Leo, Our Little Lion Man

This is a big word vomit. Here's how caring for Leo is going! Thanks for reading.      More of the same means feeding, weight, and puking stuff. He's continued to gain weight. Why does that not feel like as big of a deal as it should be to me, considering where we've come from? He's continuing to gain weight! It's not always a huge jump, and some weeks it's more of maintaining, but his curve is going up. We've continued to have puking issues since leaving the hospital. He also has six more teeth, and more coming, I believe. Right now taking bottles by mouth isn't working. I can give him about an oz by mouth, but the rest goes through the tube so that he doesn't puke it all up.      If I may take a moment to describe his feeding in depth right now. There are many ways to feed him. He takes a bottle and he has the tube. If he is eating through the mouth, he can have formula in a bottle, formula with oatmeal added, or formula with oatmeal blended into i

Leo had OT yesterday, and PT and a pediatrician appointment today. They all went really well and I’m a bit happy drunk over having 3 really good appointments/sessions. In OT he practiced sitting up and holding his head up. He did some stretching and also some oral stimulation to practice moving his tongue intentionally. In PT he laid on his side and was reaching for toys and pulling things to his mouth. It’s also noteworthy that he laid on both sides really well (usually one side is significantly more uncomfortable for him). He also did some holding himself up while she held his knees down (like in a crawling position). And she said his body felt relaxed/flexible—basically pretty easy (as far as Leo goes)—to work with. Then at his appointment he was up in weight and the pediatrician said that Leos growth chart hasn’t looked like this since he was 2 or 3 months old.  So even with the puking, he’s been putting on weight. He has 3-5 teeth coming in up top. He has his good nights and bad n

      Why does this feel like a new chapter to me? Things are always changing (kids, right?) but for whatever reasons coming home from our last hospital stay has felt like a new chapter. So how's it going since the last post?     Nights are still inconsistent but slowly getting better. Leo has a new tooth and another one on the way! He's continued to gain weight. He emotions and expressiveness continue to get bigger (don't know how that's possible). He's also been more pukey--which is not fun. I've made a lot of calls and we have appointments and such in the works.      The puking. It's frustrating when it's worse for unknown reasons. However, he has still been gaining weight even with the extra puking. I find myself developing theories, growing in confidence to monitor his eating and weight, taking what the docs say, and making it work for us. I think having kids does this to you. But I can for sure say that having a medically complicated kid has taught