Almost 1 year old!

We had Ben's 1 year appt on Tuesday. He had a great appointment! The dr said he was almost caught up with his development. He is pretty near caught up physically and he just has a few minor things that he needs to work on with fine motor development. Physically, he is looking great! He has apparently gone through a growth spurt recently. He was 30 1/4 inches long and 20 lbs 1 oz. He is only in the 25th % for weight, but the 75th for height! She is not worried at all since babies tend to lose weight between 12-15 mths from being so mobile. He has finally broken the 20 lb mark! The dr said that we can feel free to switch to whole milk, or keep nursing, or any combination of the 2 if we would like. I am going to try to keep nursing him as long as he wants to. I feel like it may have helped him stay fairly healthy, even with being immunosuppressed. I'll probably try to give him some whole milk as well, just to get him used to it. But, we also have a ton of breastmilk in the deep freezer to get through. He also got 2 shots at that appointment. He handled them like a champ. Screamed for about 2 minutes and then it was over. He will be getting 2 shots at each appt from now on and should be caught up by the time he is 18 mths old

His physical therapist said that she is confident he won't have any trouble walking and that he is getting so close. She doesn't want to discharge him just yet though. The reason for this is, if he were to need orthotics (which apparently can be common with kids who have had long hospitalizations) we would have more trouble getting them if he was already discharged. She doesn't think it will be an issue. She thinks he looks like he has great posture and that his feet look good.

All in all, it was a great appointment! We also have his NICU follow up appointment on Nov 26. this is where they follow his development until he is about 5 years old. They do this with all kids who were in the NICU or PICU as infants. Studies have shown that when kids are hospitalized for long periods and especially sedated or paralyzed, that can affect their development. So, the NICU follow up is to make sure his development is on track and, if it's not, to recommend services. So far, he has only been slightly delayed in speech and, obviously delayed physically. I am eager to see what they think of him at this appointment since he has made such great strides!