Wednesday, October 21, 2009

6 month check-up

The sleep schedule ain't what it used to be. Last night Lexi woke up at midnight and didn't fall asleep until 3 a.m. One nice thing though, is that when she's fed, dry, and happy, she will lay awake in her crib content until she falls asleep on her own. I laid her down in her crib at 2 and watched her (love the video baby monitor!) lay there content, entertained by her mobile, until she drifted off an hour later. I'm not always this lucky, but it's nice that she can put herself to sleep at times.

I gave Lexi her first taste of baby food on Tuesday. Most of it came right back out. I think the protruding tongue and the enjoyment of blowing raspberries might increase our degree of difficulty where eating is concerned. But she did get a very small amount. Hopefully as her eating skills improve, so will her sleep.

Alexis had her 6 month check-up on Monday. She's doing great! Her weight was up to 13 lbs, 1 oz. Over a pound in 2 weeks! (Keeping in mind, different locations, different scales.) She was on 27 calorie formula (we use regular powder formula but have a different ratio of formula to water than most: more formula, less water.) But we can decrease the calorie count now from 27 cal to 24 cal. She is in the 7th and 10th percentile for height and weight, and that is on the regular growth chart, not the d/s chart.

Dr. Miller thought her heart sounded great. She said that if there wasn't a scar, she would never know Lexi had surgery because there is no trace of a murmur. Her medication was changed from Prilosec to Prevacid. She was given 3 immunizations (there are a few she can't get yet due to having had a blood transfusion for the heart surgery) and she's now old enough for the flu shot (but they didn't have any in stock). Alexis goes back to the pediatrician in 3 months.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Happy 6 months Alexis!!

This is a bit overdue, but I'm tired. Little Miss I'm-such-a-perfect-baby-because-I-have-slept-through-the-night-since-coming-home-from-the-NICU-at-2-months-old has been waking up in the night. Yawn. And she no longer wakes up cooing and laughing as if to say, "I'm awake Mom, but take your time and come get me when you're feeling up to it." Now it a screaming, "Come. Here. Now." Once she sees me, she smiles and coos. As long as she feels okay. She was doing great in the pain department, and no longer on the Tylenol 3. But the past few nights (she seems fine during the day) she's been fussier and seems uncomfortable. I do wonder if she's teething. Once she gets Infant Tylenol in her, she seems better.

Alexis had her follow up appointment on Monday but I had actually called the nurse practitioner the previous Thursday with concerns because her incision scar was looking too red and maybe infected. They had me come in for reassurance and they agreed that it looked a bit concerning, but didn't feel they needed to start antibiotics. They took out her one stitch and wrote me a prescription for Bactroban. Everything was fine.

On Monday I took Lexi in for the follow up appointment. They thought the incision looked great (there was still some redness, but they thought it was fine). The EKG was fine, the echo was fine. She weighed in at 11 lbs, 7.5 ounces. They were thrilled to hear that she eats a lot more and weren't too surprised to hear that she is awake more often. There is a small "leak" that they noticed in the echo that will probably heal itself, is common, and not a concern. Alexis was taken off one diuretic and the other is being weaned for 5 days and will then be discontinued. She's still on Prilosec and a vitamin.

It's hard to remember when looking at her that she's had major surgery so recently. We can't pick her up under her arms for 6 weeks following the surgery which is a hard habit to break. No tummy time either. It seems like her face has filled out overnight. Jason thinks her coloring is a lot better. Alexis doesn't have to go back for 6 months. We seem to have gotten back into our routine for the most part. I haven't called Lexi's therapists from First Steps yet to arrange services to start back up.

The boys are doing great. They've been counting down to Halloween since last Halloween--literally. Nicholas wants to be a Transformer (he has a Star Wars costume and I am trying to convince him that the two look almost identical. But apparently a Clone Trooper does not equal a Deceptacon.) and Blake wants to be...wait for it...a pirate. When they aren't discussing Halloween, the talk revolves around their birthdays. Hard to believe Nicholas will be 6 this month. He's excited to have a Transformer birthday party. Again. (It was last year's theme as well.) Blake likes to plan his party which won't be until January, but by talking to him you would think it was this weekend. He'll be having a Pirate themed party. Again.

Off to bed...