Who wants a shot?!

Remember when shots used to be fun? Shots of Tequila, Jager Bombs..... My how things change when you have a baby! Now shots include D-Tap, Rotovirus, etc. Not exactly the kind of shot that is so much fun! I think our fun shot taking days are over, for now.

Today, Frankie went to the pediatrician. He weighed in at 12lbs 5 oz, but that was with clothes on and a wet diaper, so we are thinking he's around 12 lbs or a little over. I will weigh him on my scale tomorrow. Didn't find it necessary to weigh him twice today. Since December Frankie has grown 4 inches in length. He's finally on the growth chart for length! And, since last month he has gained almost 2 lbs! The doctor is VERY pleased! This means his food is doing the trick and he's handling it well which is even better! Frankie is currenlty getting 117ml over 4 hours. That's 3 ml shy of 4 oz. And, it's still fortified. For the longest time we had his food go in over 3 hours and then he was off for an hour. Now we are getting the food in in 2.5 hours and he's off for an hour and a half! We're making progress, slowly, but it's progress! Joe and I believe this will be a slow process because he's spitting up just a tiny bit now with the change. It will just take time. We can handle that!

After leaving the pediatrician we had to take Frankie to get his 4 month shots (1 month late). We can't get them at the doctors office because of the state health care. We had to go to the South County Health Center to get them. Yuck! It's better than the city locations but it's still gross! Frankie recovered quickly from the shots but he cried. And it hurt my feelings! I felt terrible for him. Poor baby!

Over all, Frankie is doing SUPER! He's growing very well! We qualified for First Steps so now Frankie will have all the therapy he needs until he is 3 or catches up and gets his O taken care of before then! This is very exciting! I've been working hard with him everyday! Physical therapy exercises, speech stimulation exercises! Tons of stuff! And he's doing well!

Hopefully after Frankie's hernia surgery in April (not scheduled just yet) we can get him off the oxygen. They are leaving him on it until after the surgery in case he needs it. Also, when we go back to the neonatologist in April we are going to talk about his meds and see if we can get him off of some of them. Tuesday next week, we go to the cardiologist to check on his PPHN. Praying for nothing but good news! Of course, I will let you all know how that goes!

If you'd like a Frank the Tank shirt let me know and I will get one ordered for you. They're super cute! And they are $20. A majority of the $20 goes towards the March of Dimes and the rest covers the shirt.

That's all for now! Love to you all! Oh and we finally have some new pics of his O!

The amazing Frankie!

On Thursday last week we went to see the neonatologist. Overall, Frankie is doing swell! He is weighing in around 11lbs 8oz. He's steadily gaining! Here's the rundown...

Oxygen: We will be on this until after his hernia surgery in April. They are in no rush to get rid of this because it's simple and helpful. Once he has his hernia surgery and we are free and clear of anything breathing concerns, then hopefully we can say good bye to it!

NG tube: We hate it. So, we tried the sink or swim method and Frankie floated..... We ended up putting it back in because he wasn't taking enough by the bottle to not get dehydrated but he can take a bottle! So, we are just going to keep offering him a bottle each day and start to shorten the amount of time that his feeds are on so that he eventually gets all of his food over an hour and then his belly is used to having all of that volume at once and then we can give him a bottle and hopefully say adios to the NG!

Baby food: The pediatrician told me to wait until his 5 month appointment (which is Feb, 21st) to reevaluate the baby food situation. Well, I didn't see any harm in giving the little guy some rice cereal. So, every morning he has been getting some. He does well with it! He obviously isn't eating a ton but he opens up his mouth and accepts it. He may make a funny face but with each passing day he will grow to like it more and eat more!

Meds: All his meds are still the same. The plan is to let him out grow the doses of Lasixs and Sildenafil.

Development: Frankie is a little bit delayed due to his belly but not by a ton! He's doing so much now and his personality is really starting to shine through! He's such a sweet, good baby, truly. The main things we are working on are tummy time. He hates it but it's crucial for his development so it's another thing I just keep working on everyday. He has a speech therapist and a physical therapist that are supposed to come weekly but that doesn't ever happen! Lame! Good thing he has me! :)

I do believe that's all for now. He is doing wonderful! We still continue to wrap his O daily with a little bit of compression since it's still not the size it was before surgery. It'll get there again! It looks great though! It's all skinned over (with new reddish skin) except one small spot. The things this kid has done thus far in his life amazes me everyday! Toughest kid I know! LOVE HIM!

Love to you all and thanks for the continuous love, support and prayers!

Super excited!

He's so darn cute when he sleeps!

Frankie chews on his arm like it's a piece of fried chicken!