Friday, November 2, 2007

Brayden is six months




Brayden turned six months last week. He is definitely growing. He is 15.3 lb. which is 25% for weight; 26 inches long, 25-50% for height. His head is still below 3% in size but it is growing a little bit.

Brayden is working on holding his head. He has good strong days and bad floppy days. Brayden has an occupational therapist work with him once a week. She works on stretching him where he needs it and strengthens where he needs it. Then she leaves activities and positions for us to do with him between the visits. He has mixed muscle tone which basically means that he is very tight in some areas and very loose in others. Some of the newborn reflexes are starting to diminish which is a big step for him. Brayden has started to bring his hands (one at a time) up to his mouth. And starting to use his left hand to grab onto things.

Brayden’s vision has not really improved. He is not fixating on things or tracking anything. He does recognize sound and seems to prefer his daddy's voice. We have seen the ophthalmologist a few times and are in the process of getting a vision assessment through the county so that we can use vision impairments resources, possibly down the road.

Brayden is making small steps to improving developmentally but we rejoice with each small step. His smiles happen few and far between but when they do, the world stops and we take it in.

I have a big thank you to Jeremy for being so supportive. He calls many times a day to check on Brayden (and me). When he comes home he always has some quality daddy and Brayden time. Jeremy continues to be very optimistic and a real strength for me.
Thank you to the Coleman and Pfaff family for answering so many of our questions about anything from doctors to emotions. We appreciate you sharing your journey and experiences with us.

v Please continue to pray for Brayden’s development. Some days I think, come on, it has been six months and we have not seen much. But then I take a deep breath and think, all right it has only been six months.
v Pray for seizures to be controlled. We thought the medication was eliminating all of the seizures but today and yesterday have not been so great. We continue to talk with the neurologist to monitor the seizures and figure out the medication.
v Pray for Jeremy and I to be calm and trust in the Lord. It is starting to become apparent to strangers that things are not quite right with Brayden so we are starting to get strange questions and comments. We appreciate their concern but sometimes to it hard to answer. It is my mother bear coming out to protect her cub.
Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers and support.
Above are some pictures of Brayden. One is of him smiling (he was moving when he did it so it is a bit blurry).

With love,
Carrie Jenkins

No comments: