Specialty Care Doctor/ Rehab & Pediatrican appt

Today we went to our first appointment with the specialty care doctor. We went over EVERY single thing with Brinleigh. I really like this Doctor!! I love it when the doctor knows what they are getting into. He knew the In's and Outs of Brinleigh's Nicu stay, the follow ups we have done and what we still need to follow up on. He was so thorough. He was very happy with where she was at! She must have known to impress him. Usually people have to try hard to get smiles out of her. Well he rolls up looks at her and she just starts grinning!! He loved it. He then took her and said wow, I think she's doing great, but she does need more tummy time, she needs to pull her head up. So once again, we need to push her with the tummy! She is so protective of her tummy, I don't know if it's because of the reflux, or if it takes away one of her main senses, cause she can't see anything but the ground! But we are determined to work on this more than what we are.. He said an hour a day minimum. Alright Brin let's do it. So we will go back to see him in a few months to make sure she hits her next developmental milestones, which are rolling over and sitting up. :) He then asked if I had any questions for him... and I said yes!

I then asked do you know much about CMV? He replies, yes, but I don't think it's relevent to you or will help you but, what's up? So I said well at a previous appointment I was told to be concerned about it. He said well to be honest she is not a CMV looking baby. Babies that are born with major CMV problems you see them right away! They usually don't just randomly pop up. So yes keep it in mind, but don't get consumed by it, and don't read online, it will just scare you.

I also asked him how he felt about her head shape, he said I think it looks great, you don't have anything to worry about right now. Most babies aren't on there head as long as Brinleigh but tummy time and just well plain old time will help that. The more she's up the less she's in her head.
It was really reassuring!! And this dr. Was a great resource and very open! This was a good appointment.

St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks Day! 

Hope you all wore your green so that you weren't pinched... Brinleigh and I sure did!

Cardiology

Guess what.... Oh that's right, we are OFF to the DOCTORS again...

Today we went to see the Cardiologist, a follow up for her heart.  Brinleigh has a small whole between the top two chambers of her heart, it's called an ASD.  She also had a tiny amount of Hypertension when in the hospital.  With having an ASD, she may be just fine with it and it may never cause any significant problems, or it may need to be fixed in the future only time will tell.

At this appointment Brinleigh had an x-ray along with an EKG.  She did awesome!  She just laid there while they put wires and electrodes all over her body.  An electrocardiogram (EKG) is a test that checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart.  Her EKG looked good, didn't show signs of hypertension or that the ASD was making her heart work harder.  But they will keep following her to watch it closely.  We will go back for another evalutation in a few months.  And if needed they will do an Echo, but they would prefer not to unless really necessary, since Brinleigh would have to be sedated and that comes with risks.  I'm glad at this point we didn't need to do one. It's really scary, all the unknowns, but we just have to rely on the professionals that they will watch her carefully and know what's best.  I hope that she will never be effected by it.

Nephrology & Optomology

Today we had two appointments, Nephrology & Optomology.

First up was the Nephrologist (Kidney Doctor) first off they weighed cute little BrinBoo she was now 12 lbs 6oz. Then then put a urine bag on her so they could test her calcium levels again.. they then examined her and tried getting her blood pressure, it never works out. She was really well behaved and extremely happy. She was jabbering it up. When the doctor was looking her over, she says, she is hard of hearing, is that right? I responded yes, she is. the Dr then said wow, I'm surprised at how vocial she is then, most the time they are really quiet. I really hope that Brin never stops her jabbering! I love her being so vocal, it makes me so happy! So, her urine came back looking so much better than the last time, she still did have some calcium crystals in her urine, but not as much as the previous time. She said that if Brin does start crying out and acting in pain that she could be passing stones. :( but to call. But as of now they weren't going to do a ultrasound or any bloodwork since she has been happy and her urine was better than before. So hopefully that means things are looking up in this area! Let's keep improving girl!

Next up the Eye Doctor...Off we rushed from one appt to the next. First off they see if she will follow these black and white pictures around. Well at this point Brinleigh is hungry and tired, and didn't want to be cooperate. I know that she will follow things but she wasn't doing it for them. So next they decide they will dialate her eyes (hate this) So they put the drops in her eyes and off we went to wait. So I was able to sneak in a feeding and she zonked right out!! Which actually made the rest of the appointment a sinch. The doctor comes in and says that one of the things they have to watch for with babies that have ROP and laser surgery is that they can't see things close up, so that's one of the things they will be looking for. Along with other things of course.

So he pry's open her little eyes and takes a looky... YAY - No need for glasses at this point! He said that everything looks good! She's not far/near sided, her retina is attached and all posterior pole structures are perfectly normal! The size of her optic nerves are perfectly normal in appearance. And she fixes on things and follows them, and her eyes are in good alignment. Oh yay, what a relief! We will again have a follow up appointment to make sure they keep developing in the right direction and nothing changes.

So overall these appointments were a success and had good news!!

Urine showing some improvement!

Eyes lookin' good!

Brinleigh did soo good, with having a morning filled with appointments! We got home and had a little photoshoot, her faces cracked me up!!! She's full of it! :)

HAHA, these make me laugh!!

Brin's jabbering....

Here's a little video of Brinleigh after her appointments jabbering... I love it!!