11 months old - update, 

Well it is almost time for Ronan's 1 birthday! It is amazing that he is almost 1 and wow the time has flown. It feels like so long ago we were in hospital but then some things only feel like yesterday.

We now have 7 teeth (4 bottom, 3 top) so he has been busy popping out teeth in the past few months. He is a happy little boy and still placid as ever. He is now rolling everywhere and we find him in the most unusal places. He still isn't sitting but is having physio to help correct the lag. Apparently alot of prems have this problem as their muscle tone is just not he same as a FT babies. 

His 1st birthday is on the 17th March and he has plenty of friends and relatives coming to share his special day. Grandma is coming from Sydney next Friday night for the celebrations so that is very exciting. The theme Ronan is having is a "jungle" theme with a time capusal so i am sure he will be given many lovely things to place in there.

He has a follow up ear appointment at the end of March so it will be interesting to see how he goes this time around.

I have just started a new website called L'il Aussie Prems which is a support site for parents of premature babies and it is going along well. The site has an editorial coming out in "My Child" magazine soon and a few hospitals have a notice up about the site. My aim was to create a site for support of parents with prems whether they are like us with an ex-prem or whether they have just given birth to a prem.

www.lilaussieprems.com.au if you wish to have a look!

Next time i write i will have many pictures from Ronan's birthday party! 

10 months old - update,

Very exciting news! Ronan can sit by himself now without any support. He can sit for around 2mins before he tumbles but he is getting better at it everyday.

He had an ear appt yesterday and he seems to have pressure in one ear and fluid in the other so we just have to keep an eye on that as we are going back in 2 months time to be re-assessed because they don't assess babies until they are 10mths old and whilst he IS 10 months his mentality is that of a 7mth old so he couldn't complete the assessment. Hopefully he has no problems with his ears because i had 2 sets of gromits in my ears due to glue ear when i was younger so fingers crossed he doesn't have to go down that path.

10 months old - (7 months corrected),

Ronan is growing big and strong and is just a delight to have around and never complains.. He still isn't sitting up very much on his own but he is getting there. We are seeing a physio to help with his development but apparently it is a normal premmie problem - strength. Because they do not get the same muscle tone whilst in the womb (pushing against the womb) to build up their muscles alot of them need to have physio so we are doing exercises daily to help him. I keep seeing or reading about all of these other babies and what they are achieving and knowing Ronan isn't anywhere near those stages but i do try to remember that we have been through alot and this is just another step we need to get over and in his own time we will.

He now has 4 teeth all down the bottom of his gums and we are waiting for the next lot to come through. He is growing at a great pace length wise, head wise & weight wise so there are no concerns there. He now goes to sleep with a blanket and won't go to sleep without it so i wonder if it will be his "friend" when he gets older.

I am about to start organising his 1st birthday party, how quick it has gone. It feels sort of strange knowing we will be celebrating his 1st year but he still feels like a baby to me, being that he was 3 months early and looks 3 months younger than his real age it will certainly be strange. Grandma will be flying down to celebrate his birthday so i am happy i will have someone from my family coming to his party. :)

9 months old - (6 months corrected),

Wow we have ANOTHER tooth! Talk about popping up everywhere.. He now has 4 teeth all placed down the bottom of his gum!

9 months old - (6 months corrected),

It is only a few more days until Ronan is 9 months old! It is hard to believe that in 3 months time he will be celebrating his 1yr birthday.. 

Last time i updated Ronan's journal he had 1 tooth? well now he has 3 teeth and they are all down the bottom.. He now weighs around the 8kg mark and is loving his solids.. 

Ronan went on a plane trip up to Sydney in November and was just the perfect little man.. He fell asleep before take-off both trips and never complained once whilst in the plane.. All the family met Ronan and i was glad that he finally was able to meet my family only next time i will make sure it's not so far apart in visits.. When we got back from Sydney he ended up getting a chest infection the poor love but he battled through it with antibodics and is back to his healthy self.. 

He is now an active little man, rolling around on the floor & generally keeping me on my toes.. I know it's only going to get more tiring as he gets older but at least it's a nice slow lead up! heheh

When i receive photo's from his Sydney trip i will certainly be sure to post them..

8 months old - (5 months corrected),

We have a TOOTH!! We just noticed yesterday afternoon that a little tooth has popped up in Ronan's bottom gums and we were so excited! Our little boy really is growing up.. 

He hasn't been weighed for a few weeks but we are guessing he is way over the 7kg mark.. He is eating solids and has been having 1 meal of solids a day for a month and laps it all up.. He is still sleeping through without a problem and we are going on a plane trip on Saturday to see all his family in Sydney, so he is going to be very spoilt over the next 10 days i am sure..

7.5mths - 19wks corrected,

Well Ronan had his first haircut this week.. His hair was getting too long for my liking (it's the hairdresser coming out of me) so i decided to cut it.. It looks so much better.. 

I think he is teething atm as he is a REAL grump.. He has woken up crying at around 12ish for the past 3 nights, i am forever using bonjella and panadol to help sooth the pain.. He is always chewing his fingers but so badly that he cracks it if they arn't relieving the pain.. He constantly spits out saliva & drools and iv'e had to change teats because he was always chewing on the normal one we used.. He has been having diarrhea and has a really red bottom today, so something is going on!

If it is teething i really hope the tooth breaks through soon..

17 weeks (corrected) - updated

Well Ronan was weighed today and is now;

Weight: 6.64kgs

Length: 62cms

Head: 43cms

He has passed all his milestones with flying colours and whilst the nurse was trying to assess him all he wanted to do was roll.. He rolls from his tummy to back, and a few times has rolled from back to tummy but he still has to master that! We tried him on solids the other day and did really well, didn't really spit anything out so we are slowly introducing solids now..

Happy results all round..