9 Months Development & Stats: SGA Preterm Baby

--- by D. Petkovski ---

As our little one reached the 9 month milestone, the time came to reflect on another trimester of his remarkable journey.

A reminder: our son was born one month prematurely and also he was SGA (small for gestational age). In this post, I’ll share his progress and achievements until his 9th month, to give parents an idea about their babies’ potential development.

If you’re new to my blog, I also have similar posts for the previous periods:

And on to the current episode. 👇

Table of Contents

9 Months Charts – Length & Weight

I’ll start with a summary where I’ll share the numbers.

Most parents are probably interested in this part, so here’s our baby’s 9 month growth charts:

Length Stats (9 Months Premature SGA Baby)

Length at birth: 47cm (18.5 inches)
1st month length: 53cm (20.86 inches)
2nd month length: 56cm (22.04 inches)
3rd month length: 62cm (24.4 inches)
4th month length: 65cm (25.6 inches)
5th month length: 66cm (26 inches)
6th month length: 67cm (26.38 inches)
7th month length: 69cm (27.16 inches)
8th month length: 71.5cm (28.14 inches)
9th month length: 72cm (28.34 inches)

Growing well and within the expected slope.

Note: this is an unadjusted chart, so his length is compared to that of babies born on time (a month older than him).

Weight Stats (9 Months Premature SGA Baby)

Weight at birth: 2050g (4.52lbs)
1st month weight: 3050g (6.72lbs)
2nd month weight: 3940g (8.68lbs)
3rd month weight: 5020g (11.06lbs)
4th month weight: 5610g (12.37lbs)
5th month weight: 6100g (13.45lbs)
6th month weight: 6600g (14.55lbs)
7th month weight: 7170g (15.80lbs)
8th month weight: 7815g (17.22lbs)
9th month weight: 8580g (18.91lbs)

Well, this is a rate of growth I didn’t expect.

From sub 10 percentile to almost reaching average weight for his age – that’s quite an accomplishment for a preterm SGA baby!

Note: this is an unadjusted chart, so his weight is compared to that of babies born on time (a month older than him).

Third Trimester Achievements & Progress

This is the section for those that want to read more free-format commentary about our son’s development.

It covers the 7th, 8th, and 9th month. To see the detailed breakdown of the previous months, head to the first trimester and second trimester posts.

7th Month: Keep Rolling Rolling

As we entered the 7th month, a smile perpetually graced our son’s face. He seemed to find delight in almost every activity.

We were surprised that this was also the case for social interactions – he didn’t fear unfamiliar faces, but usually engaged in playful exchanges and giggles even with new people.

His joy was contagious. ❤️

Fitness-wise, at the beginning of the month, he started bridging his body in a new way which was bringing him on his side. This movement eventually culminated with his first rollover from the comfort of his back to “tummy time”.

We celebrated this milestone.

Cognitively, he continued showing interest in various items, but also developed stronger preferences for some. He already had certain movements that were unique to holding a particular object.

We witnessed the first cases of object permanence. As we’d move an object out of his sight and he would turn or reach towards it.

Until the end of the month, his rolling over wasn’t a rare occurrence anymore. He was going from his back to tummy time and vice versa all the time, embracing his newfound ability and freedom of movement.

Also, he became more stable while seated. At the end of the month, he started sitting on his own, slowly mastering the balance without parents’ support.

8th Month: The First Words of a Curious Traveler

His curiosity went through the roof!

He was touching everything, destroying items, pulling things apart… Always full of energy and enthusiasm, continuously moving, smiling, and exploring the world around him.

And he had a chance to explore indeed!

During his 8th month, we embarked on an trip across Europe.

Starting from the Netherlands, through Belgium and France to the lovely Pyrenees, and into Andorra. Then we explored the cities on the Costa Brava coast of Spain. Embarked on a magnificent trip through the French Riviera, visiting Cannes, Nice, Cap d’Ail, and Monaco. Then we stayed at the Ligurian coast of Italy and later on the Swiss Alps. Lastly, we enjoyed the Ardennes between Luxembourg and Belgium before returning home in NL.

Here are some father and son memories of our EuroTrip:

PS Together with the previous travel when my son was 4 months old, he has visited 14 countries in total at an age of 8 months. Great job!

During this time, his object permanence got even stronger. He was throwing stuff, getting them back from behind his head, searching for his favorite items, etc.

His diet also got upgraded as my wife included meat, bread, eggs, avocado, spinach, peaches, mangoes, etc. He is still devouring it all without complaints.

He was rolling over all the time. We were surprised to see him in unexpected positions in his crib. Celebrated his extreme energy levels while supporting the non-stop moving, kicking, and playfulness. He even started lifting his butt during tummy time, resembling the earliest stages of crawling, but nothing more than that.

Exactly at the end of the month, a special moment unfolded as the little one spoke his first official word: “ta-ta”.

“Wait, what was that?” I said… “Did someone call me?!”

He turned towards me and just repeated it again with a smile on his face!

This was a significant milestone in his development and it was a pleasure to witness him embracing his just-acquired mastery of the sounds /t/ and /d/.

And I caught it all on camera. 😊

9th Month: Stronger, Sharper, Smarter

He got his first two bottom teeth. 🦷🦷🤍

I can’t state any other major milestones, as he simply continued doing what he already could, just more, better, and stronger:

He was “talking” all the time (now in a more coherent manner)
Mastered new toys and improved perception during sensory play
Intentional looking, seeking attention, deliberate smiling, etc.

All of this is non-tangible so I can’t exactly say “how much” he improved.

But it was enough for us to casually start referring to him as “a kid” rather than “a baby”. Interestingly, in our native language, kid is “dete” (/dɛtɛ/), so he also caught up in using the term de-te quite often. 🙂

He still can’t crawl, but he slowly gets in the position. And even without crawling, he manages to move from one end to the other end of the bed/playpen by pulling his weight in mysterious ways. I definitely support his awe of movement by “wrestling” with him, putting him upside-down, and flying him through space.

His favorite toys now include: keyboards, steering wheels, cables, and playing cards.

Looking forward to the next update where I’ll share the yearly stats of our bundle of joy!

Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss it.

Until then, I’m wishing you a trimester of bliss and happiness.

Remain optimistic!

Author

D. Petkovski

📓 The Author Husband & Father
Software Engineer StrengthCentric
Bitcoin Hodler DeFi Veteran
🌍 Everything Enthusiast 🔥 Optimist

Revolutionizing ideas. Simplifying complexity. Sharing knowledge.