9 months old

I can't believe McKay is 9 months old. I know I keep saying this but this year has literally flown by at jet speed.
This month we have already had 4 different doctor visits! Yes, it is exhausting as it sounds! We had our first visit with our Neurologist and it went very well. He showed me his MRI images and went over the readings with me. He asked lots and lots of questions, and had a few answers for me. I felt really good about the appointment and we will now be seeing him every 3 months.
We also had our second Neonatal follow up clinic. It is really good because you see so many doctors and therapists in one shot, but is SO long. We left here at 7:45 AM and didn't get back until about 1:30! There were no new concerns from any of the doctors, so that was the good news. They mostly were concerned about things we had already knew about, just more concerned than they were. He also had his eyes checked and they were great!
Last Sunday we had a trip to the Emergency room. McKay woke up Saturday sounding pretty congested. His little lungs are just so small and so much smaller than the rest of the body. So as soon as he gets a virus it affects his lungs so much. Luckily his oxygen levels were okay. They did a chest x-ray, RSV test and did blood labs. His x-ray looked okay and it was not RSV, just bronchilitis. So after a breathing treatment they sent us home. I took him back to the ER that night at 3 in the morning because he sounded a lot worse and his lungs were retracting more. His oxygen was okay again but his lungs sounded worse. They sent us home and told us to go see his pediatrician.
Monday we had our 9 month check up so we used it as a double appointment. He checked his lungs and said they did sound junky but not too bad. He thought he had croup as well so they gave him a shot of steroids, it seemed to help. He still is wheezy, but seems slightly better each day. We are still hibernating, but have decided to kick it up a notch so we really aren't in the hospital all winter. So if we don't see you until April, please don't take it personal!

His 9 month appointment went well.
Here are his stats:
Weight: 17.7 lbs ( 7.64 percentile) We discovered in September he was loosing weight, he has actually put on over 2 lbs since then so we are happy with that. They want him to gain more, so we are calorie packing.
Height: 27 inches long ( 8.95 percentile)
Head: Still way off the charts, the Neurologist told me his head is currently the size of a 3 year old. It almost brought me to tears because it has got to be so hard for him. He told me he thought it would slow down when he was about 15 months.

Our doctor felt like he was doing well. His low tone seems to be a little better in his legs and arms, his lowest toned area by far his his trunk. He is concerned about his chest size compared to his abdomen. His chest has been smaller than his abdomen since he was born. His abdomen and his head measured 39 weeks at 33 weeks, but the rest of him was the correct size of a 33 weeker. The hope was that his chest would catch up to the rest of his body. That still is the hope, but it is not catching up very well currently. We will be re-evaluating it once he is over his viruses and might have to see the orthopedic surgeon about it. We also found out he is pretty anemic, he was anemic in the NICU and it's pretty common for premies. But he is still anemic so they have almost doubled his iron.
The doctor was happy with how he was doing developmentally, but was a little hopeful he would be doing a little better. But we both agreed he was progressing and that is all that is important.

It was a very long, stressful and emotional week. As usual when we have a lot of doctors appoitments, lots of tiredness and tears (I feel like I am getting a little better with the tears though).

But we were happy that there was nothing new everyone was concerned about. We are also very happy with the progress he is making.
He still is a great sleeper, mostly sleeping through the night. Has improved immensely with his eating and is loving his veggies.
His favorite things are his silky blue blanket, his binkie, any toy that lights up, and his brother, sister and Daddy.
McKay is such a joy in our lives and his little face just lights right up when he sees you. He does a little "squishy" face right now and you can see his dimples in his cheeks. It is may absolute favorite thing in the world. We love him so much! Every time I pick him up I always give him a little extra squeeze because I can!