So it has been quite awhile since I have written...again and I want to update on everything that has happened in the last 3 months!
On development: Jacob is still "booty scooting" everywhere and we are still working on standing (we did finally get a stander recently). He has started interacting a little bit on his knees, so I am hoping that transitions to crawling or pulling up. He has figured out how to go down stairs on his bottom as well and is a little too fast for my liking :)! His fine motor skills continue to improve and he points at EVERYTHING! He is still not verbal, but he experiments with noises and has figured out he can laugh pretty loud when he wants to.
On Weight gain: We are still not gaining quite like we should, and I think actually lost some weight after a short time in the hospital (see below), so we will continue to monitor and push his caloric intake. He also had some bloodwork done a few weeks ago that revealed extremely low zinc levels so he will be on a zinc supplement daily as well.
On Medical updates: We had a short stay at the hospital after one of his ear pits became extremely infected and IV antibiotics were needed to get rid of the infection. We are trying to get into an ENT to get that pit checked out since it is still slightly swollen, and I want to get him evaluated for his swallowing difficulties and make sure it is nothing anatomical. We also went and had hip/pelvic xrays done yesterday as recommended by his PT to make sure everything was ok in that department and nothing is preventing him from standing/walking.
On Therapy: Jacob will get to start at the Lee Ann Britain Center at the end of August which we are very excited about. He will get Speech, OT, and PT once a week as well as a class setting once a week. I am hoping for some aquatic therapy in there as well since he loves the water. I also would like to look into hippotherapy (horse therapy) since I have heard Great things about it!
On Jacob's Ladder Updates: We are still working on getting the ball rolling here, but we do have our initial web design layout for the website thanks to Jennie and we all have so many ideas that we just need to implement! I still see a huge need for something like this that will really be able to help direct parents to everything from therapists, to great doctors, to childcare as well as other families that are dealing with the same issues and so much more!! It would really be a dream of mine to be able to get another Center up and running that would implement therapy, classrooms, and perhaps even a childcare aspect to it. So, I hope everyone will stay tuned for the next chapter..
