Home Day #20

     Leo went to the pediatrician yesterday for a one month check-up and weigh in. He gained 7.5 oz in one week! That's two weeks that he has been on track with weight from bottle feeds. Doctor gave me the official clear to cancel the feeding tube supplies. We are not going back to that. The doctor also marveled at Leo's muscle tone. Leo picked his head up from laying on his stomach! He is stronger in his limbs and shows good reflexes there. He is more alert in the eyes--he can look at you. Our doctor said that the next things to look for are if he can begin to track an object with his eyes and a smile. Those are one month and two month markers. However, with Leo's brain damage and being a premie we will not be worried if we don't see those markers at those times. It's just nice to know what to look for and pray for.

    He is still not crying. Other than that there is not really visible evidence of his injury. We have seen prayers do amazing things. The fact that he can even suck on the bottle and has latched and sucked at the breast is crazy! We are easing up on the strictness of the feeding schedule we've had him on (feeding every three hours) because he has gained weight. We are working more on reading his cues, feeding on demand, and stretching the nights out a little bit. 

    Please pray that we can work with Leo in going for longer chunks of sleep. We are starting slow, but it's difficult because I do not wake up to his fussing. We have to figure out how to make sure we know when he's waking up hungry at night. Please pray also for the process of being able to transition to breast feeding. I don't know what that looks like at the moment, but we are going to be working towards it. And again, please pray for his cry. A crying baby is difficult, I know. But this is it's own kind of difficult. 

    Our next doctor's visit isn't for two weeks. We are moving past the weight-checks to the normal check ins. But, I believe that this is when the specialist visits start. We have a speech therapy appointment on May 7th and his Early Intervention Evaluation on May 11th. We also have a check-in with someone at CHOP virtually on April 29th. And we will be going to Philly for Neurology to check up on him in person on May 19th. We may have more appointments after the Early Intervention evaluation as well. I am not completely certain what that process looks like. 

    Please pray for strength for Brad and me. Emotionally, you don't know when things will hit you. There are still moments of grief, anger, and sadness (amongst others). For example, hearing a baby cry at the doctor's office got me. I've waited a long time to hear that cry. And it's absence reminds me of what he's been through and makes me afraid that he won't be able to speak or something like that. As a dear friend reminded me, I need to not ignore the good in this situation but it's ok to be angry. 

    We continue to receive cards and visitors (and gifts) and are SERIOUSLY blown away by our community around the world. I can't wait to tell Leo of the army of prayers that covered him through this whole journey. I am so grateful for the body of Christ coming around us. And I am so deeply moved to communicate to my friends who don't know Jesus that he is GOOD and there is hope beyond the pain in this world. Cause there's a LOT of pain out there. I don't have to tell you that. But I can tell you about the One who created us and loves us and is holy and there is more to life than just what we experience with our senses. There is purpose.