Miles: 7 Months

Weight: 13 lbs. 11 oz. (0%)

Height: 25.25" (3%)

Teeth: 0

Clothing: 6 months

Diapers: Size 1

We met with Early Intervention this month for an assessment and they very quickly determined that Miles had reflux. The pediatrician called in a prescription for him right away and we noticed almost immediate improvements! Miles had never sat up before, likely because it was a painful position, and after two days of medication, he began sitting up completely independently. He also began using both arms/legs equally, drank much better from the bottle and started finally having an interest in solids. I truly can't believe what a positive difference the medicine has made for him. 

Miles began speech and occupational therapy this month through EI and will start physical therapy next month. He needs a bit of extra work to focus on muscle strength and flexibility, particularly in his mouth and jaw. The therapists come to our home and teach me how to do the therapy...and I'll try to do a better job implementing it than I've done these past few weeks. Oops.   

I stopped pumping/nursing completely this month when it became clear that it wasn't working for our family. I was spending over 2 hours every day pumping and it was only enough for 1.5-2 bottles. Miles drinks 6 bottles a day, so that was just not worth the time and effort required. When we switched to formula-only, Miles became very constipated and had several days of really bad tummy issues, so he's now on a daily probiotic that seems to be helping. He's also drinking a couple bottles of donor milk each day and eating solids once a day.

In spite of all this good news and progress, he's still not growing or gaining weight. It's a frustrating mystery that we can't seem to solve. We're continuing to work with the lactation consultant/massage therapist, pediatrician, and Early Intervention therapists and hopefully, we'll be able to figure this out soon...or maybe he'll just start growing and we won't ever really have answers? Time will tell. Maybe this is the month he finally breaks the elusive 14 lb mark!  

Miles has become much more verbal since he began taking the reflux medication, which is fun and also painful. He's got a good scream!

He typically sleeps from 8:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. and will occasionally wake up once around 4:00 a.m. for a bottle. I feed him anytime he wakes up so he can have the extra calories, but don't ever wake him up to eat as we have found he eats really poorly when it wasn't his idea in the first place. He's transitioning away from the 3rd nap in the last week or so, which means he's going down for the night at closer to 7:00. 

I have really enjoyed Miles this past month in a way I haven't been able to since he was a newborn. I love this stage when they're so interactive and fun. I'm also hoping he takes his time learning to crawl; it's nice not having to baby-proof and chase him around when he's getting into everything. I'll enjoy it while it lasts!