Dylan - 2 months

Can you believe it's been 2 months already!?!?

Yesterday was his normal pediatrician appointment and he did great. He weighed 12 lbs 4oz, 23 inches long and his head measured 15 1/2 (cm's I think?). His weight and height are 50th percentile and his head is measuring 50th by his pediatrician and 60th based on the neurologist - so accurate?!?!? :) The pediatrician was excited that he was already rolling over and holding his head up well on his tummy. She did notice he didn't have great head control when you pull him up from the table from his back. But nothing too concerning at this point. He got his shots and CRIED a lot...probably more than Zach did with his shots. It's so sad, but again a relief for me - normal is good!

Today we drove to Springfield for his neurologist appt. We had to have an EEG prior to the appointment so he couldn't sleep on the way there. It's about 2 hours away and I didn't do very well keeping him awake. I used cold wet wipes and everything but he was pretty tired. We did manage to keep him up for about an hour before the test. They explained that the brain reacts differently when it hasn't had rest. If your child is older you have to keep them up all night prior to the EEG. What a nightmare! They attached 24 electrodes to his tiny little head by rubbing an exfoliant to his head and then adhesive. Finally, they put tape around his head to keep them in place. I then had to hold him for 20 mins or so while he slept and they flashed strobe lights and watched his brain activity. He slept through the whole thing. I'd say the worst part was taking off all the electrodes and watching his little baby hair get pulled out with the tape. Torture. We immediately got to go to the doc and get the results. His EEG looks good! Good, they said. Not pretty good, but we'll keep an eye on it, just good. I'm thrilled. He can come off his drugs and we don't have to go back for 4 months. The only bummer is you have to taper slowly off the phenobarbital and it's going to take 3 months to taper off. But hey, it's still great news no matter how you look at it! The neurologist also noticed the head control thing, but said not to worry too much about it. He said that's very typical in a child who experienced what Dylan has.
My parents friend, Tina, who works with little ones and physical therapy gave us some exercises to work with him. THANKS TINA! So we'll probably start trying those a little to help his neck muscles along a little.
The best part is he's cooing and smiling a lot. It's just melts my heart and makes me feel so blessed for all that we've come through. I told Craig tonight that I'm just amazed that in two months we went from an EEG that showed "little charge or brain activity" to "looks good". The brain is so amazing! AMEN! What a great Christmas season we are having!