Doctor appointments

Even though Tanner will always be considered a preemie, he sure has made up for lost time! He is now 10 pounds 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long! He is becoming quite the adorable lil' chunky monkey! He even has chubby thighs and a double chin! Thinking back to the NICU days, I would have never been able to picture it! I wanted to include a picture of him in his Bumbo! SO CUTE

Speaking of his little thighs...they got poked three times today at his 8-week appointment. I was scared to watch it, but Tobin convinced me that it was important that I stay in there, and be there for Tanner. He had 6 vaccines total with one being oral. He was vaccinated against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, rotavirus, hepatitis B, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae. Poor lil' guy turned beat red and started with a silent cry that that went frantic in a split second. He screamed for about 30 seconds, about as hard as I'd ever seen. It was obvious that he was pretty ticked off! I was able to allow him to grip my pointer finger on each side while I shhh'd him in his ear. But, as soon as she was done, I scooped him up and snuggled him very close to console him. He was fine in about one minute, but then I had to put him down to put his clothes back on and that scared him all over again. Once in the truck and on the road, he slept for a good while, but has had some pain off and on accompanied by quite a bit of crying today. The vaccines and the Tylenol are helping him sleep more than usual, so I imagine I will be up all night! Grandma Henderson stopped by after work to snuggle him as he was still pretty fussy late afternoon. All I have to say is thank goodness that is over, at least for a couple months!

When Tanner was 2 days old, he had an EKG that discovered a heart murmur. There was a hole that allowed oxygenated blood to circulate back to the lungs before it went to the rest of the body. Every baby is born with this, but the passageway between the two major blood vessels normally closes within a few hours after birth. If it doesn't, some blood that should have gone through the aorta and on to nourish the body goes back to the lungs. Failure to close is quite common in preemies. I am happy to say that Tanner was also cleared of any need for a cardiologist during his appointment yesterday, as the passageway has closed up and is no longer detectable via EKG nor ultrasound! Needless to say, he has had a rough two days of tests and needles!

So, in closing, I am including a picture of baby Tanner in his big boy bathtub! He has grown out of the little pink one from the NICU and seems to enjoy stretching out in the larger tub. As you can see, he IS a big boy indeed these days. I definitely notice the extra weight when holding him! He is getting heavier and heavier and changing everyday! I always thought it was cliche, but I can already see truth in the phrase, "They grow up so fast!"