Bringing Charlie home was a great feeling, but came with a lot of unknowns. Just like any other parent, we learned something new every day. Charlie had his own in-home nurse that visited weekly for the first couple of weeks and discontinued their service on January 24, 2011 because he was doing so well.
Charlie had his one month check-up on February 1 with the pediatrician. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz, so he gained 11 oz. in 2 weeks. The doc didn't have any concerns and said he is a very healthy little boy.
We had two women (occupational therapists) from Help Me Grow-Birth to Three Early Intervention Program out to our house the same day. This program is a public school special education program designed to serve infants and toddlers who show delays in their development. In Charlie's case, it is more of a preventative procedure. They will track his development until they don't think he needs it any longer.
He is a great sleeper and eater. He has been meeting all of his milestones and is actually ahead of the game. Our occupational therapist continues to be amazed at her bi-weekly visits. He is smiling, cooing, squealing, making great eye contact, rolling over, eating solid foods, has great head control, is grabbing objects at midline and transferring them between his hands, sucking on his toes (flexible fella), laughing, and much more.
On Friday, May 20, Charlie had his 4-month NICU check-up at U of MN Children's Hospital. He was seen by a nurse practitioner, an occupational therapist and a neonatologist. Everything went very well and all of the doctor's were very amazed by his progress and optimistic about his future. They did not see any signs for concern, but reminded us that things could change. He told us that the hospital just received permission 2 months ago to follow and research cooling blanket babies, so Charlie just missed the cut. I will try to keep posting updated information and research as I find it.
I continue to be amazed by Charlie's strength and abilities. I honestly don't think that he would be where he is today if it wasn't for the cooling blanket. Stay tuned for more posts and follow-up as Charlie meets his milestones and continues to progress.
