Nick had a doctor appointment on Monday. Another weight check. He is officially 12 pounds. While he is growing, he is not quite growing at the rate his doctor had hoped. A while ago he was in the 7th percentile for weight. He dropped to the 5th last month. He did go up a little this month... to the 5.4 percentile. So, we are exploring our options. She is steadfast that he needs to take 20 ounces of formula a day. She also wants him to eat fruits/veggies/cereal twice a day, and hoping to add a 3rd feeding. I am looking at this little tummy and only seeing so much room. For now we are keeping things the way they are. I am keeping a "food diary" as it were. The biggest concern for now is his changing formula. The study formula he was on was 24 calorie. The new regular formula (over the counter) is only 22 calorie. We are going to go back for a weight check in two weeks.
Nick's doctor and the Occupational therapist for the formula study have both recommended him to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). They have set up an appointment to come out to the house a week from Monday to evaluate Nick. They are going to do a series of developmental tests to see what age he measures. Once they have evaluated him, they will develop a game plan for his therapy.
ECI will come out to the house a few times a week to work with him on different developmental and physical therapies. I am anxious to see what his evaluation shows. I also am anxious to speak to someone who sees preemies regularly. While I think Nick's doctor is great, micro preemies only account for 1% of the population. I am not sure how many she has seen. I am curious about his growth and weight gain. I think speaking with someone who sees this everyday can give me a little more perspective on his growth.
3 comments:
Once he gets enrolled in ECI you can request any service you want and I would immediately ask for nutrition. They can give you tips on the best foods and formula for him as well as chart him on a preemie/low birth weight graph to give you a better idea on how he's progressing with his true peers.
Thanks! That is helpful. Did Adam and Andrew go through something like ECI? I know this is a lot to ask, but do you remember what their height/weight was when they were around 4 months corrected age?
Thanks again! Your insight has been extremely helpful.
Perspective: At 4 months corrected age, AJ weighed approximately 9.5 pounds...Keep in mind that his little tummy is about the same size as his tiny little fist. There is only so much room in there for food.
Make sure the charts they are measuring him on are specifically for preemies. A regular growth chart is VERY misleading. He will catch up in time. As long as he seems happy and is gaining some weight, you should do fine.
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