August 14, 2006
August 14, 2006 | Updates
The update for this past week is pretty boring. There wasn’t much going on. I have been swamped helping Tom with his business since we lost a secretary. But we have someone new hired and she seems to be doing a good job, so things should slow down that way soon.We did make a trip to the local doctor this week for Nathan’s 2 month appointment. The doctor asked me if Nathan was smiling and cooing. I said he wasn’t and should I be concerned about that? She just said that by 2 months Nathan really should be, so I asked if it made a difference that he was premature. The doctor said, “He was premature?” INJECT LONG PAUSE HERE… You know, sometimes I’m just not sure what to say when doctors say really stupid things :)! So I just calmly explained that, yes, Nathan was born a month premature and spent 2 weeks in the ICU and blah, blah, blah. I reminded her that I was the one who debated taking him home with his NG tube for a week before I finally did it. Finally, it clicked and she realized who I was. (Funny that seeing Samuel sitting there with me wasn’t a HUGE RED FLAG for her!?) Oh, well. Apparently Nathan’s chart had said he was a term baby. Anyway, it does make a difference that he was premature, so we have another month before we can expect those smiles and cooing. But tonight, he smiled at us for the first time. It was a huge, beautiful grin in response to me smiling at him. Oh, how I love those!
Both Samuel and Nathan had immunization shots that day. Samuel reacted just as he should. He was happy-go-lucky until the moment she poked his leg and then he let out quite the holler. It didn’t take too long to calm him down, though, and then we wiped the tears from his eyes and headed home. It seems sad to be so happy when he reacts normally to something painful. But in the beginning, he didn’t even flinch when getting an IV. So I consider his reaction a sign of great improvement! Nathan didn’t get away as easily and had to endure 4 shots. He took much longer to calm down and then he fell asleep. He had a fever for a few days from it, but all seems to have returned to normal now. (Oh, yea, I should report that he weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 6 oz. At least we’re on the right track!)
Samuel started 2 weeks of hyperbaric treatments today. His grandparents drove him down and his dad will take him a few times this week in order for me to try and get caught up at home. But his grandparents said that everyone at hyperbarics could see so much improvement in Samuel. And even though I cautioned the techs against doing so, they apparently tried to put Samuel in the chamber alone. But he would have none of that and after a few minutes of screaming, they decided to allow grandma in with him. After that, he was fine. He knows how to get what he wants!
So hyperbarics and therapy should fill the next 2 weeks and then school starts. (We are also trying to fit in hippo therapy (horseback riding) once a week over the next 5 weeks. So that should keep us hopping until September :)!
Other than that, we are just seeing more and more moments when Samuel seems to mimic the things we are saying. It’s so hard to tell if he really is, but it is happening so often that it is hard to say it is just coincidence. We’ve heard him say drink (dink), quack (cack), moo (ooo), go, hat and hi all in the last week. Keep in mind that when he says things, it just “sounds” like he said the word. It’s not clear enough to be certain. But all the above words were said after we had said them, which seems to be an attempt to mimic us. So who knows, but we sure can hope!
Until next week… Thanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming!
Love,
The Jewkes
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