Ian is...........

WALKING!

He's doing great!! He's now 18 months old and is up to 21lb, 29in long. He says dada, daddy, dog, doggy, duck, quack quack, book, yuck, that, what, huh, nana, good. He recently started saying momma while he's playing, but doesn't call me momma yet. Actually, he crawls after me saying nana nana nana lol.

Eyes: Still wears glasses

Ears: Now has perfect hearing, no loss like they had thought.

Kidney, Liver, Spleen: Still enlarged but gradually resolving themselves.

Gut: Tolerating happy meals! hehe He can eat anything and tolerates it all. And he likes everything, i haven't found anything that he won't eat.

He definitely has a major attitude and i suppose rightly so....but whew where do they learn this? He's strong and has an obsession with slapping us in the face, taking our glasses. I haven't figured out how to break him of that yet.

So, besides going to occasional check-ups, he's a normal baby these days. No pertinent health problems and it's wonderful. It's so nice to not have to worry anymore.

Hugs to all!
Christy & Ian

Finally another update

I know it's been forever since i've updated this. I guess i just let life get too busy. Ian is doing greattttt these days! He is up to 17lb 15oz (as of 3wks ago) and 27 1/2 in long. He had his 9th surgery in January. This one was so minor compared to all of the others he's had. He just had tubes put in his ears this time.

He is:
1. Sitting
2. Pulling up
3. Saying dada and dadadee
4. We were able to switch his formula from Neocate to Alimentum and he tolerated it great!!! It's been over 3wks now.
5. We started feeding him textured foods and chopped table foods last week and he has done so wonderful with them so far!!! This was such a huge step for him!
6. His vision got a little worse so we got stronger lenses 3wks ago.
7. His liver and spleen remain larger than they should be but are gradually resolving themselves, it's better at every checkup.
8. His kidney continues to resolve itself as well.
9. We go next Monday to have his hearing rechecked and a followup from the tube surgery.

He's doing so great! He's like a normal baby these days. He's still smaller than he should be, but he's still growing each time we go back to the dr. He's about the size of a 6-7month old right now and is 15months old. He has been home for 6months solid now without being hospitalized. Every since they removed that last portion of his intestines 6months ago, he's done great. There had been this dilated portion that they thought was okay, but finally decided that maybe the nerves on the inside were too damaged to work right, so they removed it.. and also during the surgery, found where a portion had come off and fell onto the gallbladder and attached itself, and began to grow (formed it's own blood supply), so they removed that as well. And since then, he's tolerated everything we've thrown at him. He's even had the lil star shaped puffs, and some of mommy's cooking...which he loves of course.. who wouldn't right? lol. He's so much fun, so expressive, and he has a laugh that i wish i could bottle and sell. It's hillarious and tooo freakin cute!! I still stay home with him through the week and work weekends while billy watches him. He has entirely too many toys for one kid! lol. He's finally wearing 6-9month clothes now and can still wear a few of his 3-6month outfits. Crazy for a 15month old huh? lol.

If you know of a another nurse with a preemie or special needs infant/toddler who's in need of someone with a medical background to watch her baby while she returns to work, or looking to watch one while she stays home, switch off childcare or something, send her my way. Maybe we could help each other out somehow. I know there must be someone out there somewhere in the same situation we are... unable to use daycare and too leary of just anyone watching the medical issues (not that he has that many anymore, i'm just leary).

Have a great week!
Christy & Ian

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I'm very happy to be having Ian at home with us this Christmas. This time last year he was not doing well, he had contracted an infection and was also placed on the oscillator (diff type of ventilator) the day before christmas. He was a little over 2lbs at that time. Today he is growing and thriving and he's a whopping 16lbs 9oz and almost 27" long. He's babbling and saying da da and ummmm (when he eats). Yes he's eating!! Rice Cereal, Oatmeal, Peas, Green Beans, Carrots, Squash, Bananas, & Chicken so far!! He's doing so well with it that we've even cut his Pectin (added to his formula) in half too! He's army crawling, not crawling on hands and knees yet, and he hates to sit up but we're working on that. He loves to stand and jump. It's been a rough year and financially it has been excrutiating being unable to work much, but things are beginning to look up. Ian has been home almost 4 months straight now and i've been able to at least work weekends.

Merry Christmas to everyone! And a special merry christmas to all of the nicu nurses and the parents who are having to experience that aweful rollercoaster ride. I'm thinking of you and praying for you at this holiday time and always.

Big Hugs,
Christy & Ian

(a couple of pics from his birthday last month)

Happy Birthday Ian!

Ian turned one today!!!!

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday dear Ian,
Happy Birthday to You!

I'm sooo proud of him for having such strength and making it through so much this past year when all the odds were stacked against him. I love him more than anything in this world and don't know what life was without him. He was born weighing 2lb 4oz and 13 3/4 in long....he's now over 16lbs and 25 3/4in long!

Mommy & Daddy love you soooooooo much Ian! Happy Birthday baby boy!!!

Halloween pics

Some new pics

Ian & Daddy (I LOVE this pic!)



He just started making this fishy face yesterday lol

MILESTONE!!

Ian got to try rice cereal for the first time this morning! He's never been able to have anything but Neocate formula before now. We are starting out small and slow at just 1-2tsp a day. He seemed to enjoy it but wanted to take and play with the spoon. It's both exciting and scarey because noone knows how his intestines will handle it or what may happen. I think he'll do great though, he's been doing so well lately! :)

9 1/2 months old

Ian's hearing test follow-up

I took Ian to the Audiologist for a follow up due to failing his hearing screen in the nicu. He has great hearing in the right ear but has 50% hearing loss in the left ear :( They will now monitor him to make sure it doesn't affect his speech, and monitor for fluid in the middle ears so that his good ear doesn't sound muffled and affect him. The audiologist said that it's a good thing to know so that when he's older, we know to focus more on his good side for classrooms, etc. Anyhow, we just monitor every 3 months for now, and when he gets older, they can test him better to see what he actually understands vs hearing from the left ear.

Finally an update :)

Our internet has been messed up for a few weeks so i have been unable to update here. Ian has been doing really well. We noticed his eyes crossing occasionally and the right eye turning inward alot, so I took him to the eye dr and it ends up he is farsighted and needs glasses. He's doing soooo much better with his glasses now! But boy is it a struggle to keep them on his eyes lol. He prefers to use them as a chew toy or a necklace lol. He's getting close to 12lbs now and is 24in long. He's growing so much! He's making alot of noises these days which is cute. He started to roll over from tummy to back a few days ago and today he rolled from his back to his tummy. He also started raising his head and shoulders off of the floor when on his tummy and will put his legs down to stand when held up. These are all new things for him within the past week. Here are a few newer pics of him.