6/1/07
Drew is 16 1/2 months old now... and he's becoming a typical toddler. He runs all over the house, and expertly climbs on and off the sofa and loveseat. Luckily, he hasn't started climbing out of his crib yet!
He still loves watching Baby Einstein, and is learning more sign language. He's also beginning to talk a lot more... although we don't understand most of what he says. It's fun just to hear him babble. He's especially cute when he tries to read his books out loud!
Drew loves water. We let him play in his pool again yesterday, and he had so much fun. We took him to a water park about a month ago, but he seems to have more fun in his own pool!
On Mother's Day our church had a baby dedication, and we dedicated Drew in the service. It was a wonderful day with both sets of grandparents and Drew's Great Grandma Shafer present. Drew behaved quite well... except when he got tired of being held and decided to yell during the dedication prayer! He just can't handle sitting still for that long!
3/29/07
Drew turned a year old January 11th... His is now 14 1/2 months old. He is an expert walker now, and is learning to run all over the place. He is still a happy baby! He's learning to talk more... he says mama, dada, dog, cat, Drew, down, no, please... which sound like ease, that... which sound like dat... and he's learning more every day. He's also learning sign language. He has the please sign down... but is also learning to say I love you, thank you, more... and several others. He loves watching his newest Baby Einstein, First Signs.
Drew had a great first Birthday party... with a Baby Einstein theme. We had lots of family over for the party. Drew had so much fun... but he did not care for his birthday cake. It was his first real taste of sweets, and he made an awful face when he had his first bite.
Drew is eating better now, but he still struggles at meal times. Eating is just not his favorite thing. He would rather be running around and playing. We are trying to wean him off the bottle... it's not easy since he finally enjoys drinking from his bottle.
10/30/06
Drew is 9 1/2 months old now! He had his 9 month check-up on 10/19/06. He weighed a little over 19lbs, and was almost 28 inches long! He's really catching up. He's now in the 25% for weight, and the 38% for height (compared to full term 9 month old boys.)
The doctor from Shands said we could take him off his prevacid around 9 months (and see how he does.) We just waited until his medicine ran out about a week ago, and he seems to be doing fine... so we will leave him off of it. We think he is finally starting to outgrow his reflux. Although, he still does not eat from a bottle very easily. Now, we just let him take 5-15 minute breaks every couple of ounces, and it seems to be helping.
He is eating solids better though... except when he's having teething pain. Drew got his 3rd tooth on 10/18/06. It's his upper left tooth. The way he's acting... it won't be long before the fourth tooth comes.
Drew is an expert crawler... but his favorite thing to do is cruise on the furniture. It probably wont' be long before he's walking! He's is still a very happy baby, with a great sense of humor! He loves to listen to mommy and daddy make animal sounds, and he's learning to play patty-cake.
Drew has learned to say mama (and ma-mum), baba, gaga, nana... and we think he said dada for the first time yesterday! His first word was mama on 10/7/06... and he's hasn't stopped talking since! He loves to talk very loudly, especially when he's standing and banging his hand on the coffee table. He looks like his mommy, but he definitely acts like his daddy! :)
8/27/06 Drew is 7 1/2 months old now! He now has two teeth... you can see a good picture of both teeth on the "Favorite Links" page. He got his first tooth August 6th and his second tooth just a couple of days ago. He's not crawling just yet, but he manages to get where he wants by rolling... and it doesn't take him long to get from one side of the room to the other!
We started Drew on solid foods (mostly rice cereal) around 6 months of age. He does okay, but eating is still not very fun for him. He now has four bottles a day and three solid feedings (at meal times.) It still takes about 45 minutes to finish a bottle feeding... and almost that long to eat solids. So we spend a lot of our time feeding Drew!
Drew is still a very happy, active baby. He still loves standing and jumping. His new thing is jumping up and down with both feet up in the air together. He is laughing a lot more now too! We love to make him laugh. He has so much fun when Dan gets on the floor and imitates whatever Drew is doing.
7/7/06 Drew is almost 6 months old now! It's hard to believe... He is doing a little better with the reflux now....When he was 4 months old we changed pediatricians (because the old office seemed to never answer the phone or return calls.) The new doctor changed his medication to prevacid... So he has been on that for about 2 months. Around 5 months, the reflux seemed to be getting worse, so we took him to a pediactric gastroenterologist at Shands (in Gainesville.) He basically told us that there was really nothing more that could be done for him, and that he would eventually grow out of it. Now, Drew does seem like he is starting to improve, and we are very thankful!
Drew's personality is starting to show, and he is a fun little guy! He is very LOUD and rambunctious! He doesn't just babble when he talks- he screams and squeels loud enough for everyone to hear. He doesn't sit still for long either... he's constantly bouncing up and down or kicking his legs. He hasn't learned to crawl yet... but it probably won't be long. He learned to roll over from his back to his stomach around 4 months, and now he is learning how to sit up.
4/23/06
Drew is about 3 1/2 months old now.. and he continues to grow. We haven't had him weighed in awhile, but we think he's about 10.5 lbs. He still has pain when he eats due to his reflux. He is taking Zantac, and we think it helps a little. The doctor took him off the Reglan because it was causing drowsiness.
Despite his pain, Drew is a very happy baby. He started smiling at us a couple of weeks ago, and now he smiles almost all the time.
He is so cute! He had his first big milestone about a month ago when he rolled over (from his front to his back.) Drew is babbling alot more now... He loves to talk. We are so thankful for Drew... and we are enjoying him so much!
3/16/06
Drew is almost 2 1/2 months old. (His adjusted age is 2 1/2 weeks, since his due date was February 27th.) Drew had his 2 week check up 3/9/06. He weighed 7lbs 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long. It was a traumatizing visit because he had to get 4 shots, but he did very well.
The doctor put Drew on 2 medications for his reflux (Zantac and Reglan.) They seem to be helping some, but he still has some pain during and after eating. He is eating a good amount though... he averages 3 oz a feeding. The doctor said once he is eating between 3-4 oz at every feeding, we can decrease him to 7 feedings per day. Then we can sleep more than 4 hours at a time!
Drew had a good visit with his Aunt Angela last week... we are so glad she could come from California to see him! It's nice to have visitors since we still aren't supposed to take Drew out anywhere. We need to keep him away from germs!
Thank you all for keeping in touch, and continue to keep Drew in your prayers.
2/23/06
Drew is now 6 weeks old! He had his eye appointment on Valentine's Day... to check for retinopathy, which can happen in premies. The doctor said his eyes looked great! He just has to follow up again at 6 months.
On Tuesday (2/21) Drew had his second RSV shot (it's like the flu shot for babies, but they get it monthly during the season.) Insurance paid to have a home health nurse come out and give it to him, which was nice for us. They also weighed him and checked his measurements... he is now 6 lbs 2 oz and 19 1/4 inches long. He's getting big so fast!
Please continue to pray for Drew.. He is having some mild reflux which causes him to have pain after eating. He is also having problems with gas... we give him medicine, but it doesn't help a lot. The doctor said it happens in premies because of their immature digestive systems.
2/12/06
Drew is already a month old! It's hard to believe. He had his one month checkup on 2/9/06. He weighed in at 5lbs 2oz, and he is now 18 inches long! He is growing so fast... and keeping us very busy, but it's definitely worth it.
The doctor told us we shouldn't take him out of the house, except to appointments, until he is around 3 months old. So we hired a photographer to take pictures of Drew at the house... He did so great and stayed awake the whole hour! We will try to post some of those pictures when we get a chance.
1/27/06
Drew was dishcarged today... We got to take him home at 3:00pm. He now weighs 4lbs 1.1 oz and he has grown to 17.3 inches. We can mostly see the weight gain in his face... he's getting some chubby cheeks!
Poor Drew had a stressful morning before we got to take him home... He had his circumcision at 11:00am. At least it's over with.
1/25/06
Today Drew is 2 weeks old... or 35 weeks gestational age. Drew weighed 3 lbs 13.6 oz last night! They just finished the car seat test on him (he just had to sit in his car seat for one hour and his vital signs had to remain stable.) He passed of course! They told us today that they anticipate discharge Friday or Saturday! The nurses all say he is doing so well... They say that Drew doesn't know he's a premie, because the only thing premie about him is his size. We are so proud of him!
Thank you so much for all your prayers and well wishes! Please continue to keep us in your prayers!
1/23/06
Drew is out of the incubator! He weighed in last night at 3 lbs 11.5 oz. The NICU usually doesn't take babies out of the incubator until their a little bigger, but they had already turned it down to room air, so there was no reason to keep him in there. He is eating very well, and we hope it won't be long before he can come home!
1/20/06
Today Drew weighed 3 lbs 8.9 oz... We are so happy that he is gaining weight quickly. Also, they have turned down the temp in his incubater to 26.5 degress Celsius... Once he is down to 26 degrees, he will be able to sleep in a crib!
1/19/06
Drew is still gaining weight... Tonight he weighed 3 lbs 6.4 oz. He is also learning to nurse... He had a good twenty minute session at his 3:30 feeding, but he was too tired to do much at his 6:30 feeding. It just takes preemies longer to catch on because it's so much work for them.
1/18/06
Today we got to give Drew a bath for the first time... All the nursery babies get baths every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. From now on we will get to do his bath every time!
1/16/06
He is still eating great from a bottle. His daddy got to feed him for the first time. Mommy has already fed him several times. Drew is still taking in 1 oz every 3 hours, and it only takes him about 8 minutes to finish. The nurses say they wish the other babies could take lessons from Drew!
The occupational therapist will be assessing Drew in the morning. She will be able to tell us how soon he can start breastfeeding. (Right now mommy is just pumping to feed Drew.)
Drew had 4 poopy diapers today and Daddy got to change 3 of them! He's learning very well!
