Happy Birthday Dylan!

Today (Saturday) marks 3 months for Dylan. It's weird...it doesn't seem like it's been that long, yet it feels like it's been so much longer than that, too. It's hard to explain.

Dylan continues to do well. His appointment last Wednesday was a bit of a letdown though. Not because of any bad news or anything like that- in fact there really wasn't any news at all. Barbara and I thought we were bringing him to get an MRI. Instead, we had a consult with a neurologist who ordered an MRI. That appointment still hasn't been made, as we are waiting for the office to call us back with our day and time. The neurologist didn't really have anything new to add to the discussion. He mentioned the possibility of developmental delays from the ventriculomegaly after viewing the first two MRIs, but also mentioned how well things were looking on the third MRI that was done. This was all stuff we already knew. Oh well. We'll get his MRI done as soon as they can schedule it, and then we are scheduled for an appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon to review the results. Don't worry though- there's no reason for any surgery. It's just that the neurosurgeon is the one best qualified to examine the MRI and give a prognosis. So... we'll wait and see what he has to say. Barbara and I are both confident that Dylan is just fine.

One big development that is likely more exciting to Barbara and I then to you folks reading this: Dylan is sleeping through the night, most of the time. As long as he eats a decent amount before we head off to sleep for the night, he stays asleep until around 5 or 6 am, which works great for us. I'm usually awake at that time anyway, to get ready for work, so it's no big deal to change a diaper and let him have another bottle before I head out for the day.

Speaking of feeding, Dylan continues to put all the milk we're giving him to good use. As of his appointment on Wednesday,he weighed 11 lbs, 15 oz. I'm sure by now he has broken the 12 lb mark. I'm not sure of his exact length right now, but he is definately growing longer, not just plumper. He's outgrown his newborn outfits and is now wearing 0-3 months. When we stopped up at the hospital to visit with his care team from the NICU, they were all impressed with just how big he's gotten. We don't notice it as much, I guess, since we see him every day, but even Barbara and I can see the difference. This is going to be one big kid.

Dylan has also just started to explore the many different sounds he can make. While he's not exactly babbling yet, he's finding that he can get a reaction when he fires off an "ooooohhhh" or "aaaaaaaaahhhhh" towards Mom or Dad. It's really neat to watch how he is learning new things every day. Although sometimes, when we think he might be interested in something new, he appears totally unimpressed.

We were visiting Barbara's parents after the doctors appointment on Wednesday, and we thought he might like to meet the horses. Barbara took his hand and helped him stroke the nose of one ofthe more docile horses. Dylan rolled his eyes, looked at his mom and sighed. It sure seemed to me that he was doing his best to say, "and why are you making me pet this smelly thing?" Maybe next time, I guess :) Strangely enough, the horse had the same look on his face, too.

Anyway, that's all I have time for now. I'll be back here next Sunday, unless there's anything special to report.

Here are some more recent pics to hold you over...

Steady as he goes

Things have been going along steadily here for Dylan, and there really hasn't been much to report. We weighed him today, and he is a whopping 11 lbs, 8oz. He's also around 23 or 24 inches long.

Food is still his best friend, and he is eating well and often. He is eating enough at night though to almost make it through the entire night without waking. His schedule usually works out in such a way that his late feeding falls somewhere around Midnight or 1 am and he eats again around 5 or 6 am. That's long enough that if Barb and I split those two feedings, we both get a full night's sleep.

His next doctor's appointment is this coming Wednesday. He will be seeing a neurologist for a follow up on his ventriculomegaly and hydrocephalus. His last MRI was very encouraging, and we hope to have confirmation of that on Wednesday. Either way, we'll report back with any developements from that appointment.

Other than that, there really hasn't been much of anything going on. At his age, there's not much to talk about. He eats, he poops, he plays and he sleeps. There's really not much else to it. With that in mind, I've decided to only update the blog once a week. The exact day will probably be on Sundays, but I'm not entirely positive about that. Of course, if there is anything important that comes up, I'll be sure to post about it here regardless of the day, but seeing as how things are very much the same day and in and day out, I don't see much point in boring you the reader with any more of it than is necessary.

So anyway, that's it for now.

Returning to action

I'm terribly sorry about the long delay between posts. We have been without internet since the day of my last post, due to some serious issues with Cox cable. We are back up and running now though, so I can fill you all in on what has been going on with our little Dylan.

As of yesterday, Dylan is 11 weeks old. He weighs over 10lbs now and is 22 1/2 inches long. He is eating 5 oz with every bottle, every 4 hours or so. He is also starting to sleep longer. Hopefully sleeping through the night will come sooner rather than later.

We did have a bit of an episode a few days ago, although it turned out to be nothing. Barbara calls it her "first neurotic doctors office visit". On one particular night, Dylan was very cranky all night long, pulling his legs up in pain, crying through the night and just being inconsolable. This continues through the next morning as well. We figured it was best to bring him to the doctor and have him checked out, just to be on the safe side. According to the doc, it was nothing more than some constipation, and she suggested a small amount of diluted apple juice one or two times a day to help soften things up and get the plumbing working again. By later that day, it seemed to have worked and we were back to our happy baby once again.

And what a happy baby he seems to be. As he gets older, he is so much more active. He babbles along with mom and dad, bats at our hands or his toys and just seems to be very easy to entertain. And he does a fair job of entertaining Barbara and I as well. The expressions this child can make are priceless. Whether it's "the poopy face", "the mad face", "the serious face", "giggly baby" or any other of the host of expressions we have named, Dylan is always trying to communicate something with the look on his face. And each look is simply beautiful - even the "mad face".

I have just a couple of more pics to add to the blog here, but Barbara does have many more saved on her computer. She wanted me to mention that anyone who wants some more pics of Dylan need only email here at babyfundsales@aol.com and she will be happy to email some to you.