Olivia continues to do very well. She had her first pediatrician appt today and it went really well. Boy, it was a chore trying to get her in and out of the house, though. She’s gained about 4 oz and is now up to 5 lbs 9 oz, so she seems to be gaining weight at home. We always knew that she had scars from the patches that were put on her during her first week of life. In the doctor’s office today, the lighting showed just how bad they were. I bet she has 10 scars all across her stomach and chest because her skin was not fully developed. The patches they put on to measure her vitals generated enough heat to burn her skin and removing them caused her skin to tear. Of course, it was what was necessary to save her life. I’ve attached a picture that shows how fragile her skin was. Please pray that those scars heal as she gets older. We also learned from our doctor that this is an extremely bad RSV season, which scares me to death. Please pray for Kinnick as she is back in the hospital on CPAP with RSV. You may want to visit Kinnick and Carver’s site to send prayers their way. They may also have to be traveling back to Detroit for additional eye surgeries.
We gave Olivia a bath tonight. She didn’t like it too much, but she loved the baby massage afterwards. I continue to fall more in love with her everyday. Holding someone else’s baby is never the same as holding your own. Sometimes only a mother (or father) can calm their child and it’s wonderful to know that Olivia just wants me. I can calm her just by being there and that’s a great feeling.
Also, many people have wanted to send us a message, but have not wanted to post publicly. So, I’ve decided to post my email address. You may want to put Blog in the subject line, however, so I don’t accidentally send it to my junk mail folder.
jsail63@hotmail.com
As this post will be moved down the page quickly with other updates I have posted Ryan and Jodi's email address under the Reasons for this Blog heading on the left side of the screen.
-Stacie
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3 comments:
Olivia is not alone in the "scar" department. Both of my girl's have many scars from their early arrival as well. There preemie scars always remind me of how much they struggled and fought to be here with us.
I'm glad that her first appointment went well. And I'm glad that she continues to gain weight at home. I can understand how difficult and frustrating it must be to transport her.
I can kind of relate to what you say when you say that you can calm Olivia just be being there. When T.C. was little I would always pretend I would be his mom and I would carry him everywhere. I thought I was being helpful and I ended up...not being so helpful.
hee-hee :)
Love you all
Stay Strong,
Shea♥
Hallie has the same sorts of scars from where the leads (and especially the pulse ox tape) abraded or melted her skin away. One of our pediatrician's associates suggested that we consult with plastic surgery because as she has gotten older they've spread a bit. We might do that and they might be able to help. But even if they can't do anything (or we choose not to have them put her through more pain), you are right: it's what was necessary to save her and she will (we hope) wear her scars proudly (even if this makes her life a bit hard as a teenager, which I hope is not the case, but kids--especially teenage girls--can sometimes be cruel).
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