Keiko & Kieran are good buddies!
Seriously, though, these two keep me on my toes, that's for sure! Maia is doing really well in general but she's definitely more needy since Kieran's come home because I'm paying a lot of attention to him sometimes. I'm trying my best to get solo time with her, lots of cuddle time, and I do try to engage her while I'm nursing Kieran, but there's still tantrums, messes all over the house - but it's all typical toddler stuff, I'm sure. I've definitely noticed that we're not as connected as we used to be, but that's to be expected, too. I know this is all part of that adjustment & transition period I heard about, so I'm trying to go with the flow. Josh is really good about reminding us to get out of the house alone or do something together in the house while he hangs out with Kieran, which I really appreciate!
Kieran continues to impress and amaze all those around him. Last Friday he weighed 8lb 4 oz, up from 7lb 6.5 oz in just 7 days! What awesome weight gain. I love not having to worry about him gaining, and every few days I remark that he's heavier. Since he started out so tiny I can tell when he puts on just a little weight, or maybe I'm more aware of his weight gain than I was with Maia. He's packing it on fast, though! If he keeps this weight gain up we'll be in 3-6 month clothing sometime in July, whew! He's actually gaining weight at a similar pace to his sister. Maia gained an average of 3/4 pound to a pound a week in her newborn days - 7.6 at birth, 10.5 at 1 month, 13 lbs at 12 weeks, and 18 lbs at 4 months...she topped out at 22lbs at 6 months and stayed there for a year and a half! For those who are not familiar with the chunk that was Maia as a baby, I present you the following images. And yes, it's okay to laugh.
Maia at 3 months.
Maia at 4 months.
Maia at 5.5 months.
Maia at 6 months.
Okay, you're done laughing now, right? ;) I'm totally kidding, she was a beautiful little butterball who now enjoys a very slender figure despite eating like there's no tomorrow! Anyways, I look forward to more rolls and chub on Kieran as time goes on. I will always cherish it, especially since the dude was born with just about zero fat on his body!
Anyways, a couple more "Yay Kieran" things - he had an audiology appointment last week. If you recall from his NICU days, Kieran acquired the CMV virus. Most babies who have CMV get congenital CMV when they're in utero, but they did find the virus in my breastmilk, so he caught it from me post-birth. Because of this, the side effects/symptoms most congenital CMV kids encounter (like vision problems & hearing loss) are probably not much of a risk to Kieran but we need to check him out anyways. Well, the audiologist said she doesn't need to follow Kieran - they only follow congenital CMV babies, and his hearing is perfect! We'll be back when Kieran can sit up on his own to do one more test, but other than that, he's golden, woohoo!
Josh wearing Kieran in the Beco Butterfly carrier. We loved this with Maia and continue to love using it with Kieran, it's such a great carrier!
Finally, Kieran is off the apnea monitor for good! Four weeks and we're done, hooray! During his time on the monitor he only had 2 alarms total, and they were both in the first 2 weeks at home, so I'm really not concerned he'll have any issues with apnea anymore. I can definitely tell that his breathing pattern has matured. Also, in the final week of monitoring, Kieran wore an oximeter at night to assess oxygen intake and wow, have his O2 sats improved big time or what!? Back in the NICU pre-caffeine he'd bounce down to the 80's, hover in the low 90's. Now at a more mature age and post-caffeine he was satting 97-100%! It's a relief to see that as we say good riddance to that pesky monitor! :)
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