Cardiology Update: Her heart is pretty much the same overall. (Backstory - the first 2 of 3 holes in her heart closed in the NICU, but we have been following her VSD). The VSD is ALMOST closed. Usually, the smaller the hole the louder the sound - but our new fave cardiologist said that wasn't even the case for her! In her case, it was so small he could barely hear it. The echo showed the tissue almost covering the hole (it has slowly moved down). Bottom line is that he thinks it will eventually close on its own without ever having any surgery!!! Praise God, the almighty Healer! It gives me chills to think she could have had open heart surgery at 6 months old if we hadn't decided to get a second opinion! If anyone ever needs a pediatric cardiologist in the Jackson area - I can highly recommend one!
Pediatric Update: We had our 1 year checkup with Dr. "Whistle" the other day. I love him too. I had fully prepared myself to hear a lecture about fattening her up, push the physical aspects, push the areas that she's behind in.... but nope! I got the "keep doing what you're doing!" what a relief! She does have constipation issues which is normal for O babies --- but other than that she's great! Weighed 15 pounds 12 oz with clothes on = not on the growth chart at all (or less than 2% I think he said). Was 29" long which is in the 50% and head circum. was in the 25%. So tall but skinny! lol! sums up most of our family regardless of any O! ;)
Weaning Update: ok this is not going well. for either of us. but it's going. I've never had to actually wean a baby before. My other 2 babies "quit me" around 11 months but I had pumped so much extra milk that I used that to get me over the 1 year mark with both. Merritt on the other hand HATES the bottle! I have been slowly introducing whole milk over the past month and mixing it with breastmilk I pumped while she was in the NICU. she would rather starve and hold out for the real thing and skip the bottles! crazy child. I'm not one of those moms willing to breastfeed til they start Kindergarten. Plus Mitt is a biter. I'm over it. Lets move on to the next phase please.
Pacifier Update: yes, theres an update on that too. I pulled the plug cold turkey on my other 2 at 13 months of age. Hmmmm........there seems to be a window of opportunity I see the past 2 days where she has not used it. Do I go ahead and pull the plug knowing she will have surgery next year and needs "more comfort" than a "normal" child - or do I treat her as normal as I would my other two?
Nursery Room Update: yes, things are crazy here, right? We moved her crib into her real room this past weekend. Her crib had been in our room since we didn't know how we would be bringing her home from the hospital (tubes, trach, dressing changes, etc.) On an average night this past year, she would start out in her crib ---> sleep ~2-4 hours ---> wake/eat ----> depending on my mood and our level of alertness she would usually end up in my bed. Now that she is quite mobile it is difficult to sleep with her. So I began the "let her cry it out" method last night. Usually I hear her stomach growl in the middle of the night - and with a baby that has weight issues - I couldn't knowingly ignore that...... until now!
Surgery Update: we have another appointment with the surgeon in August.
So LOTS of changes around here!
