10 days old
Today was our official due date, but instead Aaron is already 10 days old! We got the results of the echo and they said he has a moderately large VSD, Patent Foramen Ovale (which is apparently normal), and mild aortic regurgitation which may be from the VSD.
We took Aaron to his 2-week checkup today. He weighs 9 pounds 1 ounce and measured 22 inches long. His head size was 14.5 inches. The percentiles are 90th, 95th, and 75th respectively After the check-up, Aaron had a chest x-ray. He did fine for the first picture, but for the second one they had to hold his arms up in the air and he didn't like that at all. He cried a lot when being poked and prodded today, but would quickly calm down and fall asleep in our arms when we held him. Abe is going tomorrow morning to pick up the x-rays and EKG report. We have to take them with us to his appointment on Thursday with the pediatric cardiologist.
2 weeks, 6 days old
We got great news at the appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. It turns out that his VSD is small, not large and it should heal on its own or get to be "tiny" and never be a problem! We were so relieved! He does have mild aortic regurgitation, which the doctor said is rare in an infant, but he doesn't think it will be a problem either – at least not until he is in 60s or so possibly. He said 1 in 50 infants will get worse with it, but most do not. He may need an aortic valve replacement when he is old if it gets worse over the years. His patent foramen ovale has closed already. They did another echo at the appointment and Aaron did great during it.
4 months
I took Aaron for his 4-month check up yesterday. He is now 26 inches long and weighs 14 pounds 11 ounces. He is starting to be able to prop up on his arms a little during tummy time. I don't think he will be sitting on his own by 5 months. He doesn't have the head control and upper body stability that Ada and Asher had at this age.
4.5 months
We met with our physical therapist this morning. She wants him to have upwards of 30 minutes of tummy time each day if we can get it in. Aaron still hates tummy time and has a hard time holding his head up. He wants to keep his elbows back and curl up in a ball instead of pushing up on his arms and lifting his head. He is behind on his strength development in that area. Also, we need to keep working on his knees and legs because there is still a lot of tightness there. She said he'll be able to walk, but his legs would be bent (assuming he didn't gain any more flexibility) and that makes a person walk slower and the legs aren't as strong. We may need to use air splints on his legs to help them stretch out more. It doesn't hurt him to be stretched, but he doesn't like how it feels. She suggested that we give him tummy time with his legs hanging off the edge of the bed or couch to allow gravity to help in stretching his legs out. She also recommended putting him tummy down on a large ball to help build his muscles. Hopefully these exercises will work and he won't need further intervention. His thumbs are doing well, as are his toes and ankles.
5.5 months
Today I took Aaron to his 6-month checkup. He weighed 15 pounds 8 ounces (15th percentile) and was 26.5 inches long (60th percentile). He dropped from the 60th percentile in weight and from the 90th percentile in height. The doctor thinks it is probably because of his aortic regurgitation and VSD. We also met with our occupational therapist earlier this week and she said his thumbs are doing well. She may make some hard splints for his thumbs/hands though. Ada's old ones don't fit him very well. He is doing better on tummy time, but we still need to focus on that. His legs are probably the main concern at this point. We need to keep stretching him each day and stretch his feet as he wants to turn them inward.
We got great news at the appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. It turns out that his VSD is small, not large and it should heal on its own or get to be "tiny" and never be a problem! We were so relieved! He does have mild aortic regurgitation, which the doctor said is rare in an infant, but he doesn't think it will be a problem either – at least not until he is in 60s or so possibly. He said 1 in 50 infants will get worse with it, but most do not. He may need an aortic valve replacement when he is old if it gets worse over the years. His patent foramen ovale has closed already. They did another echo at the appointment and Aaron did great during it.
I took Aaron for his 4-month check up yesterday. He is now 26 inches long and weighs 14 pounds 11 ounces. He is starting to be able to prop up on his arms a little during tummy time. I don't think he will be sitting on his own by 5 months. He doesn't have the head control and upper body stability that Ada and Asher had at this age.
We met with our physical therapist this morning. She wants him to have upwards of 30 minutes of tummy time each day if we can get it in. Aaron still hates tummy time and has a hard time holding his head up. He wants to keep his elbows back and curl up in a ball instead of pushing up on his arms and lifting his head. He is behind on his strength development in that area. Also, we need to keep working on his knees and legs because there is still a lot of tightness there. She said he'll be able to walk, but his legs would be bent (assuming he didn't gain any more flexibility) and that makes a person walk slower and the legs aren't as strong. We may need to use air splints on his legs to help them stretch out more. It doesn't hurt him to be stretched, but he doesn't like how it feels. She suggested that we give him tummy time with his legs hanging off the edge of the bed or couch to allow gravity to help in stretching his legs out. She also recommended putting him tummy down on a large ball to help build his muscles. Hopefully these exercises will work and he won't need further intervention. His thumbs are doing well, as are his toes and ankles.
5.5 months
Today I took Aaron to his 6-month checkup. He weighed 15 pounds 8 ounces (15th percentile) and was 26.5 inches long (60th percentile). He dropped from the 60th percentile in weight and from the 90th percentile in height. The doctor thinks it is probably because of his aortic regurgitation and VSD. We also met with our occupational therapist earlier this week and she said his thumbs are doing well. She may make some hard splints for his thumbs/hands though. Ada's old ones don't fit him very well. He is doing better on tummy time, but we still need to focus on that. His legs are probably the main concern at this point. We need to keep stretching him each day and stretch his feet as he wants to turn them inward.
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