Update on Pierce

I realize it's been a LONNNG time since I updated y'all on Pierce. I mean, I know I've checked in, but I haven't been great about keeping up with his weight, length, etc. Things have been so busy this summer and I sort of skipped his 15 month appointment (whoops!).

But today, we went in for his first round of Synagis shots (poor babe has to now get 2 injections at a time) and his flu shot and we were finally able to get some stats on the boy.

Age: 18 months (14 months corrected)
Weight: 21 lbs 6oz
Height: 30.5 inches
Favorite Words: Baby (without a doubt, his absolute favorite), bye bye, hey, hi, mama, dada, bebe (his blankie), baba (his bottle)
Favorite Signs: Water, Milk and Eat (the others have slowly disappeared)
New trick: finding certain body parts (he's great at finding his chin, arm and belly)

Ok, enough bragging.

After our visit to the pediatrician, we went to the hospital to check in with his pulmonologist. The good news is that his lungs sounded crystal clear! Surprising given that he just had bronchiolitis. The bad news: we have to continue the steroids (Pulmicort) through the winter to condition and protect his lungs. More bad news: they confirmed that we will need to stay in isolation through April 2013 and then went on to say that Pierce needed to be kept away from group settings (of children) until he's closer to 3 years old. 3 years old. My heart sank. Just when we thought his lungs were improving (and they are!) and that we were almost there... bam. Another year and a half before our boy can be a normal kid, hanging out in the church nursery.

And then reality sank in. I realized that as much as I want him to hang with his pals and other kids his age, I really, REALLY don't want to see the inside of the hospital unless we're going for a casual visit to see old NICU friends.

And so, we chug along in isolation. We've got big plans for this season. Lots of therapy. Lots of projects at our new house. And lots of plans for our non-profit, Pierce's Project. And of course, lots of blogging!

I took this video tonight as Pierce was playing after dinner. Look at how well he's using his left hand. May not seem like a big deal, but this is the result of LOTS of therapy hours. Notice how he catches himself from dropping it multiple times. So proud of you P! (Thanks Nana for a new favorite toy!)

Thanks for walking this journey with us!

Lindsay