A Bit of Everything

I'm going to try to keep this from being a ridiculously long update like the last one was (although I continue to be pleasantly surprised about how many of you actually read that thing!)

Samuel's eating has been a bit better the last two days.  I gave up on trying to get in the 40oz a day that we were getting in before Thanksgiving...and instead, gave in to letting him choose when he wants to eat.  Common sense right?  I've tried before and the kid doesn't ever show signs of hunger during the day....whether I wait 3 hours or 6.  I guess I should say that I'm just waiting further between bottles and hoping we get in enough milk to gain SOME weight and avoid dehydration.  I'm even going to let him sleep as long as possible at night.  Dum Dum DUM.  Although, I might not sleep from thinking of all those lost calories.

I spoke to the nutritionist at ACH and she said that he probably shouldn't be gaining an ounce a day any longer.  That certainly relieved some of my stress.  (Especially since he gained only half an ounce a day last week.)  The kid hasn't gained any height in about a month and I don't think he could grow any wider without popping.  She, like every other medical professional I've spoken with, wanted to know if I had started him on solids.  I tried to explain that he likes the food but not the delivery method (he won't open his mouth for the big BAD spoon.)  She's going to have a speech therapist feed him when we go for our appointment at ACH next week.  Today I tried giving him the food with my finger.  SUCCESS!  Sure, it's messy.  Sure, he has to learn the spoon eventually.  BUT HEY!  Food is food.

The Prevacid seems to be working....although we ended up paying $200 out of pocket instead of the $155 that we were told.  Oh well.  It's worth it.

I forgot to mention in my last post that Samuel has met some milestones....and I PROMISE (to those of you who continually remind me that I should NOT be worrying about his milestones) I haven't been dwelling on them.

First off, Samuel has FINALLY laughed.  Twice.  The first laugh was about three weeks ago.  I had him in the bedroom with me while I made the bed.  Then he laughed.  That's it.  Just out of the blue.  You can only hear the end of it because of the vocal cord issues....but at least he is laughing.  He laughed again last week when we were galloping through the house like a horse.  Maybe the laughs will get a little more frequent.  :)

Yesterday he rolled from his back to his side (I've been waiting on that one for a while now) and he has decided to be consistent about rolling from his tummy to his back.  Sitting will probably take a little more time.  He doesn't want to hold himself up with his hands anymore....he wants to sit and play (and thus tumbles over.)
He's also added gurgling and growling to his repertoire of sounds....we've even gotten out a 'da' once.

So....in all, we are doing a little better.  I still appreciate any and all prayers sent his way.

This post turned out to be almost as long as the last one!  Oops.