Doctor Visits Galore!

Dr. Visits

Visit 1:

Kaz had his 6 month check up. His pediatrician gave us the green light to start feeding our boy solids, well as solid as baby food can be. If I haven't mentioned it let me do so now, our ped is a card and when I mentioned I would be making my own baby food (yeah, that's right I'm makin my own baby food - it's not like I have to do anything really special. Steam, throw it in a blender, put it in an ice cube tray, voila baby food.) he looked at me, lifted one eyebrow and said, "Whatever Martha." You gotta love this guy. So how are Kaz's growth stats? Glad you asked. It's funny they took a little dip but nothing to be concerned with. No one believes me when I tell them he's a preemie. I've stopped correcting his age when people ask because he's too big to be a 4 month old. Here's how he stacked up this go-round.

• Weight: 16. lbs 5 oz. - 30%
• Height: 25.5 inches - 12%
• Head 42 1/4 cm - 12%

Speaking of heads. We've done such a good job at dealing with preemie head (flat sides) by putting him on his back that we have now cultivated our very own flat spot on the back of his head. Drats...he'll never look good bald. We may have misshapen his head but yea for us, not his penis! That's right people, we did NOT break his penis this time. I literally watched the doc examine him, look at it, and then when he said, "that looks good", I raised my hands in victory. Oh happy day, no mo penis talk!

Kaz did get a flu shot but no H1N1. We were lucky to get the flu shot (the doc had some reserved for kiddos like Kaz) so I guess we'll just have to wait with the rest of the ailing country for someone to get their act together or we will have to stand in one of those horrifically long lines for hours on end. There is another shot we are trying to get Kaz and the insurance companies are not playing nice. Technically it's 5 shots at a $1000 a pop. Seriously why does a shot have to cost so much. I know, you're asking yourself what kind of shot costs a 100 benjamins? It's called Synagis. Here is an FAQ to answer all your questions http://www.synagis.com/faq.aspx#vaccine . It could be called unicorn for all I care because at this point it doesn't exist for our son since the insurance companies don't believe he's a candidate worthy of it although he fits the criteria and both the ped and the pulmonologist are requesting it. Maybe we'll know more soon but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

On the upside 19 days after this visit we did wait in line and all three of us did get the H1N1. We took the day off from work, got in line early (1.5 hours early) and an hour after the clinic opened we were all vaccined up. Did you know if you have a child under the age of 2 you have to go back in 4 weeks for a booster. Me neither. I sure hope it's widely available by then. If you want to find the nearest location where the vaccine is available use this link: http://www.flu.gov/widgets/vaccinelocator.html

We also discussed Kaz's development. You know, the fact that this little guy isn't rollin over. The doc picked Kaz up, flew him around like an airplane, said "come on buddy you can do it", and then said, "When do you see the OT (Occupational Therapist)...I'll be interested to hear what she has to say." What the krykie is that supposed to mean!? I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks when we see the OT for our 6 month NICU follow-up.

Visit 2:

We had our follow-up visit at Childrens hospital and I was all geared up to pull out the Vaseline and have Aaron hold my earrings. I walked in their with an attitude, I admit that but I did take steps to make sure I didn't let my emotions get the better of me. I had a heart-to-heart with myself on the way there. I put out positive thoughts and energy out into the universe and I designated Aaron as the official ambassador on this visit. And you know what, IT WORKED! The pulmonologist was nice and she even engaged Kaz this time. It's a Thanksgiving miracle.

You see this happy smiling baby? It's so hard to look at him and know that technically "he's sick". How can this happy, giggling, flirty baby have something wrong with his lungs. It's so hard to wrap your head around it. Look at this kid, their aint nothin wrong with him. The doctor doesn't seem to agree with us. Before we went in to see the pumonologist an xray of Kaz's lungs was taken. That was so much fun - holding our little guy down, stretching his arms, and watching him loose it not once, not twice, but three times (because of all the squirming and thrashing about we had to redo it once). What did this little torture test tell us? It told us that our little tough guys lungs still show signs of Respiratory Disease (RD). Not a lot but it's still there. What can be done? Time. Only time will heal his little lungs. We were hoping for a pill, a shot, a salve, anything but as it turns out the only thing we can do is wait for our son to mature and hope he doesn't get sick while we wait for his lungs to grow out of this.

The doc listened to his breathing as Kaz chatted it up with her. He was goin a mile a minute and between goo's and ga's the doc heard the gasping. Apparently he takes little gasps. Thier not huge but they're there and they shouldn't be. Yet another RD indicator.

We finally reviewed the results of his sleep test done back in September and it wasn't anything we already didn't figure out on our own except for 1 minor detail. When the doc left the message at the house (which by the way Aaron had a great point - how did she know it was our house, what if she left the message at the wrong house, she never confirmed we got the message and she never called us back) we heard her say take the O2 pressure up to .50 when in fact as a result of the sleep test it needed to go up to .75. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? "I called you 3 times to discuss the results." My silence was broken and she quickly realized Momma wasn't happy. She then gave us some lame sentiment and quickly told us that we didn't further damage him by only giving him .50 for the last TWO months. So let me get this strait, we left the NICU on .25 and now we're up to .75. AWESOMO! How did this happen? I'm not quite sure but it all comes down to a very thorough sleep test. Let's look on the bright side; he only has to wear the O2 at night and that's a big improvement from 24/7.

Speaking of sleep tests we are scheduled for another one in March and we hope for much better results...now that we've got the O2 pressure right :) Of course it will take them 2 weeks to review the results but the doc realizing I was quite peeved gave me her email address so that I could contact her directly and say, "hey, it's been 2 weeks, get on the stick and call me!" Worst move she ever made.

Another thing the doc was sure to talk to us about was the importance of washing our hands with hot soapy water, antibacterial gel, and avoiding day care. Let's just say, don't be surprised or offended when we insist you wash, gel, and get sprayed with Lysol, and for some we may just reenact the scene from Silkwood.

All in all it was a much better visit than the first. This time the pulmonologist was human.

Visit 3:

This month we met with the Occupational Therapist (OT) for a 6 month check-up (just to make sure he is developing nicely). He is PERFECTAMUNDO! Sure he can't roll over but he's a real social butterfly who is happy and engaging, he's great at following and focusing, he's got great hand to hand coordination, good neck control, and when she tried to work with him on rolling she said he had a solid center of gravity and he corrects the coaxing - in other words, he likes it where he's at and wants you to stop pushing him. But I'm annoyed, because all the while I'm telling her how he hates tummy time but oh no, when Alyse is there he's all smiles and lovin it (especially the medical paper under him, maybe that's the key; I need to get a huge roll of medical paper and lay it under him at all times). She told me not to be concerned that he's not rolling over and that she sees it coming by how he handles himself. She said developmentally he is in the 4-5 month range (some things he does is within the 4 month range and some things are within the 5+ month range which is normal for any kid to accelerate at some things over others). What's important is that he is not developmentally younger than his corrected age. He's on target. We'll see her in 6 months, no intervention is needed, and in the interim she gave us some cool exercises to do. Finally I can use the big blue exercise ball that's been collecting dust!

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While in the waiting room making his 6 month follow-up appointment I finally found out what all the fuss is about Kaz's size. I met a boy named Henry and his 2 mommy's. Henry's mom's asked how old Kaz was and were amazed when I said 6 months. They went on to ask if he was a preemie and I said with pride, "yep, 8 weeks". "So was Henry. OMgosh, I think he's bigger than Henry." We get this reaction a lot. People can not believe he's a preemie. I now get it. Henry was the cutest little boy with these big brown eyes who buried them into his mom's chest. Henry and Kaz did look to be about the same size (Henry was a little taller though) but Henry was 10 months old.

Firsts

Ahhhh beautiful music to our ears; Kaz's first raspberry. You would have thunk he was reciting Shakespeare. I tried to download a video of it but it no worky, sorry.

Per doctors orders we served up Kaz's first serving of baby food. Sweet potatoes to be exact. Wow, he reacted like we were serving him liquid cotton candy. He was just beside himself with glee and amazement. Next on the menu peas. At first he winced and then just gobbled it down. He's gonna be a good eater just like his Father (Michelle K is delighted to hear that I'm sure - she loves watching Aaron eat), our poor grocery bill.

Warning WARNING there is a sick child lurking in our house. We are currently experiencing our first code-in-da-nose (cold in the nose). There is a lot of suctioning goin on around here which we allllll LOVE. Luckily the cold seems to be contained to the nose (which is difficult since he's a nose breather). There is an occasional cough from the post-nasal drip but - knock on wood - that's it for now. Of course I called the phone nurse, not because I'm panicking. I know, kids get sick. They need to build their immunities. I'm all for it. Yes I'm a first time mom but I'm not being a "first time mom", what I am is cautious. Let me remind you...he...has...respiratory...disease. We have whole different deck of cards to deal with (said the nurse). What else did she say? She said as long as as the cold doesn't fall into his chest and we don't hear any wheezing or see any labored breathing we should just suction him out real good, run the humidifier, give him a steamy bath, and elevate his head. You know, the standard. I had a talk with Kaz, told him he better listen to his Mother and to stop all this snotty nonsense. So far he's not listening...KIDS!

Yea we had our first Halloween which means our first costume! Momma made this one herself (well the beard and hat at least) and we did it all for Oma who LOVES gnomes. Cutest gnome you ever saw, right?! Of course Harley had to have a costume too. We couldn't leave our first child out of all the fun.

Visitors

Leslie & Warren came down from NorCal and Elinore from Temecula drove in to meet our little man. They hugged, kissed, and squeezed him lots and we are so happy they came.

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We went to see the paleontologist...the periodontist...no that's not right...the doc who monitored our "high risk" pregnancy. Kaz and I went back to say thank you for taking such good care of us and so he could meet Kaz. He walked into his office, ignored me and swooped up our little miracle who smiled uncontrollably as if he's known him his whole life and couldn't stop staring at the doc while he was flirting with all the pretty nurses. I'm not embarrased to tell you, I got a little misty eyed.

Pics for Fun

Look it's US!

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Ah that face! How could you not just want to reach into the computer and pinch those cheeks?

It's a temporary thing - I won't dress them alike forever, I promise. Come on look at how handsome these 2 are in their matching hats.

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Not so handsome was the aftermath of Harley's alergy test.

Mmmm beeeeerrrrr.

Greg do you see how cute I am? One day I will curse this picture but today I'm adorable.