Overdue Update... and TA DA!
Micah had another checkup for his helmet today and we are stuck with it for another 6 weeks. There are several numbers and ratios and measurements related to his progress in the helmet. The primary number we're looking for is something less than 6; the number started at 9.9, severe, and is currently 7, moderate, and refers to the disproportionate bulge on the (primarily) back left side and coordinating lack of roundness on the back right side of Micah's head all due to the long-term laying in hospital. Overall, Micah's head roundness is proportionate to a "normal" baby's, which makes us very happy. Babies typically have about a year to correct plagiocephaly, a misshapen head, like this. Because Micah was freakishly premature, we get a little more time, a grace period, if you will, to allow his head to continue to reshape. Truthfully, if we'd leave the helmet on him for 23 hours a day like we're supposed to, we'd be done with the thing by now. But, during the hot summer, I leave it off most days and only make him wear it to bed, which is when it's most effective. Your mother was right: sleep does make you grow big [and strong].
We've seen a marked improvement in Micah's eating, up to 4 jars of food a day, everyday, and his bottle feeding has improved. Now, Micah takes a couple of bottles during the day because he wants them, and is eating more volume in each bottle by .5 - 1 oz each. It adds up! So, we're now seeing the speech therapist every other week and soon will see her only once a month until we need actual speech help. She tested Micah last week and he is on target for his corrected (due date) age for language skills, which we are more than pleased with! We learned that because preemies are exposed to so many sounds that mean nothing to them, language can be difficult to pick up on, so it is usually delayed. Plus, Micah couldn't hear for a few months there until we got the tubes in his ears, so we figure that if he's testing at 10 months, then he's a little ahead of the game afterall!
New to Micah's vocabulary and firmly established therein is "Dada." Micah knows who that means and what it means when he says it and when he says it, he wants it. It's terribly endearing. He also says "Mama," but lately it's just when he's yelling at me for putting him into the car seat. Sigh.
The biggest news of the night and possibly of the whole year:
Micah took his first steps today. Yes, he did! We went to church tonight and after prayer time, Jared was talking in the sanctuary with a colleague from work. So, I put Micah in the floor to put on his helmet (like a good mommy) and that baby crawled straight away to Jim, his Pops. Since Jared was talking away, we were in no hurry and Jim and I played with Micah. We had him walk between us and let go of his hands. He thought it was so funny that he just jumped around and would plop down to crawl or even stand for a few seconds before sitting calmly and laughing out loud. It was so much fun! In our play, Micah took two whole steps toward Pops -- that's right, away from Mommy and toward Pops -- before stumbling excitedly into Jim's ready hands. Fortunately, Jared was watching and saw it, too. Micah isn't exactly running in circles around me, but he's getting there!
For the record, Micah is beginning to walk well before his due date, which was Sept. 18. I'm so proud I could burst and so relieved that have cried. He is a miracle everyday and I never stop remembering just how far he has come in such a short amount of time. I can't thank all of you enough for your compassionate prayers and loving support our Sweet Micah and his family.
