the babysitter and brought him to the pediatrician for his 15 month well visit. We saw Dr. Kerensky. We alternate between seeing him and Dr. O'Brien but I will be sticking with Dr. O'Brien from now on unless I switch practices. Brandon weighed 20 pounds exactly (he was 20 pounds, 6 ounces on Monday but that was with clothes on) and he grew an inch so he is now 29 1/2 inches long. He is in the 5th percentile for weight for his actual age and 10th percentile for length for his actual age.

Dr. Kerensky started off the appointment by saying that Brandon is not expected to catch up on milestones and growth until he is 2 years old. The rest of the appointment he kept contradicting himself however and saying that as a 15 month old Brandon should be doing so and so. I would then ask what about as a 12 month old, which is the age Brandon should be, and he would say he was on target for a 12 month old. He does want Brandon to have early intervention come do a speech evaluation. I will be surprised if he qualifies since he has to have a 30 percent delay and I don't think he does but it doesn't hurt to have the evaluation done. Brandon babbles constantly and has a lot of consonant sounds along with his vowel sounds. The only real word he says is mama or mom. He waves hi and bye if you say hi or bye to him and will give you a high 5 if you ask him to. I talked to someone from early intervention on Friday and she said someone will get in touch with me Monday or Tuesday to set up the evaluation. We will see what happens.

Brandon got two shots at the pediatrician which he was not happy about. He had the MMR and the chicken pox vaccine. Both shots were given in his arm which was the first time he had a shot in his arm. He has always had his shots in his leg but after one they start to give them in the arm.

The best news we got from Dr. Kerensky is we don't need to hibernate all winter. Dr. Kerensky thinks Brandon is strong enough and big enough to fight RSV if he gets it and has shown no signs of chronic lung disease since he has not been on oxygen for over a year and has not had any nebulizer treatments. Obviously we will stay away from people who have been sick for the 5 days and we will be careful still about not going to super crowded places but it is nice to know that Brandon can continue to see the outside world.

Brandon's 12 month adjusted birthday was on Saturday. This was the day that Brandon was due. He had his first donut to celebrate his adjusted birthday and liked it a lot. Brandon took one step two times to me yesterday without holding on to anything. He still gets so nervous when he realizes he actually took a step. Grandma and Grandpa Newman watched Brandon yesterday and last night since Stu and I had a wedding.

This morning Brandon woke up and was very clingy and crying easily whenever I would walk away from him. He still has a cold so I didn't know if he didn't feel well or if he was upset that I was gone most of the day yesterday and I didn't put him down at night or if he was just tired. He went down for a nap 2 1/2 hours after he woke up and napped for 2 1/2 hours. When he woke up he was still being clingy. Stu and I were trying to decide what to do for the day. There was an Octoberfest in Pier Village that we were thinking of going to so I put Brandon down in the living room with Stu and walked away to go check the computer to see what time the Octoberfest was going on until. Brandon started to cry hysterically when I walked away and started to cry so hard that he was crying without sound. He held his breath from letting out a cry with no sound and next thing I heard was Stu telling me Brandon wasn't breathing. I ran into the living room and Brandon was turning blue and unconscious. Stu was screaming Brandon's name and told me to call 911. He then put Brandon on the floor and as soon as he did that Brandon started to cry with sound and his color came back. The ambulance still came (with a lot of our friends who are on the first aid squad) and Brandon was fine by the time they got here. He was smiling at them and waving. He did give us quite a scare. He has held his breath at the doctors when he gets shots. The nurses have told me to blow in his face when he does that because it makes him take a breath.

Watching Baby Einstein

I just bought a new Baby Einstein cd for Brandon that is ages 12 months and up since Brandon is going to be 12 months adjusted on Saturday. Brandon LOVES it. He smiles at a lot of parts in the video and even knows when they are about to happen just from remembering from other times when he has watched it. Yesterday morning and this morning Brandon was up earlier than usual and I had to get ready for work so I put it on for him to watch. When I walked into the room this is how I saw him. Do you think he likes it?

Brandon's cold is slowly getting better. We put his crib at an incline and that is helping with the coughing at night when he is sleeping.

Brandon started playing hide and seek with us a few days ago. He loves it. He gets so excited when he sees us after he hides. Brandon also took one step several times today.

15 Months Old and Pediatrician Visit

Brandon is 15 months old today. He went to the pediatrician after I got home from work today because his nose has still been running constantly and he has a pretty bad cough. The pediatrician said he just has a cold and the cough is from post nasal drip. He doesn't have a fever, his throat isn't red, and his lungs sound good. I asked if he can go to the babysitter tomorrow and she said he can since he is not contagious. She also said to elevate one end of his crib at night when he is sleeping to help with his cough. I felt so bad for him. He coughed last night every 15 minutes but didn't cry at all. In between coughs he settled back down right away and slept. Brandon was weighed since we were at the pediatrician and he now weighs 20 pounds, 6 ounces.

Brandon has stackable rings that go on a peg. He has gotten really good in the past few days at putting the rings on the peg. He also has started to put blocks into things.

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

Brandon woke up this morning with a cold. Other than the times he has been teething he hasn't had a cold at all. When he teeths he gets cold symptoms. He may actually be cutting a tooth now. I am not sure but he has been drooling a lot. His nose has been running all day. But he has been his usual happy self for the most part.

We went apple and pumpkin picking even though Brandon has a cold. Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs came with us. Brandon was a little unsure of the pumpkins and apples at first even though he liked the pumpkins the week before at the fall festival but by the end of our trip he liked them. He had some bites from an apple and did really well with it. He loved the taste of the real apple. He has had baby food apples and diced apples before but it was his first time having bites from an apple.

It is RSV season again

Dear Family and Friends,

Brandon has been out and about enjoying the world since RSV season came to an end on May 1st. He has been loving going to all of the places where we have taken him. Unfortunately RSV season started again today and will last until April 1st.

If you are not aware of RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, you are among the majority. Most people have not heard of RSV, even though nearly every child has had the virus by age two. For full-term babies, RSV typically is not any worse than a common cold, but for preemies, the virus can be quite different. Babies born earlier than 36 weeks are at the highest risk for serious complications like pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and other sometimes fatal complications.

Brandon was a micro preemie of low birth weight and therefore is considered at high risk for contracting RSV and developing serious complications. This website offers a great visual comparison of a preemie’s lungs compared to the lungs of a full-term baby: http://www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf

We are going to have to be careful about taking Brandon out into the world again. He will continue to go to the babysitters, go for walks, go to friend's houses as long as they are healthy, and this year we will be able to take him to places if they are not crowded (the mall in the morning during the week, shopping at the grocery store early in the morning, etc.) but will have to once again avoid crowded places that are enclosed. Even though Brandon is almost 15 months old and at least 20 pounds (a big difference than the 1 pound, 14 ounces he was born at) his lungs are still underdeveloped and he can still easily get RSV. We don't know if he will qualify for RSV shots this year so we are going to have to take certain precautions.

Preventing the spread of RSV is very difficult. Thus, we must be vigilant about keeping Brandon safe during RSV season (October through April). The virus is spread through physical contact, in the air via a cough or sneeze, or by touching an infected object. The virus can live as long as six hours on hands and up to twelve hours on objects, and it spreads very easily, especially from child to child. Studies have also shown that infants pose an even higher risk of spreading RSV to others.

You may ask, “Can’t he fight it off and build up his immune system? Kids need to get sick, right?” The simple answer is NO, not yet. Since Brandon was pre-term, he did not acquire the necessary immunities to fight off infection. If he contracts RSV, he could be hospitalized and develop serious complications.

We’ll be asking our visitors and those we see outside of the home to follow a few guidelines to help prevent Brandon from contracting RSV or any other illness.

We ask that you do the following:


1. When you arrive, please wash your hands (for at least 20 seconds) and use hand-sanitizer as needed before touching Brandon. If you see us out and about, use hand sanitizer before coming close.

2. Please, do not get in Brandon's face, including kisses. You could have an illness completely benign to you, that could devastate him.

3. Please refrain from coming over if you are currently sick and have not been symptom-free for at least five days (or more depending on your particular case), if you live with someone who is sick, or have been in close contact with someone who is sick.

4. If you smoke, we ask that you change your clothing and refrain from smoking prior to visiting, as a preemie’s lungs are very sensitive to smoke. RSV recommendations are against passive smoke exposure.


Our goal is to make it through a second RSV season without Brandon contracting RSV or any other serious illness. His lungs are still very fragile until he is at least 2-years-old. We have to be mindful of this, especially as he continues to grow and appears to be so healthy!

Please understand that this letter is not meant to offend anyone, just simply to provide an explanation. We hope you understand, and we appreciate your help keeping our son safe. Everyone has done a great job so far of washing hands and being mindful of Brandon's health - we can't thank you enough. He's been through a lot, and with a few simple preventative measures we can get him through this winter so he can continue to thrive.

Here are several resources with additional information about RSV below.
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv_resourceshtm.htm
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvfaq.htm
http://www.preemiecare.org/rsv2.htm
http://www.mostonline.org/preemieBB/viewforum.php?f=82

Love,
Karen, Stu, and Brandon

Standing

Brandon stood a few times today for about 3 seconds and then realized he was standing and sat down. The first time Brandon was walking with me and I was holding both of his hands. I let go of one of his hands and he continued to walk so I let go of his other hand to see what he would do. He stopped walking and stood in place and then sat down. He can stand but he gets so nervous still when he realizes he is standing.

Brandon also has decided that two naps a day are only for babies. He has given me and the babysitters a hard time taking two naps a day since Friday. Before that he easily went down for his naps. Since Friday he has also only napped 30-45 minutes for each nap. I think he is ready for one nap a day now. Unfortunately we didn't realize that until today after he took a nap from 10-11 and then wouldn't go back down for Becky for an afternoon nap. I thought he would fall asleep in the car on the way home but he stayed awake the whole time. He then managed to stay awake until 7:00 when I finally let him go to sleep. He was asleep within 2 minutes. He will try one nap tomorrow at a later time than his morning nap is and see how he does with it.

Big Boy Carseat and a Visit to Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs' House

We switched Brandon to his forward facing carseat over the weekend since he is finally heavy enough to be in it (over 20 pounds). He seems so much happier to be in his new carseat than in his infant carrier.

We went to my parents' house on Sunday for dinner. We had a really nice time. Two people who I grew up with, Lisa and Wendy, were there with their parents, children, and significant others. Brandon had a good time exploring grandma and grandpa's house. He was crawling all around it and opening all the doors he saw. We had a One Year Home cake to celebrate Brandon being home for a year. He loved it and ate the whole thing.