Bottoms Up

The past 2 weeks we have been shoving food in Carter’s mouth every 2 hours while he’s awake. Here’s our “Champion Eating Schedule.”

0630: 2 oz water

0800: 6 oz bottle

1000: 2 oz juice with 3 tbsp oatmeal

1200: 6 oz bottle

1400: 2 oz fruit

1600: 6 oz bottle

1800: 2 oz veggie

2000: 6 oz bottle

I think his tummy has finally stretched and adjusted, because the past couple of days, he’s actually finishing two or three of the four 6-8 oz bottles in a day. The 8 o’clock bedtime bottle usually gets neglected because he’s just TOO tired to eat… but he usually takes at least 3oz. We’re averaging about 22oz of formula now… still not the 24oz they want, but it’s progress :) He’s also getting 2oz of juice and 2oz of water, for a grand total of 24oz of fluid intake. Still, not the 27oz they want… but it’s something!!

He had follow-up labs drawn last Friday to make sure the kalexate adjustment worked. Mary Jane called Monday and said everything looked great, and she’d like us to see our pediatrician in the next couple of weeks to weigh Carter just to make sure he’s not losing. We’re hoping he’ll have gained quite a bit thanks to his new diet!

Carter’s Uncle Greyson’s birthday was Friday, so we went to dinner with them after a busy week. Thank goodness it’s a long weekend! Tuesday, we’re off to Birmingham again for a follow-up with General Surgery. We “missed” our last appointment due to being admitted, but his resident did come around to see us. Hopefully we can get an MRI scheduled to see what Dr. Harmon thinks about Carter’s muscle function in his lower bowel area… this will be a major determining factor in possible pull-through. Thursday we see the pediatrician for Carter’s 9 month check-up, so hopefully his weight will reflect an improvement so I can call Mary Jane with good news :) The next appointment will be Monday, Oct 17 with Dr. Conklin in Orthopedics. I’m anxious for this appointment, because we’ve only seen him one other time outside of being admitted, and growth is the driving factor for any orthopedic surgeries he may have. At our first follow-up, he said he didn’t expect us to do anything before he was a year old. I’m still praying for a miracle – that the next ultrasound shows his hips in the socket! A girl can hope :) We’re also hoping that his feet have corrected quite a bit from his new boots, which he wears every night to bed without fussing about them!

The next few months will be super busy with the holidays. I’m going to try to update as much as possible, and to capture all of Carter’s firsts – pumpkin patch, Halloween, trip to Georgia for Thanksgiving, CHRISTMAS! He’s even going to his first birthday party, his friend Kade’s first birthday, next weekend! Pray for me… I have to go to Maryland/DC for a week in November for work, and it’s stressing me! I know Carter will be fine without me, but I’m sure going to miss him!

 still no teeth!

 getting BIG!

 going for a walk!

little pumpkin