Tuesday, April 27, 2010

So that was April

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. Since I last wrote, Magnus:

-Turned 5 months old (on the 19th)

-Figured out to roll from back to front and front to back

-Finally figured out how to do a push-up

-Tried his first solid food (rice cereal mixed with breastmilk...not a great hit)

and most importantly

-Has been very healthy and grown a lot!

Magnus is still a very skinny boy, but he's finally passed the 5 kilo mark, and is continuing to gain about an ounce a day. He's also getting taller and is growing out of a lot of his clothes these days, which means he's also growing into a lot of the cute outfits people got us when he was born.

We had a cardiology appointment yesterday, and everything looked good: his oxygen sats were good, his heart and lungs sounded good, and his cardiologist said we could decrease his medication further, so now he's only on one dose of diuretic per day. His next cardiology appointment will be in early June, and that one will be a bit more involved. He'll have to have some bloodwork done, as well as an echocardiogram and an EKG. So, that's not going to be any fun, but if everything still looks good, our next appointment after that won't be for another 3 months!

So really, everything is going about as well as we could possibly hope. Despite that, I still worry a lot. I worry about what will happen with Magnus's health in the future, and I worry that his growth and developmental delays (though extremely minor) will translate to problems later in life. And everything we've been through has left Iggy and myself both a little bit raw. We find ourselves becoming emotional at random moments (like last week, when the Stevie Wonder song "Overjoyed" started playing on my iPod and I had to skip it because I was about to start crying. In fact, just thinking about it now makes me feel like crying!)

But despite all that, life feels pretty good these days. Magnus is mostly a pretty happy boy and he smiles and laughs often. He loves being kissed and tickled and sung to. Everything we've been through has been totally worth it.

6 comments:

  1. HOORAY! This is fantastic news! I'm so glad you found/made time to post an update. Major milestones have been reached!

    I think of you often and will continue keeping my fingers crossed for Magnus to gain strength, weight and even more cuteness! The future - and there IS ONE - looks VERY bright! Celebrate the life and mended heart of your darling little guy. Happy 5 Months Birthday Magnus!

    (Sounds like you could use a vacation)

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  2. Hey Jen...Glad to hear he's doing so well! The Glenn really makes them so much more stable. If I were you I wouldn't lose sleep over his developemental delays at this point. Josh was a little behind for a bit, but caught right up. I was just waiting & expecting all of these issues & he didn't ever have any issues. It was a huge relief to me, because I had been warned that he'd be delayed & need therapy. We had a therapist come over a few times, but she said that he was within the normal range (slower end) & therapy wasn't necessary. My point is, you just never know...so don't stress yourself if you can help it!
    Also, the emotional beating you've taken will slowly fade away. It took us a little bit of time to get over the whole Noorwood-Glenn experiences, but with time the pain fades & life becomes very normal again. At least that's how it was for us.
    Anyway- I'm glad to hear he's thriving! Thanks for the update!

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  3. Hey Jen,
    My thoroughly unscientific guess is that Magnus's brain still has so much plasticity at this point that having amazing, attentive parents can easily counteract any of the stuff that has slowed him down so far. (And it sounds like he's way ahead of Arlo in the rolling over stuff, at least :) ).

    Don't forget about our noise-proof guest room in NYC if you guys ever need a change of scene for a weekend!

    -Elaine

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  4. Hi Jen,

    I am so glad to hear that Magnus is doing so well. I totally get what you are saying about worrying. I do the same thing with Gracie. Now that she is three she is almost all caught up with other kids her own age. Grace received services from Regional Center of the East Bay which provided Physical Therapy, speech therapy, and Early intervention. We started this when she was about 6 months old. This really helped! Feel free to contact me if you want to talk further about it. ~ Jackie

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  5. Jen, so glad to read your little guy is doing well. I hope the anxiety subsides over time as he keeps showing better and better progress. The other day, my mom said to me, "You've done a great job of raising your son." Since he's only 7.5 months and has no health issues, it sounded kind of weird but also so affirming at the same time. I think you deserve that comment. You and Iggy are great parents.

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  6. Hey Jen, thanks for updating. I'm so happy for you all. Magnus is making massive headway and I'm sure he'll continue to do so!

    If it's any consolation, just being a parent involves lots of worrying about the future, the developmental stages, health and growth etc. It comes with the turf! I still constantly worry about Calum and his development and we haven't been through anything close to the experience you've had with Magnus. They all do things at their own pace. With you and Iggy as his parents, I'm convinced that Magnus will be a bright, loving, caring, compassionate and wonderful human being with a fantastic future ahead of him. You've given him the best start in his life that he could have and I'm sure it's going to be a long and happy one.

    Much love to you all.

    Mel

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