Baby Frankenstein becomes Baby Star Trek?

Yesterday was the update at the neurosurgeon's office for Torran's shunt. For a cumulative total of 45 minutes of intervention (blood work, ultrasound, seeing the doctors and adjusting the shunt) we were at the hospital 7 hours. That's A LOT of waiting. And yes, we had scheduled appointment times (where applicable... the blood clinic is walk in first come first served but we were there early so only waited fifteen minutes). Bruce ended up being an hour late for work.

How will I adjust to listening to people express their dissatisfaction about slow moving emergency departments when I return to work?

The fluid levels on the surface and internal parts of Torran's brain have not changed much with the pressure setting on his shunt being dialed down from 180 mmH20 to 150 (units of pressure). Instead of moving it to 130, which is where the surgeon orginally envisioned decreased it, he decided a pressure setting of 100 would be adequate.

"I know we've been skittish about the pressure settings in the past because of the surface pockets of fluid," he'd said while telling us what pressure it was going to be set to. That made me a little nervous. I'm wondering if Murphy is going to decide that a setting of 100 is too generous and he'll start shrinking his brain again.

However, this time, he is a much bigger baby than the last time he was overdrained so maybe he needs to compensate for moving more fluid. When Torran's brain was shrivelled up because of the overdrainage with the external drain (EVD), he didn't show any signs of problems. It's a little warying that he can adjust so well, although we are thankful for his adaptation.

The occupational therapist and infant development worker had a joint meeting last week and they agreed that for a baby who's had a lot of handling, intervention and not-nice-touch he's pretty tolerant, and he can be soothed quickly. That latter part is especially important with his more agressive exercises (which I had to do at a friend's house when we'd gone over for dinner on Sunday... I knew she'd understand, but it wasn't fun for anyone to hear this shrieking baby for half an hour - I did cut it short a bit).

These are some of the MEDEK exercises I do with Torran (should be three times a day) as conducted by Ester Fink the physiotherapist who brought the technique to Canada. I highly recommend her skills to anyone with a child who is at risk for motor issues. It's very had to watch, let alone do the exercises at home, but we've seen good development in Torran which I don't know if he would have had without it. THESE ARE NOT INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS.


The "standing" exercise seemed a little early for him, as babies bring themselves to standing at around 8 months, and we started this exercise at 4. However, as Ester said, she'd rather utilize the reflexes because they exist rather than waiting until the proper time and finding out they're no longer there. He isn't standing with intent, but we want his brain to know how to do it when he does. Additionally, the occupational therapist noted that engaging the muscles in the action of standing is more important to stimulate this developmental milestone than the actual act of standing itself. To stand is a more passive movement which employs stiff muscle tone. "Tippy-toe" is less effective than standing on the flat of the foot.

And, based on his "7pm you can't feed me enough milk" hunger I started him on solids. He was not satisfied until he had about 250mL of milk - too much! My paediatrician said that the 6 month age guideline for starting food was for two purposes: a world safety standard because of water/food quality and to prevent eager mums from starting at 3 months when babies really aren't ready for solids. He also stated that the conventional order of cereal, vegetables and then fruit is just that, a convention. So I started with rice cereal and then avacado... we do want him to like Sushi, so that's now two components! Torran started just after four months, but then we stopped because of the surgery because I didn't want dirty fingers near his incision site.

He's doing well with smushy food of a soft tootpaste-like consistency. There was one moment when I thought he was choking and I tipped the entire high chair forward (love that five point harness), but no, he was good. I had a hearty laugh this morning when I was reading a guide about feeding premature infants and it suggests that a second mealtime should be introduced when the baby can handle 3-4 teaspoons of food... last night Torran ate nearly half a ramekin of pumpkin and rice cereal!

At long last we're finally making a dent in the frozen breast milk. We're still working on May's supply, between mixing with solid food and giving in a bottle (it's great for those days when we have to travel because it stays chilled as it defrosts). The mother in me worries that we'll be eaten out of milk before we know it, given the little porker's appetite!