Baby Luke is 1 Month Old Today!

Today we took Luke in for his 1 month checkup!  I am still wondering how he can be a month old already... time sure does fly.  During his exam, we learned that he continues to gain weight!  He tipped the scales this morning at 8 pounds, 10 ounces (v. 6 pounds, 8 ounces at birth), and 20.5 inches long (v. 18 3/4 inches at birth), with a head circumference of 13.39 inches (v. 12 inches at birth).  While they can compare him with typically developing boys on a growth chart, they instead plot him on a chart that compares him to other boys his age with Down Syndrome to get a more fair representation of how he's doing.  The nurse shared where he's at on both charts... pretty interesting to see the variation!

For weight, he was 8 pounds, 10 ounces which put him at 50% for 1 month old boys with DS or at 20.39% for typically developing boys at 1 month of age.  For length, he measured 20.5 inches long, which placed him at the 37.5% length or at 36.48% on the normal chart.  His head circumference of 13.39 inches placed him at 37.21%  on the DS chart or at 1.78% on the normal chart.  

We were thrilled that he continues to gain so much weight!  It is such a relief to know that our feedings are going well and that he's getting the nutrition he needs to thrive and gain size and strength for his future surgery (whenever that will be).  We talked through lots of questions with our pediatrician and were pleased with the time and attention he offered us, which has grown to become typical of our visits since we began seeing him with Matthew a year and a half ago.  We are so fortunate to have a great doctor!  

One of our concerns was with some head congestion that seems to be afflicting Luke.  Although it's not the typical congestion you'd think of... it sounds kind of nasally, but there isn't any drainage or anything like that and he isn't sick.  There could be a concern with a heart issue with the congested sound, but his cardiologist ruled that out during our visit with her last week.  The best we could figure out is that Luke may have small nasal/sinus structures which could restrict the amount of air he can take in with a given breath.  Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus to follow up to make sure he doesn't have any undetected respiratory issues. 

All in all the appointment went well and Luke seems to be on the right track!