"The smartest baby I've ever seen."
I'm sure Dr. Klein was exaggerating, but I'm just quoting him. He was really impressed with all that Reuben is doing and how his development seems to be exactly on track. The only slight delay seems to be that he's not quite standing on his own yet, but that will come very soon, I'm sure.
Reuben's weight gain has picked up and he's back on the "curve" at about the 25th percentile, which is where they expect him to stay.
They also weaned his oxygen from 1 liter per minute to 3/4 liter per minute. Before the next appointment in August, they'll have us turn him down to 1/2 liter the morning of the appointment to see how he does on that. They're thinking he might come off oxygen at the appointment after that, in September, but we'll have to see how things go. In any case, they'll leave a tank of oxygen here at the house through the winter in case he gets a cold and needs the support.
So overall, it was a very good appointment, and they were quite pleased with his progress. Dr. Accaragui, who was one of the doctors while Reuben was on ECMO and also discharged him, stopped by. Reuben climbed right up in his lap and played with his beard.
We feel so lucky, considering that at this time last year, Reuben was still on ECMO and we didn't know how he would do when he woke up. We're so blessed to have him, and that he's doing so well.
Love,
Jonna, Eric, and Reuben

Love,
Andrea, Alana and Jason (Comment this)
I'm guessing that Reuben is also taking his time and will be less clumsy than those early walkers when he does start standing. His mama didn't raise no fool!
Laurie (Comment this)