Henry is 6 Months

Look at these perfect little toes. 😍 Baby Henry is officially 6 months today.

He’s really only 3 months if we adjusted for his prematurity, so the doctor’s office compares his growth and development using the adjusted age until he reaches about 2 years old.

He has stretched us out of our comfort zone the last month. There were days he was so fussy and prone to spitting up / vomiting that after 2+ hours of continuous holding and adjusting, trying everything I could think of, and feeds taking over an hour, I had to put him in his crib and walk away.

After a couple of minutes I come back, and a bath usually calms him enough to eat. He is so stinking cute even when he’s hard to deal with. It’s not his fault. I wish I could help him because he’s usually such a happy baby cooing, smiling, laughing.

We’ve had lots of medical stuff in the last month: a swallow study, a trip to the GI specialist, feeding therapy, and seeing our amazing nutritionist who helps us figure out what to feed him. He’s gaining weight, but only in the 2 percentile. Our last trip to the dietician, he finally weighed over 11 pounds!

When we went back to adding formula to his milk, he threw up so forcefully that his NG tube came out on its own. I was going crazy and my brain must have been trying to problem solve why he’s struggling on a formula he did well on before. I dreamed that the nurses asked me to check a bunch of things, and the last thing was if we measured when placing the NG tube. When I awoke I asked Jer if we could try it.

His tube changed from like a 25 to a 28, and it’s seriously so much better now. He had immediate relief and if there’s vomiting it’s just a tiny little bit. We can gavage him at night and not need to be consoling a sad sad baby. He does cry a bit, but it sounds like he has gas, not that his insides are killing him.

It feels like there’s hope in the world again.

Getting Outside with Baby

These walks really make my day. Baby Henry doesn’t usually mind the longer outings. Most of the time he is annoyed at me for opening his cover so he can look out, because although he is a curious fellow he doesn’t appreciate when outside is too bright for his sensitive eyes.

Roxy is SO cute and happy and surprisingly obedient off leash. I tried to go to places we could be alone without running into other dogs, and it really brings out her playful side.

Walks have become an excuse to treat myself to a bagel sandwich. Most mornings I can’t make myself anything safely one-handed with a baby in my arms, but Baby does tolerate going for a car ride to the drive thru at a nearby Einstein Bros. It happens to be right across the street from our drive thru pharmacy when we regularly need to pick up Baby’s meds, so it’s a Win-Win for me!

Help Wanted

Baby is still the closest with siblings. Still as vocal as ever wanting to share his passionate thoughts. Sometimes I sense him saying things to me, such as something is bothering him or that he’s delighted by my smile. The kids can make him laugh, but we try not to do it too much since he gets hiccup fits. Often as I’m talking to him he will interrupt me with little grunts that say, “uh uh!” like he’s objecting.

Curious Boy

Playtime and reading while Mommy gets the sheets cleaned. I find that this personal stimulation helps him settle when he’s restless and fussy during a feed. It also helps me to feel like we’re bonding and increasing his brain development.

His favorite toy is a fish shaped wooden rattle with colorful beads on it. No matter how distracted he is, he will stop fussing to focus on that toy and follow it around with his big eyes.

He is finally discovering the chewy joys of Sophie the giraffe. It’s a bit of a challenge to hold on to with only one hand uncovered.

Overnight Oximetry Test

We had an overnight oximetry test to determine whether Baby needs to go back on oxygen. It’s supposed to measure his oxygen level during sleep, so I paused it during his awake feeds. Thankfully there was enough data on it that we didn’t need to redo the test.

Still waiting on results.

Our goals are to feed consistently enough to gain weight!

Love you Henry boy,
Mama