Stiff Legs

Daniel had his weekly EI appointment yesterday. Ms. Ginger worked with Daniel on crawling, standing, and reaching. (Daniel loved the reaching excercises as he was reaching for puffs, his favorite food.)We have noticed that Daniel has stiff legs. We were hoping that this would improve as he got older and became mobile. Daniel has been "crawling" for about a month now. His "crawl" is not a true crawl but he gets to where he wants to go. It appears that Daniel's leg muscles are tight or weak or that he is just refusing to use them. Ginger left an excercise routine for us to work on for the next two weeks. If the stiffness in Daniel's leg does not seem to be improved then we will take him to the doctor. The worst case scenario is that this is a sign of CP or it could be that Daniel just has stiff legs and will require PT and excercises to loosen the muscles and to teach him how to use his legs. We are hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

Roseola

Daniel woke up last Saturday with a fever of 103. We called the doctor and he felt that we should bring him into the office. (The doctor has Saturday office appointments for sick children.) Daniel was diagnoised with an ear infection and given Amoxicillian.

Daniel woke up Sunday with a fever of 104.5. We were able to manage the fever with Motrin and Tylenol.

Daniel woke up Monday with a normal temperature. We were so relieved. Our relief would not last long. Daniel's fever was back up to 104 on Monday afternoon. We called the doctor and was told to bring him in right away. Daniel was diagnoised with strep and a viral infection. Daniel's blood count had dropped to 4,000. (It was 8,000 on Saturday). The doctor said that the blood count showed that Daniel had a bad viral infection. He told us some symptoms that we might see and sent us home with strict instructions to return immediately with signs of dehydration, a raised rash or fever that did not respond to Tylenol.

Wednesday Daniel developed a rash. (The doctor said that this might be a possibility.) Daniel's final diagnosis was Roseola.

Roseola is a viral infection that mostly infects children under the age of 3, more specifically children ages 6 to 12 months. It is hard to dianosis until the rash appears which can be up to 24 hours after the fever stops. The intial signs are ear infections, strep throat and colds. Since Roseola is a viral infection it can not be treated with antibotics.

Daniel woke up Thursday feeling a lot better, the only sign that he had been sick was a few spots of the rash that was left.

It has been a long week for all of us. It was so hard to see Daniel so sick and we are so happy that he is better.

Chubby Cheeks

Daniel will be receiving a blood transfusion within the next few days to help "perk him up". The main goal for the next few weeks is for Daniel to increase his amount of food intake, eat all his feeds from a bottle and get off of O2. Tuesday, August 1, 2006 From 1 to 2 Daniel has started getting 2 bottles a day. He is still struggling with sucking, swallowing and breathing. He can do all three but not all three at the same time. His feeds have been increased, he is now getting 32 ccs (30 ccs equals an ounce) every 3 hours. Daniel's tummy is getting "big", his current weight is 3 and a half pounds. He will be a 4 pounder before we know it. Friday, July 28, 2006 In 7 Days A lot can happen in 7 days. God created the earth in 7 days (well 6, he rested on the 7th). Daniel has performed some miracles himself in the last 7 days. Daniel reached the 3 pund mark. His current weight is 3 pounds, 4 ounces. This doesn't place him in the heavy weight division but it does mean that we have a growing boy. Daniel has started learning to drink from a bottle. Babies who are born full term are born with the ability to suck, swallow and breathe. Preemies have to be "taught" how to suck, swallow and breathe. The "normal" protocol is to start "teaching" when the baby reaches 32/33 weeks gestation. Daniel is 33 weeks gestation, this means that if Daniel was still in the womb, Mommy would be 33 weeks pregnant. Daniel gets one bottle day for "practice", the rest of his feedings are through a tube that is down his throat. When Daniel drinks from a bottle he burns a lot of calories, like when we go to the gym and do an aerobic excercise. Daniel doesn't have any "spare calories" which is why he only gets one bottle a day for now, his "practice times" will increase as his "performance" improves. (Daniel has to be taking all his feedings by mouth before he is released.) We are hoping he is a quick learner. Daniel has started learning how to control his own body temperature. He is started wearing clothes. Daniel did receive a blood transfusion this weeks. He received an ounce of blood in the transfusion. It is very common for a preemie to receive a transfusion during their NICU stay, a lot of time they require more then one transfusion. Daniel seems to have "perked up" since his transfusion. Daniel had an eye test on Thursday. The test was to check for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity). ROP is an abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eyes, about 7% of premature babies have ROP. We are very happy to say that Daniel is not part of the 7%, his tested negative for ROP. He will have another eye exam done in 3 months (outpatient). Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Daniel's History ▼  2007 (2) ▼  July (2) Stiff Legs Roseola ►  2006 (21) ►  August (2) ►  July (11) ►  June (8) About Me Lloyd Family We are a blended family of 5, well 7, actually 8. There is Daddy (Richard), Mommy (Jenny), Everhett (11), Noah (forever 1), Jarod (10), Daniel (4), Caden (2) and Isaac (11 months). We first created this blog when Daniel was born at 29 weeks - it was our way of keeping friends and family up-to-date on his growth and improvements while in the the NICU. Our friends and family loved staying informed and reading stories and seeing pictures of our growing boys that we continued to update the blog. The blog has now become our way of remembering all the important little (and big) memories that our family creates together. View my complete profile