15 Month Appointment

Yes, I know they are already 16 months old but technically it was supposed to be a 15 month check-up which had to be moved since we didn't have health insurance last month. So here are the stats for the boys at 16 months old:

Zak: 20lb 12oz
30.5 inches
46cm for head circumference

Ryder: 19lb 11oz
30.25 inches
44cm for head circumference

They each had 3 shots today and did well although Zak was harder to calm down than Ryder was.

Both boys still had their horrible cough and slight wheezing while we were there which is actually good so the pediatrician got to listen to them. He said their lungs were clear in terms of having no fluid or gunk in them which is great, but they still sounded pretty bad which he says is from inflammation within the lungs. This inflammation can be from their coughing as well as from a virus that is running its course. He told me to continue using the nebulizer with Albuterol for breathing treatments 2-3 times a day while they have this cough. He also prescribed both of them oral steroids for 5 days to help get the inflammation to go away as quick as possible so that their breathing can get better. For now Zak will stay on his Flovent twice a day and if Ryder continues to have wheezing this winter they want to put him on it as well. He also said it would probably be a good idea to get the boys to an immunologist to test their immune systems. He said if we test them and find out they do have issues that they would be able to put them on specific vitamins and supplements to help which is why getting the testing would be helpful. So I have that on my list of things to do...get an appointment with the immunologist.

The pediatrician is very happy with Zak's progress with his size as well as his development. He is still a little behind with verbal things as well as some understanding (following commands to go get something...the problem is he isn't always understanding exactly what we are asking him to get). For being born 10 weeks early Zak is doing great.

We spent a lot of time talking about Ryder at the appointment. First, we talked about the results from his brain MRI which came back saying structurally everything is there but his brain is shaped a little oddly. He has a place that is flat and another area that is protruding, but the pediatrician said this could just mean he had a flat spot on his head that never fully corrected itself, but that the geneticist might find these results more helpful with trying to diagnose his genetic disorder. The pediatrician said this probably won't cause any issues for Ryder, but you also may never know if it is or not since he has other things going on as well. The results of his skeletal survey were only sent to the geneticist so we were not able to discuss those. As we already knew he passed his hearing test and the new blood test only showed the extra "x" chromosome, so nothing new there. The next topic was Ryder's growth since he has dropped off of his regular growth curve. He has always been right at about the 5th% for weight which was fine as long as he continued to follow his own growth curve which he had been doing until now. The pediatrician wants us to start giving him some Pediasure as well as trying to get him to eat some more foods with higher fat content in them. They will monitor his growth rate for the next few months and if it doesn't increase we will have to start some dietary supplements. The pediatrician is also happy to see the progress Ryder has made in development with the help of the therapists we have from Early Intervention. Ryder is of course behind which we already knew, but the important thing is that he is making progress and that is what matters.

We go back next week to let the pediatrician check on their lungs after having the oral steroids for 5 days. They also go back on January 7 for the second dose of their flu shot (they split it into 2 doses the first time a kid has the flu shot). And then they have their 18 month appointment in February.