Friday, July 27th: 3 months old!

I was hoping to update the blog a little bit more often after Finnegan got home. My hope was to keep you updated on his progress, his cuteness, and our life at home. Time seems to have run away with me! Finnegan has started to really keep me busy! Plus, he is still just going through the "feed and grow" regimine, so there isn't always a lot of news to share just adorable pictures!

Since our last post, we said "see ya later" to Jenny, Kaylin, and Matt. On Monday they flew back to Connecticut, so we had a traditional family dinner at the parents to conclude a wonderful visit back home. It's always fun to have the whole gang together, and Finnegan was able to soak up some Aunt Jenny love before she headed home.

Finnegan with his GiGi and PaPa!

On Tuesday, Finnegan turned 3 months old! Gestationally speaking, he's only about 38 weeks, but we're getting closer to his "due date!" At that point, Finnegan will be 0 years old in his corrected age! Also, once he hits his due date or 40 weeks gestational age, he will be able to have developmental tests to tell what his adjusted/corrected age will be. Even though Finnegan is 3 months old according to the calendar, because he was so early, he may lag behind developmentally. At this point, it's a wait and see; however, he will begin early intervention programs to help identify any issues EARLY, before they may become bigger problems with his growth (behaviorally, socially, etc.).

Also on Tuesday, Finnegan met with an Audiologist to follow up on his "failed" hearing screen conducted in the NICU. Finnegan laid on daddy's lap while the audiologist put a little ear bud probe in one ear at a time. The probe was connected to a computer that measured the feedback of sound when little beeps were played in his ear. The test was a bit nervewrecking for me because they kept redoing it, and not telling us much about what the little lines and graphs on the screen meant. After about a half hour of this, they said that there was too much excess noise (Finnegan's grunts and groans and just white noise in the room) to give an accurate read; however, there is some evidence that all the mechanics in his ears are working as they should. Another factor could be that Finnegan's ear canals are so narrow. For piece of mind and to get a better idea of where he is with hearing, he is being referred to a pediatric audiology program called ECHO in Champaign.

On Wednesday, we got a call from Finn's pediatrian to stop his caffine because the latest reading from his monitor was so good. This means we may have just 4 more weeks on the monitor! Finnegan also had the opportunity to spend quality time with his girlfriends from the NICU. Finnegan and I took a trip to visit Brittany and Jodie! We had dinner, talked wedding plans for Brittany's wedding, and overall, had a good time! Finnegan was absolutely zonked when we got home. I love that we are able to keep in touch with them!

Today, Finnegan had his 3 month check up with Dr. Emm. Ian and I were anxious to see what his new weight would be! Finnegan is now 6lbs and 11oz! He hasn't grown much in length, despite the fact that it looks like he has to me. Dr. Emm was so happy with his weight gain. He kept commenting on his chubby cheeks and Buddha belly. Gotta love our little chunk! :) During his exam, he noticed a small hernia that we're going to watch, but the hope is that it corrects itself. As we've been told repeatedly, hernias are extremely common in preemies. If it doesn't correct itself, he will have to have surgery to correct it. We're also paying attention to his eating. Finnegan has a tendency to let everything fall out of his mouth while eating. If it continues, we will discuss further options regarding his silly tongue. We don't have to go back to see Dr. Emm until his 4 month check up! At that appointment, we'll be able to see if Finnegan can come off the monitor! Dr. Emm will also check his head to see if he'll need physical therapy to help fix his lopsided head. While his head is not as bad as it was while he was on the CPAP in the NICU, he favors laying on his right side, so he has a flat spot with a little nob on the right side of his head. We're trying to correct his laying position to the left side as much as possible, but Finn is pretty stubborn (surprise, surprise!).

Finn is smiling a lot more now. Yesterday he was even giggling in his sleep a little. He's just so adorable! He also started picking his head up a little bit more, so we started doing some tummy time each day. He prefers tummy time on our chests than on the floor, but he is slowly building some muscles! Finnegan is also spending more time awake during the day and sleeping a little bit longer over night. Our newest goal is to let him go a little bit longer without eating over night. Right now, Finn goes to bed after eating around 11pm/12am and  only wakes up around 3/4am and then again around 7am, but it would be nice to have that spread out a bit more!

Ian and I have adjusted pretty well to having Finnegan home. We've developed our own little routine of taking care of Finnegan. Not having a job has been a real blessing in disguise right now, especially since I don't know if I would be able to handle anyone else (besides Ian and NICU nurses) taking care of him. I'm stilling looking for employment, but despite how many resumes and inquiries I send out, I'm hearing nothing except "thanks but no thanks." I'm really enjoying the time that I have with Finnegan and the pups!

 Tummy Time!

 Finnegan is yelling at me to feed him, so until next time! :)