Age: 17 months actual – 13 months corrected
Weight: 23.8 pounds
Length: 31.5 inches
Progress Report
On May 18th, Ty’s 8th tooth came in :).
On May 6th, his pulmonoligst released him from his care! No more regular appointment unless we need something.
On May 11th, his neurologist said “He is a miracle”. No sign of CP still! Yeah!
On May 20th, we sent Ty’s Sat Monitor back to Praxair! BIG STEP!
On June 6th – Ty was RELEASED into the big wide world! Yeah! We are no longer on lockdown!
Eating – He is doing better! We have determined that it is easiest to get him to eat things that are frozen. His favorite? Frozen peas! Isn’t that wild? He loves them! He also LOVES Ice Cream. Blue Bell’s Bananna Split is awesome 🙂 .
He still chokes a lot and doesn’t eat much but he is starting to eat a little more finger food so that is good.
Medications – He is still on Reglan and Omeprazole. Don’t have any idea when we will get him off.
Illness – His cold lasted about 1 and half weeks which was much better than I expected. As it turned out, he had an ear infection. He was fine for about a week and then yesterday his nose started running again and he was coughing a bit in his sleep. I figured this would happen when we went “out”. It will probably take some time to build up his immunity so I think we will likely have several summer colds. I just hope he isn’t one of those kids with repeat ear infections. All in all though, I’d say he did pretty darn well to wait until he was 16 months before getting an ear infection. (Tanner has actually never had one).
Talking – I am a little concerned that he isn’t adding words. He is still at the same 4 – Ma Ma, Da Da, Ta Ta, and No No No. I think he is trying to say “Yah” though. I comes out “Ah”. He responds with this word when you ask him if he wants something or if he is wanting more. The eyebrows raise when he say’s “Ah” too – pretty cute.
Crawling – When we got back from DC he was a crawling pro. No more army crawl, he is on all 4 and is FAST FAST FAST. We have been calling him “Dash”.
Walking – Not yet. He isn’t standing alone either. If I hold his hands he may take one or two steps but that is it. He can cruise along furniture great though. I think it will take awhile yet before he figures this out.
Other Motor Skills – He is pointing and trying to open doors 🙂 . He can reach anything. Irregardless of how far out of reach you THINK an object is…he will get it. Jodi was eating dinner next to him last week and I tried to warn her about this. I told her not to order anything red. What does she do? Orders a strawberry fruit drink. She puts it clear to her left side (Ty was on the right). Next thing you know, Ty snags the drink quick as a wink and was about to attempt to drink it. By some miracle of grace, he didn’t spill it. Ty and I had to trade places. I was not going to allow a second attempt.
Mama Bond – When Tanner was a baby he would go to anyone. He didn’t start a mama attachment until 18 months. It appears Ty is going to do the same thing. Ty has just started crying for me if I leave the room. He follows me EVERYWHERE. His favorite word is “Ah Ma” (he has been saying Ma Ma this way for a couple of weeks). I am wondering if my trip to DC is what caused him to make sure I am not going anywhere again?
Church – We went to church for the first time since last summer this past Sunday. Ty loved it. He especially loved the music.
Eyes – Last week I had to take Ty to the Eye Dr. for his regular appointment. It so happened that Amanda was visiting that day so she went with me. When I introduced Amanda to Ty’s Dr., I had to smother a wicked little grin as I watched the surprise play across her face. How does one respond to “This is my son’s birthmom”. Pretty funny to watch. It turned out to be quite convenient because we got to discuss the genetic links to Ty’s esotropia and the Dr. looked at Amanda’s eyes too 🙂 . I insisted that Ty is still having crossing issues but she didn’t see them. After a bit of discussion, it boiled down to this. His Dr. agrees that it LOOKS like Ty is experiencing strabismis but he is actually focusing perfectly. She labeled this “Psuedo-Strabismis”. This is where a child appears to be crossing but in reality they aren’t. I guess that depends on how you define crossing. Ty IS crossing but remaining perfectly focused in the center of his eye even when he does. How can you tell? One way is by light reflection. The light reflects out of the center of both pupils irregardless of eye position. Awfully suspicious that this would be pseudo when He DID in fact have a serious issue with this that included surgery but Ty has an awesome Dr. and she can’t determine that his focus is off so….? I don’t know.
Teeth – Ty chipped his top right tooth last week! I have no idea how he did this. Do I fix this? What do you do when a baby chips their tooth? Aaaghhh! He looks pretty adorable and I am not about to put him under anethesia again to fix this at the moment so I don’t know what we will do yet. Here is a picture:
My little busy boy keeps me running. By the end of the day sometimes, I can’t wait for my beautiful boy to drift away to sleepy town. He has been liking mommy to hold him at night and is getting pretty mommy dependant when he is sleepy. I love it. Nothing better than cuddling a tired little boy. These are the special times that fade so fast…I don’t want to miss a moment.
12 responses to “We Call Him Dash”
Hi Doni! I’m so glad I popped in tonight! Ty is so cute! Cade chipped his tooth at the same age. Naturally, I rushed him straight to the Pediatric Dentist for xrays, etc. No damage. This has happened a zillion times since, no damage. Even after his “run in” with the “padded” chair in our hotel room on vacation (ER trip)….I felt sure he would lose his front tooth/teeth. No damage. Praise God! I’m sure Ty’s little chip is just what it is….cute! 🙂
Carter’s front teeth a little chipped too. My thought is that that is why God gives us two sets of teeth . . . baby teeth and then “permanent” teeth. Supposedly, but the time we get “permanent” teeth, we don’t chip them anymore!!
it took seth the better part of two years to learn to sleep through the night and mostly he’s doing GREAT now. in the last couple months i’ve felt a little worn from it but decided to really plunge into the savoring moments extra hard so as not to miss out. i’m so glad i did as those sleep snuggles are getting fewer as he’s waking up less often… before i know it i’ll be wishing for that sweaty, sleepy, little puppy head. i’m so glad you savor these things too!
it sounds like my little guy is doing great – i’m so proud of him. it’s wonderful to hear that you and amanda are having more outings and introductions together. it is really great for the world to see and love both mama’s and birthmom’s… something they don’t often get to do all at once i’m sure! what a gift of education you are giving together! 🙂
as courtney said…. 2 sets of teeth for a reason.. though i broke half my front tooth off (permanent) at around 8 or 9. 🙂 seth also has a tiny chip out of one of his front teeth. not sure when it happened actually… probably one of his meetings with the concrete out front unfortunately.
I agree with the other girls, no reason to fix a chipped baby tooth 🙂 My little brother chipped his front tooth when he was a year old, I think it is just something little boys do. My son got up from a nap with his front tooth all bloody, he must have banged it on the crib rail….no chip tho.
Aren’t those Inspector Gadget robot arms amazing? Just when you think they cant reach something those arms seem to get longer 🙂
Hi Doni –
I was catching up on some reading this weekend and my National Geographic for July caught my attention. There is an interesting (and long) article worth a look.
I am glad to read this month of the wonderful accomplisments TY has had. Pretty amazing!
Hugs,
Dee
His face is sooooo round! And look at the teeth! I hope we will follow suit soon!
Isn’t getting released from some appointments nice? Course there’s also the worry… you go to so many appointment you doubt everything when they say.. “You’re good to go..” We got released in Feb from the BPD clinic here and I was soo worried they promised me I could bring him back for a check up at his one year mark, 8 months corrected (which is next week)!
Be prepared this is going to be long and was wrote for Doni sake~~~~~One day about 16 months ago I was sitting in the NICU with my sweet little baby girl….Kourtney. The nurse on shift that day approached me and asked me if it was ok if she had just told the mom with the little boy across the way a story about me regarding my 3 1/2 yr old little girl that was a 28 weeker diagnosed with PVL…Kenslie. I said,” no that should be fine”, and I asked her why had she told her , she then told me that the little boy was a 25 weeker and his mom had just been given some pretty crummy news that he had serious brain bleeds, but she new about Kenslie and she also new that she is doing awesome and that her neurologist had said that she was a complete miracle. The nurse said I was hoping that since his mom is having a really bad day dealing with all of this that maybe you could talk with her and let her know a little more about your little girl. I said ,”I would be thrilled to talk to another mom”(something you dont get to do alot of in the NICU). This is when the dark haired mom who was always with her little boy and looked completely refreshed came walking over into Kourtneys pod. She introduced herself to me as Doni Brinkman and her little boys name is Ty. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I remember I was holding Kourtney and you said to me ,”oh she is so cute I cant wait to hold Ty more.” unlike Ty being born 15 weeks early Kourtney was only 8 weeks early big difference she only stayed in the NICU for 2 weeks. One of the things that stands out to me most that day were the amazing photos you showed me of Ty I had been waiting to see what he looked like for days and I remember thinking that he is adorable with fat little cheeks. We started talking and you told me all about Ty, and his and Tanners adoption. I remember thinking wow she is an incredible mommy.The reason I wrote this today was because of the post regarding Tys neurologist saying “he is a miracle” I too had the devastating news of being told your baby would most likely have serious disabilities. Kenslie never had a bleed but she did have a stroke and was diag. with PVL the next step to that is CP. I told you everything I could about how she never rolled over till after her 1st b-day and didnt walk untill 18 months. We did therapy since she was 5 months old and that at the age of 3 was also “deemed a miracle” she has only right side motor skill delays the average person would probably never know the difference. I remember being scared for you because every child is different and nobody can tell you what the future holds. I do remember telling you that as hard as it may seem now that you just need to hold out the most hope for you little guy and just to love him,,,if nothing else just love him. You looked at me and said,”I have know doubt that I love him no matter what the outcome I will always love him.” That takes alot for a mom who has been told their child might not be perfect, I think it took me 2 days to face the fact and to walk in the NICU and pick my baby up and say,”it doesnt matter I will always love you”. I was in so much shock and I was so scared for her,I never felt that from you Doni I just felt pure unconditional love. One thing I have learned from you is that your faith in the lord is alot stronger that mine I was mad at him for along time asking why and not understanding. I wish I could go through some of my life expiriences over with the knowlegde that I have now and with the faith I have now. At the same time though I had to learn from somewhere and maybe thats why it worked out that way? This post you made was so exciting for me to hear as it is the one thing I chime into big time regarding how Ty is doing. He has come a long way and still has a way to go , but I know that with parents like you he will always have the best oppurtunity and will do amzing things in life! Heck he allready had done some pretty amzing things!!! I am so happy for your whole family to have Ty in your lives and to know he is doing awesome. You deserve koodos of love from all… for all that you do and have had to deal with in the last year and a half. Sorry this took up so much space but I couldn’t leave much out . I also wanted to write this so Ty would have it someday to know how much you loved him(not that he doesnt know that allready!)You are sooo cute Ty and I am so proud of your strong little body. LoVe AlWaYs ~Shayla~
shayla’s message was very very sweet. what a nice memory… and sweet lady to reach out to you then AND now. 🙂
Shayla,
My turn to cry 🙂 . There are always two sides to a story you know so now I’ll tell mine. One thing I learned as a NICU mom is that Dr.’s and Nurses seem petrified to give a person hope. I still remember the look on staff faces when I would ask about Ty’s hemorrages and the possibility of PVL. I had been studying PVL on the internet and was making myself sick as the outcomes were not good. I received so many looks of genuine pity. It was as though everyone that I encountered looked at me like “Lady, you have no idea what you are in for. This baby is going to face serious problems.” They could have been right. Often times bilateral bleeds and PVL do result in significant disability.
I knew that I had to face the possibility and even probability that my precious little boy was going to have a very rough road in life. Some days, it was too terrifying to contemplate. I needed someone to give me a shred of hope. Not because I believed that if I had a bit of hope, that Ty would be fine…because there were days that for me to remain sane, I needed to have just the tiniest speck of it. For my sake and for Ty’s. You gave that to me. I was desperate to talk to someone other than a nurse. Nurses know what they see in a NICU but they aren’t the mommy’s at home raising the babies. I don’t mean that to be unfair to the nurses who so lovingly took care of my child. If I saw only what they saw, I would be tempted to be pretty gloomy myself. You could see beyond the textbook diagnosis though and could talk about the possibilities no one else wanted to discuss. I needed to know about Kenslie. I needed to know that once in awhile, a child makes it through things that others think are impossible. I needed to hope for Ty and you helped me do that – Kenslie helped me do that.
Every moment of kindness counts in a foxhole and NICU parents are in a perpetual foxhole. By the time that a PVL diagnosis was confirmed with Ty, he was 6 months old. He was smiling at me and cooing and responding. I knew then that despite the outcome, this little boy was going to know his mommy loved him and that our family was going to get through it together. At this present moment, he is crying his eyes out because I had the nerve to leave him in the front room with daddy and Tanner. Ty HATES it when mommy leaves the room and shuts the door:).
Shayla – thank you for taking the time to share your heart. I don’t mind long postings :). Sometimes I feel like I take so much more than I can give through this journal. Foxhole friends are friends for life you know.
Love you
Doni
I’m melting in the sweet sap of true friendship! I’m so glad the rest of us got to join in and read your conversation! I think Shayla is someone I would like to meet one day. Thank you Shayla for giving to my sister what I, and few others, could give to her. I needed to know someone was looking after her with love and kindness and hope. 🙂
Thank you girls for all the sweet and kind words you wrote here!
Doni I also learned something else, never go online to read about PVL ughhh! I sat for about 4 hrs. one night and then promised to never look again. What I discovered is that I think only people with a serious outcome take the time to tell their story because they are the ones who need the most support! I told myself that I would someday go online and find a great place to tell MY STORY because I do think more people deserve more hope. If you know of a place to tell Kenslies story let me know!
I was also given the same looks you were in the NICU regarding Kenslies PVL diag. she was only 7 weeks old and if you consider the fact that she was 12 weeks early then she still wasnt even due for another 5 weeks sooo she wasnt even focusing her eyes on anything at all cause they cant at that age and in fact she would even roll her eyes back into her head so I really thought we were in for a long bumpy road ahead and if I could have had any shred of hope that would have made the first year and a half of her life a whole heck of a lot easier. Although maybe its the reason I pushed for 7 hrs. a week of therapy lol !!! Well I’m glad you like long postings Doni cause thats what you get from me everytime!
Doni you need to remember that when you write, tons and tons of people out their are reading and only a slight few are responding to you , but I would bet that there are several tons more that are wanting to write back to you to say thank you because in some way you have most likely touched them or helped them out. So you need to know that in no way are you taking more from this journal than you are giving. I do have faith in that!!! I have never been so touched by one persons words than I have been by yours Doni and I also bet that many more out there would agree with me???? Well I hope that maybe I just stirred a few to let you know how you have touched them. Thanx for just being you!
Your foxhole friend Love ~Shayla~
Heidi–I would love to meet you one day you also have some pretty clever words yourself and have made me think quite a few times. Sometimes I read Donis post and then flip right to comments to see what it is you are going to say lol! You are trully an awesome friend. I wish I had a friend that would stand up for me through the thickest and the thinest.
Love~Shayla~
wow! Doni, even IIIII am gaining lots from YOUR journal! I AM blessed indeed! Thanks Shayla for the encouragement… maybe our day for kiddie playtime and a “cup’o’tea” for us 3 mommies will come. 🙂