Cameron had a bittersweet Valentine's Day. I took her for another ophthalmologist appointment and that was the part that she obviously didn't enjoy. What is exciting though is that her ROP is gone and her retina are fully developed! Which means we have graduated from the eye doctor!! No more eye exams for Cam :D
After Cameron's eye appointment was over, Josh had set up a massage for me at a massotherapy place near our house. I dropped Cameron off at home and went to my massage, which was amazing! So today ended up being a great day for me, great news and a massage!!
And in case you're wondering I got Josh a Mr. Beer brewing kit. It takes 2 weeks to brew your own small batch of beer and he's really excited about it. He will probably start the project sometime within the next week. We will let you know how it tastes :)
Happy Valentine's Day!!
Showing posts with label rop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rop. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Doctor visits
We had two doctor visits this week. Tuesday was to the ophthalmologist and today (Wednesday) we went to the pediatrician. I will start with the pediatrician visit.
Cameron weighed in at 6 lb 15.4 oz!! So I'm calling that 7 pounds :) The doctor was so incredibly happy that she had gained a full two pounds in one month since the last time we saw her. She was hoping Cam would be 6 pounds by today. Cam is definitely on the growth chart for her adjusted age (how old she would be had she been born on her due date) and the doctor is really happy with that. She's really small, not quite hitting the 10th percentile but her doctor was perfectly fine with anything on the chart. She gave her another A+ checkup and said she feels that she is going to be hitting developmental milestones pretty early for her adjusted age. She thinks she just looks so healthy and strong for a 26 weeker. Overall it went great and she had nothing but good things to say. We did get Cameron's 4 month shots so that was really sad and she was pretty fussy for a while and then got really sleepy. She gets everything a normal baby would get except for the rotavirus because it is a live vaccine. I've been giving her tylenol today so I hope she isn't too achy and her poor little legs don't hurt.
We went back to the ophthalmologist for another check up on her eyes and there really was no change since the last appointment. He said there is still some ROP hanging on but was okay with having her come back in a month for another follow up instead of two weeks. I am so ready to be done with these eye appointments and for her ROP to resolve.
We have our first assessment with a development specialist tomorrow who will come to the house and assess Cameron developmentally. It's part of an early intervention program run by the state of Ohio called Help Me Grow that Cam qualifies for because of her prematurity. It is a free service that she is eligible for up until the age of three. They will come assess her developmental progress so that we can work on any areas that she may be behind in. I'm pretty nervous for this. Obviously our biggest fear is that she is going to have developmental delays. I know in some areas she will be considered ahead for her gestational age but I'm worried there will be areas where she is behind. We will see!
That's it for appointments. I will update on how the early intervention appointment goes within the next couple of days. Other than that we don't have another eye appointment until February and another pediatrician appointment until March.
Cameron weighed in at 6 lb 15.4 oz!! So I'm calling that 7 pounds :) The doctor was so incredibly happy that she had gained a full two pounds in one month since the last time we saw her. She was hoping Cam would be 6 pounds by today. Cam is definitely on the growth chart for her adjusted age (how old she would be had she been born on her due date) and the doctor is really happy with that. She's really small, not quite hitting the 10th percentile but her doctor was perfectly fine with anything on the chart. She gave her another A+ checkup and said she feels that she is going to be hitting developmental milestones pretty early for her adjusted age. She thinks she just looks so healthy and strong for a 26 weeker. Overall it went great and she had nothing but good things to say. We did get Cameron's 4 month shots so that was really sad and she was pretty fussy for a while and then got really sleepy. She gets everything a normal baby would get except for the rotavirus because it is a live vaccine. I've been giving her tylenol today so I hope she isn't too achy and her poor little legs don't hurt.
We went back to the ophthalmologist for another check up on her eyes and there really was no change since the last appointment. He said there is still some ROP hanging on but was okay with having her come back in a month for another follow up instead of two weeks. I am so ready to be done with these eye appointments and for her ROP to resolve.
We have our first assessment with a development specialist tomorrow who will come to the house and assess Cameron developmentally. It's part of an early intervention program run by the state of Ohio called Help Me Grow that Cam qualifies for because of her prematurity. It is a free service that she is eligible for up until the age of three. They will come assess her developmental progress so that we can work on any areas that she may be behind in. I'm pretty nervous for this. Obviously our biggest fear is that she is going to have developmental delays. I know in some areas she will be considered ahead for her gestational age but I'm worried there will be areas where she is behind. We will see!
That's it for appointments. I will update on how the early intervention appointment goes within the next couple of days. Other than that we don't have another eye appointment until February and another pediatrician appointment until March.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
ROP and other ramblings
This is going to be a long one, I have a lot of stuff to talk about.
Cameron went back to the ophthalmologist today and we didn't get the greatest news. The ROP in her left eye did not improve and he is now saying that her right eye has developed ROP. He is still not concerned at all and wants to continue to monitor her closely. We go back again in two weeks.
I think we found the key to Cam's spit up issues. She was having quite a bit of projectile vomit so her doctor wanted us to try a little bit of rice cereal. We went back to fortifying my breast milk because her weight gain really slowed and it didn't really seem to be helping with the spit up. But we are no longer fortifying with Similac neosure, we are using Similac sensitive for spit-up. Using that special formula to fortify plus a little bit of rice cereal is doing wonders. Her weight gain has really picked up and she is still occasionally vomiting but not nearly as much. She is up to 5 lb 12.6 oz! She is so close to 6 pounds! In case you are wondering how I keep track of her weight so closely now that we are out of the NICU, I actually bought a baby scale. I would stress so much without it and it gives me peace of mind that she is getting enough nutrition since she is not the best eater. I am even letting her feed on demand now. I won't wake her up anymore to eat. She will go up to 6 hours but usually averages about 3 hours.
She is still a pretty good sleeper except for the middle of the night. Whether I spoiled her into not sleeping at night or not, I don't know, but she constantly cries unless I hold her. I'm okay with that though because I can never get too much cuddle time with Cam. 82 days in the NICU will do that to you I guess.
Developmentally she is doing awesome!! Her motor skills are developing way ahead of her adjusted age. Right now she is considered a "normal newborn" since my due date was last Thursday. But she is able to hold her head up at a 45 degree angle and she can bear all of her weight on her legs (as long as I balance her of course). If she is laying on her belly against my stomach she can push herself upwards against my lap with her legs. Every doctor who ever sees her remarks on how strong she is. Cognitive skills are harder to tell right now but she responds to bright lights and loud noises. She is focusing on interesting objects and following people's faces with her eyes. I am just so happy with her progress. Our biggest fear right now is that she will have developmental delays but her progress is really impressive. I can't wait until she does more social interaction like smiling!
I want to brag on Josh for a minute. He is doing so well with Cameron and is absolutely smitten by her. He does not mind one bit getting up with her in the middle of the night even though he has to work. He is such a huge help and is so hands on. He often tells me to go get out of the house or take a nap while he takes care of her and he actually complains if I do too much "baby hogging". She has definitely got him wrapped around her little finger!!
Overall Cameron is really thriving at home. We are working out the kinks and she seems very happy to be out of the hospital. A friend of mine from nursing school always says there's only so much thriving you can do in the hospital and she is right, in 3 weeks she is already a totally different baby from when she left the hospital. Hope I didn't bore you too much as I had a lot stuff to update on! I also want to do a post on my "must-have" baby items that have helped us survive her adjustment to home so look for that. Thanks for reading!
Cameron went back to the ophthalmologist today and we didn't get the greatest news. The ROP in her left eye did not improve and he is now saying that her right eye has developed ROP. He is still not concerned at all and wants to continue to monitor her closely. We go back again in two weeks.
I think we found the key to Cam's spit up issues. She was having quite a bit of projectile vomit so her doctor wanted us to try a little bit of rice cereal. We went back to fortifying my breast milk because her weight gain really slowed and it didn't really seem to be helping with the spit up. But we are no longer fortifying with Similac neosure, we are using Similac sensitive for spit-up. Using that special formula to fortify plus a little bit of rice cereal is doing wonders. Her weight gain has really picked up and she is still occasionally vomiting but not nearly as much. She is up to 5 lb 12.6 oz! She is so close to 6 pounds! In case you are wondering how I keep track of her weight so closely now that we are out of the NICU, I actually bought a baby scale. I would stress so much without it and it gives me peace of mind that she is getting enough nutrition since she is not the best eater. I am even letting her feed on demand now. I won't wake her up anymore to eat. She will go up to 6 hours but usually averages about 3 hours.
She is still a pretty good sleeper except for the middle of the night. Whether I spoiled her into not sleeping at night or not, I don't know, but she constantly cries unless I hold her. I'm okay with that though because I can never get too much cuddle time with Cam. 82 days in the NICU will do that to you I guess.
Developmentally she is doing awesome!! Her motor skills are developing way ahead of her adjusted age. Right now she is considered a "normal newborn" since my due date was last Thursday. But she is able to hold her head up at a 45 degree angle and she can bear all of her weight on her legs (as long as I balance her of course). If she is laying on her belly against my stomach she can push herself upwards against my lap with her legs. Every doctor who ever sees her remarks on how strong she is. Cognitive skills are harder to tell right now but she responds to bright lights and loud noises. She is focusing on interesting objects and following people's faces with her eyes. I am just so happy with her progress. Our biggest fear right now is that she will have developmental delays but her progress is really impressive. I can't wait until she does more social interaction like smiling!
I want to brag on Josh for a minute. He is doing so well with Cameron and is absolutely smitten by her. He does not mind one bit getting up with her in the middle of the night even though he has to work. He is such a huge help and is so hands on. He often tells me to go get out of the house or take a nap while he takes care of her and he actually complains if I do too much "baby hogging". She has definitely got him wrapped around her little finger!!
Overall Cameron is really thriving at home. We are working out the kinks and she seems very happy to be out of the hospital. A friend of mine from nursing school always says there's only so much thriving you can do in the hospital and she is right, in 3 weeks she is already a totally different baby from when she left the hospital. Hope I didn't bore you too much as I had a lot stuff to update on! I also want to do a post on my "must-have" baby items that have helped us survive her adjustment to home so look for that. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Home update
I haven't checked in in a while and Cameron has been home for a whole week! It's so crazy, this week has flown by. We are so busy but we are really loving it. It is still surreal to me that when I wake up she is right there next to me.
Overall our transition to home was very easy, Cameron has been doing so well. We still have a little bit of feeding issues, that's where her prematurity really shows. Preemies frequently have much more trouble eating than term babies. She is eating as much as she needs to be and is gaining weight appropriately it's just a little bit frustrating for Josh and I. But she will get it. We've been playing around with whether to breast feed or continue bottle feeding with the added formula for calories. It seems to me like the formula is upsetting her stomach making her not want to eat. When I breast feed or give her a bottle of only breast milk she seems to be much happier. As long as her weight gain doesn't slow down I am going to try to cut out the formula since it doesn't seem to be agreeing with her.
We had her first pediatrician appointment on Friday and a follow up eye appointment downtown at the Cleveland Clinic's main campus on Tuesday. The pediatrician appointment went perfectly. She was really happy with Cameron's weight gain and thought she just looked awesome for a 26 weeker (who still hasn't hit her due date). She had no health concerns about her whatsoever and she is now 5 pounds!! The eye doctor went pretty well too but not as well as I had hoped. The retina in her right eye is now fully developed and looks great. Her left eye is not quite there yet and has also developed stage 1 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) since the last time he saw her. The eye doctor said this is nothing to be concerned about and wants to see her again in 2 weeks. He expects at that time for the ROP to have resolved and the eye to be fully developed. But until then he wants to monitor her closely to make sure it doesn't get worse.
Our neighbor came over the other day to do some photos of Cameron. I am so excited about how well they turned out so I thought I would share them!! She is becoming such a big girl :)
Overall our transition to home was very easy, Cameron has been doing so well. We still have a little bit of feeding issues, that's where her prematurity really shows. Preemies frequently have much more trouble eating than term babies. She is eating as much as she needs to be and is gaining weight appropriately it's just a little bit frustrating for Josh and I. But she will get it. We've been playing around with whether to breast feed or continue bottle feeding with the added formula for calories. It seems to me like the formula is upsetting her stomach making her not want to eat. When I breast feed or give her a bottle of only breast milk she seems to be much happier. As long as her weight gain doesn't slow down I am going to try to cut out the formula since it doesn't seem to be agreeing with her.
We had her first pediatrician appointment on Friday and a follow up eye appointment downtown at the Cleveland Clinic's main campus on Tuesday. The pediatrician appointment went perfectly. She was really happy with Cameron's weight gain and thought she just looked awesome for a 26 weeker (who still hasn't hit her due date). She had no health concerns about her whatsoever and she is now 5 pounds!! The eye doctor went pretty well too but not as well as I had hoped. The retina in her right eye is now fully developed and looks great. Her left eye is not quite there yet and has also developed stage 1 ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) since the last time he saw her. The eye doctor said this is nothing to be concerned about and wants to see her again in 2 weeks. He expects at that time for the ROP to have resolved and the eye to be fully developed. But until then he wants to monitor her closely to make sure it doesn't get worse.
Our neighbor came over the other day to do some photos of Cameron. I am so excited about how well they turned out so I thought I would share them!! She is becoming such a big girl :)
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