12 November

Yes, it has been a long break between posts, but really there has been nothing enormous to write about. In some ways, this is, in itself, very good.

Max is not sleeping through the night anymore, hasn't done in weeks. It is getting hotter here, so this may be a part of it, but I'm not sure why. Daylight Saving is in, as well, and that doesn't help. I am not a fan.

He had a check-up with his paediatrician, who seems quite happy about everything. We hadn't kept his immunisations on schedule (I'm a bad parent), but in truth I thought the injections would be given at our hospital visits. Technically, immunisations are the one part of a premmie development which is aligned with their actual age (rather than their corrected age). However, Max's are all over the place. The first ones ('newborn') weren't given at all as he was so small & sick, the next ones weren't given until March - when he was about two weeks corrected but four months actual. The next ('three months') were about June, when he was 3 months corrected, but 6 1/2 actual. So, I had no real idea when the next ('six months') ones were due, and supposed I'd be told! Anyway, we went to our GP and had the six-months ones done. But, because he is twelve months actual later this month, she wanted to know when to do the 12month immunsations!!! 12 months actual age (which would only be about 3 weeks after the six month ones), or 12 months corrected age (which is in March). In the end I checked with Max's paediatrician who said 'two months from the last immunisations' - so that'll be January. Split the difference, I suppose.

He is eating really rather well. He has three meals a day and about four bottles. He is still very bad on the bottle, but in general it doesn't seem to worry him. We have had one scare where he got extremely constipated after a day of not much liquid, so I will have to be very vigilant about offering bottles and water. I am trying to find a sip cup which has a straw rather than a sipper but also has good handles for a baby to hold. Max tends to simply chew the spout of his sip cup, rather than suck, so he doesn't actually get much water down - so all his liquid is from the milk feeds.

We are pretty paranoid about his diet, and really hope people don't think we're anal retentive (well, more than normal), but we don't want him eating sweets, chocolate, fruit juice etc. Premmies have a tendency toward childhood obesity (unless they are one of those who struggles to grow - we can never win), so the whole lolly thing isn't just us being 'wholefood hippy parents', it's about his growth, bowel health, mental health (ADD is another potential future issue, as is autism), and dental health .

Over the weekend, I got to catch up with a friend from interstate, as well as a couple of other people at a family gathering, and there were lots of lovely comments about how well Max looks, and how healthy he is. I don't mean to be negative, he is doing really well and we're very proud of him and enjoying him every day, but appearances can be deceiving. What we always have in the back of our mind are the possibilities for the future. Max could be a perfectly normal little boy. He could! But, here are just a few of the things that are very real possibilities for a premmie like Max...

- bowel issues (hopefully nothing too bad, but he does tend toward constipation already)
- growth issues (he's around the 5th %ile for height and weight)
- dental issues (premmies tend to have bad teeth as part of the arrested development thing. This means he may have brittle teeth, possibly fillings even in his baby teeth, let alone the adult ones.)
- speech issues (many premmies have various speech and language issues)
- hearing issues (so far he's OK on this one)
- vision (we know he's short-sighted. It isn't too bad, so we hope it isn't degenerative!)
- motor skills - this could be hypo or hypertonia (low / high muscle tone) or could even be Cerebral Palsy. Lots of premmies have CP and it really isn't about what they do, but rather what they don't do. It usually isn't diagnosed properly until the child is about 2-3 years
- ADD / Autism / Aspergers - these scare the hell out of me, but are often linked to prematurity or birth/in utero problems. It has been mentioned to us, especially the ADD thing. Yet another reason why we are careful with his diet - the various additives and preservatives in lots of processed food can exacerbate ADD sufferers' symptoms. Even if he doesn't have ADD, cutting these things out of his diet isn't a bad thing!

Someone aked 'what about parties and friends' houses?'. Well - I suppose we'll deal with that when it happens. One day out of his life every now and then isn't a real issue. He's still a kid and parties are fun - I just want to make sure he also had good food, and that he knows the difference between 'sometimes food' and 'everyday food'.

There are two teeth coming through now! It's been happening for about ten days now, spotted by a friend at Mothers' Group (thanks, Xanthe!). So, possibly his birthday photos will have a toothy grin! It's very exciting, but it will be sad to have no more gummy bear...

He is rolling from front to back and to front again quite happily now. Still not sitting, but is quite happy to be held in a sitting or standing position. Terrible balance, though.

He loves the cat! Up until a couple of weeks ago, the cats were ignored, even if they walked past him or sat next to him. Now they are a source of much fascination and hilarity. I'll try & put a video on here sometime of Max & Brujon! (Schubie just hides.)

So, the big thing on the horizon is the first birthday celebrations. I am so hoping that it will go well. So far not many of our invitees have got back to us, so it may be a small group, but we'll just be so proud of him. Yay Max!