Monday, March 3, 2008 - Update

It's nice to be home and not getting shots at the doctor's office.

This is what I think of shots!

Yee-Haw. . .I like my new Bumbo seat.

There is so much to talk about today. Olivia had her 6 month checkup. She weighs 9 lbs 13 oz and is 21.5 inches long. Head circumference is 36.75 cm(I know you probably don't care about that, but writing it on the blog helps us keep track of it.) We were a little disappointed with her weight gain, but her doctor is very pleased with it. I'm sure she'd weigh a little more if it wasn't for the daily vomiting. As far as that goes, her doctor looks at three things concerning her vomiting, (1) Is she gaining weight? (2) Is she aspirating any of it into her lungs? (3) Is it causing her pain? Well, I do believe that she is in some pain over it. He has stopped her Reglan and is going to try her on Prevacid. Olivia also passed her second hearing test today. Overall, he is extremely pleased with Olivia and she was sure to give him a big grin while she was there. She was pretty happy for the first half of the visit. . .the last half was not quite as fun. Most children get 3 shots for their 6 month checkup. . .Olivia had 4 shots (Synagis) and 2 blood draws. They still couldn't get a good vein, so we have to take her into a lab later this week to get her blood drawn again. After they tried to get it out of her hand, they put a bandaid on and stepped out of the room. Her hand started bleeding quite a bit, so Ryan and I had to grab some gauze and put pressure on it. She's such a trooper, though. She knows that when mom or dad pick her up that everything is going to be okay. She did give the nurse some pretty good kicks. . .she is one tough cookie.

We also spoke with her doctor about how much to continue protecting her. It was nice to hear from him that we are not being over-protective or "neurotic." He is still seeing many cases of RSV and advised us not to take her into crowds until June. In April, we will probably take her outside more and introduce her to people a few at a time (if they are healthy.) Honestly, she will probably not be treated like a full term child for the first 2 years of her life. As much as I want to show her off, we must remember that she is not like a full term baby. She is doing extremely well for 23 weeks. . .but she was still born 17 weeks early. Our life just has to be different because of that. Ryan and I decided that we would let Olivia's doctor make the call concerning her exposure to other people and places and we respect his judgement. I am glad that I have this blog, however, to allow other people to get to know my amazing daughter.