Yay exciting week this week - we had our first visit from the Child Development Team's VNT or Visiting Neuro-developmental Therapist!! We have been on a waiting list since May for a VNT, as the NICU Homecare had picked up back then that he had head lag. However back then it wasn't our chief priority, as the little man's feeding and growth wasn't sorted, and so as a result his energy level had been too low to engage in tummy time or similar to strengthen this. Plus his head was out of proportion to his body (bigger) so head lag wasn't unexpected.
However when we had our shock diagnosis in mid-June, we had soon realised that actually his head lag was due to hypotonia (or weak muscle tone), and have since been chomping at the bit to see a VNT.
Now, in mid August the wait list has finally cleared, some three and a half months later. Somewhat disturbing when compared to availability and ongoing frequency of therapy for T9Ms overseas, in bigger and more well-funded countries :-(.
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| Nate showing Claire how he likes to be fed :-) |
But we have one now! Yay! And the little man has some work to do, even though he may not like it much! Watch this space for progress reports there :-)
And what else is new with us.......
This week Dad (Nate's Grandaddy) had his retirement dinner at the Pullman Hotel in town, which Robin and I were lucky enough to attend along with Mum and Dad. The university really did Dad proud, and it was just so great to see and hear from so many people who came to wish him well in his retirement years. So special to see and hear how many people Dad has influenced over the course of his career - impressive!
Nate of course stayed home for the night, and with his first babysitters - my cousin Mike and cousin-in-law Claire - who will also excitedly welcome their own first child into the world in the new year :-).
So it was valuable practice in looking after wee Nate, and they assure us that he was a model baby - feeding, chatting, and sleeping on command! (Now if only he would do that for us :-))
Granny and Grandaddy stayed over that night too - which meant morning cuddles and chats for Nate! Talk about excitement and noisiness (and that was just from Granny and Grandaddy!). Excuse the red forehead mark and nose padding - he is still coming to grips with his Cpap mask. Oh and excuse Granny and Grandaddy in their PJs and morning hair too :-)
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| Got them both wrapped around my little fingers :-) |
Other news..... like father, like son.....Nate now has a pair of very cool Adidas trainers! However unlike father.... he only has the one pair :-).
Check out how gorgeous these are, I added a pen for relativity so you can truely appreciate the CUTENESS factor!
So watch this space for (1) these to actually fit, and (2) for that collecting hobby to take hold in son.......
This week, we also welcomed Nanny Sylvie onboard to 'Team Nate'.
Nanny Sylvie is going to help us out a couple of days a week when Robin and I are both working. Granny and Grandaddy will take another day, and both Robin and I will also take a day a week each. We both plan to be four days a week this side of Christmas, so we can work through the plethora of all of Nate's Starship appointments.
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| You talking to me?! |
As for Nate, he continues to make good progress.
He is now 23 weeks old, or 17 weeks corrected.
Tummy time is a mix of fun, laughs and chats, and some pretty challenging physio work. The little man does a great job of giving it his all even when it's hard, which unfortunately for him is a fair amount of the time. But he certainly isn't short of motivation.
Plus he weighed in at an impressive 5.84kg at his weigh-in this week, which was 480g up on the fortnight prior! That's BIG growth for our little man (well for any little man actually) :-).
And progress has finally been made on our home, and we HOPE to be able to move back in about 10 weeks or so. In the meantime, Nate's showcasing his love of part of the Auckland neighbourhood anyway! (Excuse the wide eyes, Mummy stunned him with a camera flash!)
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