Ezra Update

Well, Mr. Ezra is coming along slowly but surely. He turned 3 months old on Tuesday (chronological). His adjusted age is one month old today—so he's doing most things a "normal" one month old does—except eating and eye contact. He is still on the nose tube—but his bottle sessions are improving. He takes about an ounce and a half per session now—formula plus a thickening agent to help with his swallow issues. The pediatrician wants him to be able to take 2 ounces at a time before we take him off the tube. He's now weighs 6 pounds, 10 ounces, but the doctor thinks he should be gaining weight faster than he is. He's gained 1 pound, 3oz since he came home 4 weeks ago (!) and the goal is to gain two pounds a month.
In December he'll start occupational and physical therapy here at home. In the weeks to follow he will have speech therapy at home as well (to help with bottle feeding). Once he's mastered the bottle, the speech will stop until he is about 8 months old (corrected age--10 months old, chronologically). He also has many doctor appointments coming up, including the two big ones—the cornea specialist and the geneticist. Its time to figure out what disorder or syndrome Ezra could have to explain some of his odd features and movements. Plus, it could explain his feeding issues.
Please continue to keep him in your prayers—especially about his eyes. The insurance may not cover the transplant, and he could potentially be blind without it.
The homefront is pretty chaotic. The other kids are really impressing me with how they handle Ezra. Alayna has taken a few swats at him, but she's over that now. All she wants to do now is coddle him. We're missing our CA peeps more than ever at this time. We feel very "on our own" here in AZ. Our friends all have new babies or are expecting new babies, so they can't offer much help. They do send encouraging emails and we know they are praying for us, just like all of you. Again, thank you SOOOOO much for your thoughts and prayers.

We love you!