The past couple weeks have been the most stressful in a very long time and I’m so thankful that the holidays are over, that Titus and I are both feeling better, and that we are going to be entering a new year very soon where anything can happen. Titus had his check up with Dr. Roy a couple weeks ago and it was very apparent that doctor was pretty worried about how far behind Titus is, even for a premie. Titus is 14 pounds and either 28 or 32 inches, I can’t remember which. He has only grown two pounds in the past five months and seems to be falling farther and farther behind. As far as milestones and size go, I feel like Titus is about to the stage of a 7 or 8 month old, and he will be turning one in just a couple weeks. I left the office with four different referrals and amoxicillin for the poor little man’s ear infection. Oh boy. After taking the antibiotic for 4 days Titus started getting a rash. Thankfully, my mom was able to get off work early and take him in. Doctor said it was probably unrelated and was a viral rash that was not contagious and that it should clear up in one to two weeks. Just in case it was the amoxicillin though, she gave us a new prescription for penicillin I believe. Titus broke out from head to tiny little toe in the worst case of hives I’ve ever seen. This poor little boy was so miserable and just looked awful. We took him back to Dr. Roy and he switched the antibiotics again and recommended benedryl and to call if things got worse. Fortunately, he started clearing up pretty quickly once the benedryl set in and was almost completely back to normal just three short days later, which is good, because this all happened the weekend right before Christmas. 
Aside from that, we are on a six month waiting list to get in with a geneticist and we recently went to a pulmonologist, which is a lung specialist for those of us that don’t speak ‘doctor.’ The appointment went well but ended in a big question mark, as they all seem to be doing lately. Doctor scoped him, put a little camera up his nose and down his throat. Little man did not like that at all, and neither did mommy. I was sitting there trying to hold it together as he cried and thrashed around, it was pretty awful. But they got the footage they needed within a minute and a half and to the doctors relief and surprise, Titus’ airways and vocal cords looked pretty close to perfectly normal. Doctor said his lungs sounded fine as well and he didn’t think it was asthma. (Just realized this might be a little confusing for those of you that haven’t met Titus, he is a very noisy little boy. He always sounds like he’s congested and has always breathed very heavily, to the point of, obvious, concern.) Doctor said the next step would be a swallow test. He thinks Titus may not be swallowing completely and that there is liquid constantly pooling at the back of this throat. During the swallow test they will xray Titus as he swallows traceable liquid and see if everything is working the way it should. I suppose that was mostly self explanatory. If that comes back normal and the tests with the geneticist comes back ok, doctor suggested a neurologist. If all seems ok and Titus is still having a hard time breathing six to nine months from now, doctor will bring him back, put him under, and do a much more invasive scope. This one will go all the way into his lungs and he would also have xrays taken of his chest. On top of all those pending appointments we have an appointment with a speech and motor therapist. Doctor is concerned since Titus isn’t babbling yet and that he isn’t crawling, sitting, or picking things up specifically with his forefinger and thumb. 
It’s funny because when I describe these things to people and even reading back over this, you would think Titus is so much more worse off than he is. Truth is, he’s pretty darn healthy and really happy most the time. He is such a sweet little boy and he’s improving on a daily basis. He’s got six beautiful teeth and an absolutely contagious smile and laugh. He’s my sweet boy. Yes, he’s behind and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about him growing and developing properly, but he’s still my sweet boy and ultimately nothing else really matters. He’ll be who he’s going to be and to me he’ll always be perfect. 
