Trevor's first tooth finally came in (bottom front)!  It is completely through the skin and very sharp!  He has another one right beside it that will be coming in soon.  He is growing so fast!  He has almost mastered the art of crawling.  He can get anywhere he wants to go now, and he is very determined.  He definately does not know the concept of the word "NO" yet, because when he tries to get something that he isn't supposed to, and I say "No!"  He just gives me the weirdest look and goes right back to what he was doing! 

He had physical therapy today and got the most amazing report ever!  Scott (the PT) said that there is absolutely NO WAY that Trevor has or will develop Cerebral Palsy!  Cerebral Palsy is a nuerological deficit that causes problems physically, and there is no cure.  This was one our our last fears, and we have waited almost 11 months to hear those words.  Doctor's and therapy all told us it would be several months before we would know if he would have it, because it is so hard to diagnose in infants.  Well, today, the long wait paid off!  Especially since he had a very high risk of having some form of CP, whether it be mild or severe, simply due to the fact that he had a brain bleed and was very small. Even though the PVL was un-diagnosed, the remnants of the bleed remained visible.  It was a very small bleed, but that along with his birth weight, still put his chances for a form of CP somewhere between 70- 80%.  The way the NICU doctors explained it to us was, "The lower the birth weight, the higher the chance for Cerebral Pasly, and when you add in the brain bleed, the chances are extremely high."  That was a hard pill to swallow, but we kept our faith and prayed that he would not be given that diagnosis, when the time came. 

 For months, we have felt in our hearts that he would NOT have it.  And as it turns out, we were RIGHT!!!  For several months now, his pediatrician, ECI and physical therapy have been telling us he was doing wonderful and they did not think anything was wrong with his brain function. The pedi even decided not to order another MRI.  But they could not tell us for sure about the CP until he reached a certain physical maturity level.  Well, he reached it....and he is physically and mechanically functioning at 100%.  This is not to say that he will not have ANY problems later on, as learning disabilities and a few other things are still very possible, it is just one more miracle that Trevor has been blessed with. 

As he approaches his 1st birthday, he has many follow ups with specialists.  He will see the opthamologist, Dr. Steinkuller, at Texas Childrens next month.  They will do another eye exam to check his vision again.  There is absolutely NO DOUBT in our minds that his sight is perfect!  He will follow up with cardiology (Dr. Decker) at Texas Children's.  They will perform another 24 hour Holter monitor and if everything looks good on that, then he will be released from cardio for GOOD!.  He also has to follow up with ENT for a swallow function test and to check the paralyzed vocal chord for improvement (also hoping for a release!).  I definately know that the vocal chord paralysis has improved because he is LOUD!!!  LOL!  He has to follow up with audiology for another hearing exam.  Once again, I KNOW for a fact that he will pass with flying colors!  And finally....he will follow up with with Ages & Stages Developmental Clinic at Texas Children's for a developmental evaluation. He will see them approximately twice a year until he is 3 yrs old.  They specialize in developmental patterns of extremely preterm babies like Trevor.  They complie all information, do studies, and release statistical information relating to the development of preemies in correlation with their birthweight and circumstances surrounding the birth such as amount of weeks premature etc.  Trevor was recommended for this program because of his extremely low birthweight.  There are just not a lot of white males that have survived being born at only 1lb 1oz. Statistically, white males are the least likey to survive extreme prematurity.   From the research I have done based on our particular situation, only about 20-30% of infants born weighing less than 500grams survive, and many, many of the survivors have profound disabilities.  Trevor was 490grams!  God definately has great things in store for our little miracle baby.