Sleep Study tomorrow night!

Sam's first sleep study is tomorrow (Thursday) night up at Primary.  I have been really dreading sleeping on the little chair bed thing, but hopefully they release us early so I can get some sleep at home.

Sam is up to 13 lbs!  Go Sammy!!

Today I walked into his daycare and they had  him wrapped in blankets and then sort of clipped into this stroller thing they used to move the kids around.  Of course he loves it.

I am going to have to talk to them about not putting him in the stroller.  I gave them a "how to prevent kyphosis (spinal curvature)" brochure last week but apparently the connection was not made.  So I won't be able to be subtle.  I am going to claim I talked to the doctor and he said that Sam can't be in strollers until 12 months.  It makes me feel better to do it that way because I have a hard time being assertive in these situations (yes, I do have some introversion left in me).

Jack was a mess this evening.  Only Mommy could help him do anything.  I don't know what that was about, but I think we are going through another Mommy is the only parent I have phase.

Toddler beds...

I have been trying to get Sam to nap better using the suggestions from the "No Cry Sleep Solution" book.  Yesterday, during Jack's alleged nap, I was rocking Sammy when I heard a door slam.  Since I was the only one home, I was suspicious.  I look in the hallway and there is a nearly naked and very surprised Jack.  He climbed out of his crib.

Matthew and I have dreaded this day.  Jack is one of those kids that needs naps but likes to skip them.  So at least we could put him in his crib and let him relax.  Plus, he has little impulse control at this point.

Reluctantly, we are going to move Sammy's easy to convert to a toddler bed crib into Jack's room this weekend.  Sam will get Jack's crib.  We don't want to switch rooms because that might be a little too much change for Jack.

To try to make this change interesting/exciting for Jack, I bought him his first set of real sheets.

I bought him these: 

He's going to be so excited to sleep with "gis-es (giraffe in Jack speak), lions, and elephants.  

I thought about getting the Elmo ones, but I don't want his room to be a shrine to Elmo.  He already has enough Elmo products.

4 Month Well Baby Visit

We had a bit of a surprise at the 4 month Well Baby Visit.

It has seemed like Sam's diapers were on the lighter side since I came back to work, but I thought that was related to his smaller size.  That makes little sense now...but hindsight is 20/20 and all.  When they weighed him, he had only gained 5 ounces in 6 weeks.  Way, way below what he should have been gaining.

That day I started taking domperidone.  I suspect my supply started decreasing when I went back to work for whatever reason.  A lactation consultant I spoke with said it may be related to my thyroid disease.  Domperidone has SAVED us!  He gained 11 ounces in one week!  His diapers are much, much heavier now.

I imagine his height measurement will increase more than expected.  I think we'll try to measure him today to see how tall he is.  He had been averaging about 75th percentile on the achon growth charts, but was down to 50th at the appointment.

Other health news...

Sam has his sleep study next week.  Hopefully we'll get good news from that.  Then we have a break in doctor appointments aside from PT until 6 months.  Whew!  So what did I do, I scheduled everyone else's appointments over the next month.  Matthew and I will be getting our eyes checked.  Jack will be seeing his allergist.   I am going to get my weird toe issue looked at.  Matthew will be getting a physical.  I am holding off on my physical until I'm neither pregnant nor nursing.

Sam is doing great!

We have seen such changes in Sam the last few weeks!

• He has started babbling up a storm.  Jack never babbled like Sam is babbling.  He has full hour long conversations!  I am guessing he doesn't have any fluid in his ears like Jack did.
• He can roll both from belly to back and back to belly.  He's much better at back to belly though.
• He has great head control!  With his torticollis, he sometimes leans to the weaker side, but he is slowly getting better at having his head in the middle.
• Speaking of torticollis...he is a pro at his stretches.  We may be switching to every other week PT soon.  His plagio measurements have gone from 10 mm to 9 mm.  Hopefully the fact that he no longer sleeps on the back of his head will keep the improvements coming and he won't need a helmet.
• He is starting to sleep longer periods of time at night.  Last night he slept from 10 PM until 5 AM!!

Big changes for Sammy!

Gross motor skill development

Here is the chart for Sam's motor skill development. You can see he will lag behind average height kids a bit.

It's been too long!

Things have been crazy around here lately!

Sam had his PT appointment and moderate torticollis was confirmed. He has stretches that we need to do each day to try to help his muscles to untighten. He seems to be doing a bit better.

He's also trying to roll over. He is trying so so hard but gets stuck on his head. So cute though!

He has a lot of lower body strength. He uses those legs to make circles in his crib and to push himself around the floor. Hopefully his upper body catches up soon.

Updates

Sam had his appointment with the Neurosurgeon. I had worked a very intense night shift the night before and had been awake since roughly 10 PM the night before. I managed to stay awake until 2 PM that day!

Anyway, we reviewed Sam's MRIs. I saw his spinal constriction and it didn't look like the images I saw online of severe compression. The doctor recommended we repeat the MRI at 1 year unless Sam has symptoms of spinal compression. He said it wasn't something to be concerned about, we just need to follow it closely.

Sam's head circumference was 44.5 cms, which puts him solidly at the 50th percentile for achondroplasia. I plotted his head circumference from the last few times he was measured and he has been moving up the 50th percentile curve the past few months. Perfect!

I get the feeling he's staying at the 75th percentile or greater height-wise. His last measurement was 21.5 inches, which was 75-85th percentile. We'll see December 27th or so when he has his 4 month appointment.

Next up is PT on the 7th.