Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Good news- she's growing!
Just a quick update after our visit with the Nurse Practitioner today. We weighed Vivian as soon as we got there and were very happy to see that she is up to 8# 13 oz.! Good news for the little peanut as it means she is no longer falling off her growth curve, but has popped back up to about the 10th percentile. She watched her eat, too, and was happy with how she is getting the milk into her body (she paces herself well so she doesn't get out of breath, has good coordination regarding her suck/swallow pattern) so it seems that her slow weight gain was probably a result of her body using the calories faster than it could take them in. She'll keep getting the bottles for now, and we're going to keep doing weekly weight checks to be sure, but my fingers are crossed that this is one issue that we can mark as resolved. I am also hoping to be able to go back to exclusively breastfeeding after her surgery when she should stop burning through calories so quickly. Lucky for her (and me!) having Elizabeth continue to nurse while Vivian gets a little help should make it easier to go back than if she were a single baby.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Some recent photos
I'm beginning to wonder how she could be my daughter...
Vivian can't seem to gain weight very easily, which leads me to wonder if she's really mine. For two consecutive weeks she has gained only 1.5 ounces for a total of (drum roll here) 3 ounces in the last 2 weeks. You're amazed at my mathematical prowess, I know. That is, to say the least, significantly lower than what she should be gaining. She had been growing somewhat steadily along the 10th percentile, but has now dropped to between the 3rd and 5th percentile. Now we need to figure out why and how to help her put on some weight. There are a couple of possible reasons why she might be lagging behind. 1: her little heart is working so hard to get oxygen around her body that it is using up all the calories she's taking in and not leaving any for growth and 2: her soft palate is making it hard for her to eat and she's not taking in as many calories as she should be. Click here for a link to a better explanation of the palate problem http://craniofacial.seattlechildrens.org/conditions_treated/velophar.asp
Whatever the reason we need to figure it out so she can be strong for her surgery in 2 1/2 weeks. So off to Children's we go! We have an appointment tomorrow with the nurse practitioner who has been tracking her weight gain so that she can watch her eat and get a better idea of which problem to work on first.
We also will be seeing a gastroenterologist on Thursday to take a closer look at her reflux and see if we can make her more comfortable/ stop the wheezing that happens when her reflux causes her airway to close off. Hopefully both of those appointments will give good results. For now, we have added 2 bottles a day of 24 calorie per ounce formula (normal is 20/ounce) to give her a little boost and see if we can help her gain a little.
I also want to brag that Anna and Lucia brought me breakfast in bed on Saturday. Anna made it and Lucia put it on a tray and brought it up to me. The best part was that I came downstairs before they brought it to me, so they asked me to go back up and eat it in bed. It was delicious! I got a nutri-grain bar, some dried apricots and a handful of mini marshmallows. They told me that they wanted to bring me cereal, but since I have given up dairy they had to find something else. What thoughtful girls! So, I guess mother's day came early for me this year :)
Whatever the reason we need to figure it out so she can be strong for her surgery in 2 1/2 weeks. So off to Children's we go! We have an appointment tomorrow with the nurse practitioner who has been tracking her weight gain so that she can watch her eat and get a better idea of which problem to work on first.
We also will be seeing a gastroenterologist on Thursday to take a closer look at her reflux and see if we can make her more comfortable/ stop the wheezing that happens when her reflux causes her airway to close off. Hopefully both of those appointments will give good results. For now, we have added 2 bottles a day of 24 calorie per ounce formula (normal is 20/ounce) to give her a little boost and see if we can help her gain a little.
I also want to brag that Anna and Lucia brought me breakfast in bed on Saturday. Anna made it and Lucia put it on a tray and brought it up to me. The best part was that I came downstairs before they brought it to me, so they asked me to go back up and eat it in bed. It was delicious! I got a nutri-grain bar, some dried apricots and a handful of mini marshmallows. They told me that they wanted to bring me cereal, but since I have given up dairy they had to find something else. What thoughtful girls! So, I guess mother's day came early for me this year :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
News About Surgery
Ok, so I'm going to try this blog thing again. Hopefully at least one person other than myself will find it entertaining, but if I'm the only one laughing at my jokes, well let's just say it wouldn't be the first time! And since Kyle's poor memory seems o be contagious maybe this will help me when I'm old and grey to pretend like I remember something about raising our kids.
We are 8weeks and 1 day into our lives as a family of seven and wow has it been an emotional roller coaster. Right now I am too tired to be witty, but I hope that if you keep reading this that in the coming weeks and months I might be able to produce brief but impressive flashes of wittiness for your enjoyment.
When last I wrote a mass email V's weight gain had picked up and things were looking good. Since then her weight has been all over the map (4 oz over 10 days, 6 oz in a week) with last weeks gain being a very disappointing 1.5 oz. We also met with her cardiologist last week who informed us that her heart condition has progressed more quickly than they had expected and her surgery needs to be moved up. She is now scheduled for open heart surgery on May 14th at 8:00 am. I'm a wreck. Even more than usual. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we get closer to her big day. We're trying to focus on the aftermath right now, with great hope that once the surgery is done she will grow more quickly and have more energy for interacting with us. She was the more active baby while in utero, so it will be interesting to see how fixing her heart affects her personality.
That's all for tonight, I need to get some sleep. Check back for more updates on all of the girls. In a house with this many women there is bound to be drama!
We are 8weeks and 1 day into our lives as a family of seven and wow has it been an emotional roller coaster. Right now I am too tired to be witty, but I hope that if you keep reading this that in the coming weeks and months I might be able to produce brief but impressive flashes of wittiness for your enjoyment.
When last I wrote a mass email V's weight gain had picked up and things were looking good. Since then her weight has been all over the map (4 oz over 10 days, 6 oz in a week) with last weeks gain being a very disappointing 1.5 oz. We also met with her cardiologist last week who informed us that her heart condition has progressed more quickly than they had expected and her surgery needs to be moved up. She is now scheduled for open heart surgery on May 14th at 8:00 am. I'm a wreck. Even more than usual. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we get closer to her big day. We're trying to focus on the aftermath right now, with great hope that once the surgery is done she will grow more quickly and have more energy for interacting with us. She was the more active baby while in utero, so it will be interesting to see how fixing her heart affects her personality.
That's all for tonight, I need to get some sleep. Check back for more updates on all of the girls. In a house with this many women there is bound to be drama!
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