There are two pretty major updates on Logan from a health perspective.
- At birth, our midwife noticed that he has hypospadias. It is a condition where the opening of his urethra is in the wrong place. Fortunately, he was able to pee normally, so immediate action didn't need to be taken. We did need to see a paediatrician when he was 2 days old. She referred us to Sick Kids, the children's hospital in Toronto. We recently saw a paediatric urologist. His case is fairly straightforward, but will require surgery. They will need to reconstruct his urethra, using his own tissue. It is a 2-hour procedure that is best done when the baby is about 8-9 months old. While I'm grateful that it is straightforward, the thought of my little guy being put under scares me. Lucky for us, we have one of the best children's hospitals in the world. I've already looked the surgeon up and discovered that he is "the man" when it comes to this procedure. He will be in good hands.
- He failed his initial hearing screening in his left ear. The nurse attempted two different tests, but his left ear failed both. His right ear passed immediately. As a result, we were referred to an audiologist at the hospital. The test that they run at the hospital is far more involved. The baby has to be completely asleep during the test. A tricky feat for Logan and I considering he isn't the best napper. I fed him, rocked him, bounced him, rocked the carseat and finally put him in the carrier. I eventually got him into a good sleep state for the test. His left ear was not responding, so she switched to the right. She managed to get the information she needed from the right ear in 5 minutes. She went back to the left ear and tried higher frequencies, but it still was not responding. He woke a few times during the test, so she wasn't able to get all of the information she needed. She was confident that he does have permanent hearing loss, but could not say how much. He will be going back for more tests. Thankfully, his speech and language should not be affected since he has perfect hearing in his right ear. While this was hard to hear, I'm trying to remain positive and put things into perspective. His right ear works well. Hearing aids are pretty incredible these days. It might be an inconvenience, but it won't stop him from living a normal life. We will have more answers in the next month or so.
Naturally, when I need him to be asleep, he stays awake chomping on his hands and giving me big smiles!
- In other (more fun) news, he is chatting like crazy! I need to get a video of it. He has been trying out all sorts of sounds, including shrieking. He thinks it's pretty fantastic. Quinn, in particular, talks to him often. He usually responds with various sounds and she adores him for it! He is super smiley now too, particularly with the people he knows well.
- Tummy time is a work in progress. He can't stand it, but really, what baby enjoys it at first. He has a pretty large head, so I can only imagine how tough it is for him to keep it up. He does manage to get his head up and is starting to prop himself up on his forearms. Admittedly, I need to get him on his tummy a little bit more often.
- He has become more predictable with morning naps. He has set a routine for himself, falling asleep around 8/8:30 and will usually sleep for an hour. This falls right around the time when I need to take the girls to school, so this nap takes place in the carrier. He is usually ready for the next nap around 10:30am. This one is on the go, in the stroller or carrier. I haven't had great success getting him to nap in his crib yet. He usually wakes after about 20 minutes. Soon enough, I need to crack down and get him napping at least once per day in the crib. It would be nice to have a few minutes to get things done around the house.
- He has discovered his hands! He loves to chew on them, play with his fingers and cross his hands.
- I still haven't had much luck on the bottle front. It breaks my heart to throw milk down the drain. We went out for dinner the other night. The little monkey waited for me for nearly 5 hours. I really hope that he will start taking one to give me a little more freedom and make it easier on the person babysitting.
Look at these faces. How lucky am I?!
