We met with the doctor today to discuss Carter's liver. They ran several tests to determine the level of bilirubin and it had risen slightly higher than yesterday. The doctor ordered an abdominal ultrasound to assess if Carter had a gallbladder and if he had the appropriate ducts in his liver. The great news is that Carter's ultrasound looked exactly as it should. He has all of the structures he needs internally and they appear to be functioning exactly as they should for his age and size. The doctor believes he is simply not processing as well because he is so small and this is something he will grow out of as he gets larger. So at this point, no further intervention or surgery is needed; we just have to wait and let him grow and hopefully this will all resolve on its own. Other than the liver, Carter looks good. He did not grow at all yesterday, but averaged out to just over a half an ounce growth per day this week. The doctor will continue to watch his growth and can add more protein and other fortifiers if his growth pattern declines.
Anderson continues to do very well. I was holding him today and he did a few behaviors that suggested to the nurse and doctor present that he may be ready to try and work on feeding through a bottle and eventually, breastfeeding. I think they will test out the bottle later this week and see how it goes! This would be pretty early for him to be able to coordinate the sucking, swallowing and breathing required, but the doctor is optimistic.
They both looked great today and we were so happy to hear that Carter's liver is normal. We will let you know when we get an update on their height and any other growth!
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