34 Days – Steady as he goes

Aiden is 30 weeks gestation.  We cannot believe 5 weeks have gone by since he was born!  We hit great milestones when I last wrote about Aiden.  Not much has changed since then.  The doctor told us to expect things to slow down a little bit (that’s a good thing!) because now he needs to grow.

He weighs 2.5 pounds and gaining quickly.  We love to see where he’s filling out – in his cheeks, neck, back.  Big babies are healthy babies, so I’m ready for him to get chunky.

We learned about three different ages for preemies: gestational age, chronological age and corrected age.  His gestational age is based upon how many weeks he would be in utero, which is 30 weeks.  His chronological age is based upon when he was born, which is 34 days.  And his corrected age is based upon his due date (he won’t have a corrected age until he passes his due date).

Expectations of development should be based upon his due date.  For instance, solid foods should be introduced at 6 months, but for Aiden they won’t be introduced until he is 9 months from his birth date or 6 months from his due date.  When he turns 2 years old we no longer need to consider his corrected age.

Eric and I googled famous premature babies and came up with quite the list (no pressure, Aiden):

• Sir Isaac Newton
• Sir Winston Churchill
• Stevie Wonder
• Albert Einstein
• Charles Darwin
• Mark Twain