Finlay can hear!!!

It is official, Finlay has his hearing aid and he is hearing with it. We went this morning to get him all set up. Right now it is set at a low volume to give him some time to adjust to hearing sound. We need to go back in 2 weeks for a follow up and she will up the volume a little bit. It is set below the normal level but the level he is at he can still hear just not soft sounds. For the most part he has done well today. Initially he freaked out and had a tantrum but he settled down after she played with the volume a little and got it to a setting that he was comfortable with. After we left there we headed up to see daddy for a moment, then we made a run to the mall so Mommy could pick up tickets for a movie for tomorrow. Finlay did not react well to the sounds of the mall. As soon as we walked in he started screaming, Even after picking him up there was no consoling him so I just made the decision to remove it from his head so he wouldn't go into overload. It was just too much at once for him. We had lunch and then headed home. He doesn't wear it during naps or at bedtime. He did well in the car with music playing. We'll see more reactions later when he gets up. Fortunately it's a good weekend for him to be starting out hearing we don't have much planned so he can just be in his normal environment around every day noise. At least he won't get over stimulated. I'm just so excited that he will finally get to hear his name and our voices. Thursday I was playing with him on the floor while the other 2 boys played outside. I had Fin working on sitting up with the Boppy and decided to get a picture of him. I kept having to get his attention with motion but still called his name. It was a little heartbreaking seeing him not respond. When we hold him we don't need motion to get his attention he will stare us in the face. I always talk to him just incase he is hearing but it's become more apparent as he's gotten more aware of things that he doesn't hear much. So it's exciting to know that he is hearing the world around him.

Finlay is 5.5 months!

It's been a while since I last posted. I can't believe my sweet little Finlay is 5 months old already. He is getting so big but he's still a little peanut :) He is such a little talker (takes after his brother lol) especially when he's taking a bottle. He will just babble away instead of eating the bottle he scream for. He sleeps through the night. We put him to bed about 9 every night and he gets up with daddy about 5 and they spend some time together before daddy has to go to work. Then daddy will put him back to bed and he will sleep until 10. He takes a nap every day about 1 and will sleep until 4 in the afternoon. We brought out the jump-a-roo about a month ago and Finlay just loves it. He hasn't figured out how to get it bouncing but he just loves the toys on it. I've been working with him on getting him to sit up assisted and he has been doing very well with it. Since it was so nice out today we had the boys outside and I was sitting him on the grass in the front lawn while Ethan was riding his bike up and down the driveway. Finlay actually sat unassisted for about 5 seconds before he started to do a face plant into the grass. After that he didn't want to sit anymore.

As far as his hearing goes he is all set up to get a hearing aid. We had a consult last week now we are just waiting for it to come in. He will be wearing a soft band BAHA. In case there's someone reading this that doesn't know what that is, it's a band (like a headband) that goes on his head and the BAHA snaps into the band. It can be positioned anywhere on his head and he will hear through his bone conduction. The ideal places for it to be positioned is in the back of the head for when he is on his tummy or crawling and on the forehead when he is in a stroller or carseat. There is also a special back that locks so he won't be able to easily get to the battery compartment. We have chosen a Navy Blue band and the back will be a soft black but the audiologist was going to try to get a few extra backs in different colors as we should change the back every 3 months. We also will be receiving a special clip that has a stretchy thin like that loops through the BAHA and then clips to his clothes. This way should the BAHA come off it won't get lost. So sometime either this week or next week Finlay will be hearing the world around him.

Finlay's last weight was about a month ago and he was just a little under 11lbs at 4 months. He has had a steady incline in his weight since he was 2 weeks. The pediatrician wanted to see him at 5 months old just for a weight check. Even though he is gaining at a steady rate. I didn't agree with that so I cancelled the appointment. I haven't been too thrilled with her I think that she is a little too over-cautious with Finlay. I have no problem with a pediatrician who is cautious but she goes beyond that in my opinion. We are going to be looking for a new pediatrician. We feel that as long as Finlay continues to gain weight at a decent weight there is no need to monitor it on a monthly basis. He is just growing longer faster than his is growing wider LOL. You can tell when you hold him that he is gaining weight and just by looking at him as well. He has filled out nicely in his face and he even has a cute little pot belly. Finlay is doing just fine. He's not the worlds best eater but he does OK and he is thriving. Next month I will be starting him on fruits and vegetables.

We have an appt scheduled this Friday with PT b/c at his 3 month appt the pediatrician didn't feel that he was holding his head up very well. The day he turned 4 months old he gained full control. He pushes himself up with his arms when I place him on his belly, he started rolling over from belly to back which he now does it all the time in his sleep, he bears weight on his legs, and like I mentioned above I am working with him on sitting up. It was recommended to us to get an eval done so we are just doing it to appease the Dr but we think he is right about where he should be at this time in terms of his milestones. I think that the Dr isn't getting that he was born exactly 1 month early and he is hitting the milestones 1 month late. Realistically she should be taking the prematurity into consideration and base things on his adjusted age not his actual age. That's what we had to do with Ethan.

Also (as I was typing this came to mind) I should mention that I was looking through Ethan's baby book and Up until he was 12 months he tended to hover in the 20th percentile for height and about the 10th percentile for weight so Finlay is following in his brother's footsteps. I think that Fin will catch up by age 1. It will help once we get him on baby food I think.

All in all Finlay is one cool baby. He is just a little doll. He is always full of smiles and is just a happy little guy. Now all he's gotta do is grow some hair LOL.