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Medical Update

I haven't filled you in on Abby's progress recently, and we just went to the pediatrician today for a well-baby visit. 

Abby can roll over both ways, but only with a lot of encouragement and motivation.  (Read:  make it worth her while!!)  This is getting a lot easier to practice because we don't have the tubes in the way as much.  She's off of the vent for three hours twice a day, for a total of six hours.  We're going to be upping that every five days now (it was every two weeks) and she should increase to 3 1/2 hours 2x a day tomorrow when I call for my weekly report.  Abby LOVES being off of the vent and is definitely enjoying increased mobility.  So are we!!

She sits up like a champ now and we're in the process of teaching her how to lean on her arm and go down to her side when she is tired of sitting.  I don't remember teaching Caleb how to do this, but I doubt if I had to.  It's very interesting trying to figure out how to teach some of these things.  The most bizarre thing I've encountered is trying to teach her how to cough.  How do you do that??

At her appointment today, she weighed 19 lbs, 11 oz!!  CHUNKAMUNK!!  Dr. S said that fat rolls are holding her back.  :)  She's in the 70th percentile for weight, but only the 15th for height at 26 1/2 inches.  I'm a little teapot, short and stout...Abby has a GI appointment next week, where Dr. K will hopefully cut her fortifier.  I think she's good!  I found a tshirt that I want to buy her that says, "Don't let the size fool you.  I was a preemie." 

Dr. S was very encouraged by everything Abby was doing and said that he thinks that now that she is off of the vent so much more, she should be able to catch up pretty quickly--hopefully by the time she turns one.  He has no reason to believe that she will have any lasting cognitive delays.  Praise God!!

Her head is still not quite on the chart, but we knew that.  I really don't think she looks disproportional, so I'm not too worried about it.  It's growing, so that's all I need to know.  Her helmet is definitely doing its job and we've noticed big improvements.  She has a scan in two weeks where her head will be remeasured and compared to the original scans.

Abby is adjusting well to her napping schedule.  She usually wakes up in the morning around 7 a.m. and is off of the vent until 10.  She's ready for a nap by then, and Abby will usually sleep for 1 1/2 hours.  Then she's up and on the vent during the afternoon with a nap around 2.  She'll sleep for another 1 1/2 hours and then be off of the vent from 5:30-8:30 so that we can do dinner, a bath, and Caleb's bedtime.  We put her back on the vent in her room in time for her to get her 9:00 feed set up upstairs, and she falls asleep quickly!

We haven't really had day nursing this week except for one day because we're sort of in a transition time with our nurses.  We're hoping to get it all worked out by next Thursday when I go back to work, but who knows.  If you've noticed, I never really blog about the ins and outs of our daily life with nursing.  I wouldn't want a parent blogging about me as a teacher for all to read, so I try to keep the same mindset.  I would never want to slander someone's name on my blog or write things about someone without her consent, so I just try to avoid the specifics altogether.  Let's say this though:  aside from the obvious constant worries about Abby's health, it is probably the hardest part of our situation.  You can definitely be praying for that.

Our next appointments are genetics and GI next week (on the same day...in two different hospitals...I'm glad Matt's taking her!)  After that, she has a pulminology appointment, and then that's it until her surgery!  September is looking pretty light, which is nice, since it will give me time to get settled into my new job.  Abby already has three appointments scheduled in October, and I'll most likely be adding pulminary and GI.  I'm sure she'll also have at least one follow-up appointment for her surgery, and I haven't scheduled her 12 month well-baby appointment either. Wooooo!  That will be a busy month!

Alright, I think I've hit all of the medical aspects now.  We're thankful for so much good news and the continued miracles!  :)

Comments

jcmom+dad said…
Way to gooooo Abby!!!!!!

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