January 31, 2006

January 31st, 2006 | by Matt |

    

It’s been quite a while since the last update! Kevin is growing to be a pretty big boy now, at about 10 1/2 pounds. He had another visit with his pediatrician on the 20th which went well. Nothing unusual to report and he thought Kevin was looking great. He got some of the standard immunizations done which he didn’t enjoy at all, but otherwise he does great with doctor visits. He’s also down to just 3 meds now.

We had a followup visit with the ear, nose, and throat doctors in Iowa City today. They were quite impressed with his voice and said he sounded almost as loud as a typical baby. They were also impressed to hear that he’s been eating straight formula (not thickened with rice) for several weeks without any problems. They stuck the small tube with the camera at the end down his nose to look at his vocal chords and see if the left one was working any better. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it is. We’re only 2 months out from surgery, though, and they said that this is still perfectly normal. We’re going to see them again in 4 months and check for any changes. They said if he’s 10-12 months old and the vocal chord doesn’t work better, then they would think there is permanent damage. But right now is still too early to tell. The good news, though, is that his other vocal chord seems to be compensating perfectly, which is why he can cry so loud and eat just fine. Normally the two vocal chords meet each other in the middle to make a seal, but in his case the right one is going past the middle to close up against to where the left one is. It’s amazing how the body can make up for a paralyzed vocal chord and he can continue to develop normally. We hope that his left one recovers, of course, but even if it doesn’t it doesn’t look like it will cause any problems. Like the doctors said, he just won’t be singing in any rock bands!

Kevin’s sleep schedule has settled in pretty well and he’s still a good sleeper. He’ll take a bottle around 9:00 at night, then sleep until 2-3am, get up for another bottle, then sleep in until 6-7. He remains pretty active during most of the day and fights it when he gets tired. He loves his swing and his play mat and will stare at the little toys for quite a while without getting too bored. He smiles really big all the time and is usually in a good mood. Overall, he’s been a pretty ‘easy’ baby compared to many. He doesn’t cry for hours or anything!

Our next visit with the cardiologist is next tuesday. He will have another x-ray to check on fluid since he’s down to just the one diuretic once a day. We don’t expect any surprises with this visit either!