tube time

This past week we had a full week of school, meetings, and Mason had a doctor's appointment at the Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (ENT).  My goal was to go to the doctor and have him checked out of for the fluid in his ears and see if he could get tubes when he turns 6 months old.  The office visit was a success!!   Mason will be getting tubes on Thursday, April 5th (Garrett's b-day).  The doctor explained that in a lot of Down Syndrome children, they typically hold fluid behind their eardrum.  For the fluid to get out, the tube that would is connected to their nose would have to be open to allow air to get in and dry it out, but unfortunately, usually in Down Syndrome children it is very small and most of the times blocked.  They only way for the fluid to get out would be tubes.  They won't do it until they are 6 months old, so here we wait until then.  We don't want the fluid to start effecting Mason's speech and hearing and hopefully we can get a clear reading at his hearing tests after this.

The past Saturdays we've been going to church to watch Garrett coach basketball.  Jay's been a good sport, but to sit there an hour can be challenging.  I've lately been giving him my phone to play with.  He will get it into camera mode and take tons of pictures of himself.  Here is one to leave you with.  I tend to trash the rest of them that are really pictures of nothing.

doctor updates

This week has started with a dentist appointment for Jay. It's kind of one of those things you need to do to make sure your kids are healthy. I never know how he will react to different places, but our first time last July wasn't bad, so I didn't think this one would go too bad. I was right!!! Jay got the royal treatment and was able to go into a separate room from the rest of the kids since it was busy. He was able to watch a movie as the Hygentist cleaned his teeth. I don't even know if he knew someone was messing in his mouth. Jay came out with a clean bill of health and no cavities. Yay!!

While at the dentist, I asked if we should look out for anything with Mason. She informed me that sometimes Down Syndrome babies are slow to develop teeth. They also could have too many or too few teeth. News to us.

The second doctor's appointment was Mason's 4 month check-up. It's crazy how big he's getting and how he is growing.

To date: 

Weight: 11 lbs 5 oz (3%, DS 40%) 

Height: 23 inches (3%, DS 25%) 

We also decided that it was time to contact the ear, nose and throat doctor about his ears. Hopefully we can get some tubes to drain the fluid. Look for those updates soon. As normal, this appointment came with two shots. The first he didn't make a peep, but smiled at me. The second, he screamed, but was quickly quiet afterward. All in all, Mason is doing well and there is nothing to worry about with him.