Well, today was a shock with parenthood yet again - seriously, it's true - you just can't get out the door when you want! After frantically packing the diaper bag and getting Miss. Ellie all situated in her carseat and monitor in hand...we made it to Dr.Duff's office for our first appointment.
And, since you're all used to reading Ellie's weight at 9 p.m., we thought we'd keep you in suspense until now about what she weighed today! Drum roll please....6 lbs. 9.5 oz.! Yippee! She gained weight since we came home! Wahoo! I was a tad worried. She was 6 lbs. 7.2 oz. when we brought her home from Stormont. Her length measured at 19 1/2, but Ben thinks the nurse read the tape wrong (of course he does). He thinks it was more like 19 7/8 inches! So technically she shrunk since she came home from the hospital. Her head circumference was the same at 34 cm. It was a bit depressing seeing that percentiles are just never going to measure up for Ellie since she's a preemie. So yeah, all her stats were below the 3% mark. Oh well! I bet she'd be right up there compared to other preemies her gestational age!
We really like Dr.Duff. He said he's known Ellen for a while and has enjoyed working with her (when she was a flight nurse too) and he practiced in Mason City, IA for a few years. Who knew...small world! He seemed very up to date (since he had also gotten report via phone from Ellen) with Ellie's story and medical history. He said he was really pleased with her progress. He said her head looked wonderful for her age, her umbilical hernia still looked ok, and he didn't hear a heart murmur! Her overall check went well. He said he would like us to come in weekly for two weeks, just to make sure she's still gaining weight. He also recommended us lowering her feeding duration to 20-25 minutes instead of 30 minutes. So about the pooping issue or lack thereof...we have to call him if no poop by Wednesday. I'm thinking he'll request a suppository, especially since the rectal temp doesn't really work for the little one. He did say he's not too concerned because her bowel sounds are active and her stools aren't hard. So he said it's not an issue of constipation, it's more an issue of infrequency...and some babies are just like that.
He was pleased to hear that we haven't had any A's and B's with the home monitor going off. I asked when we'd come back to see him and he said at her 4 month check (so in 2 months) and then we'd re-evaluate the caffeine and monitor business then. I told him that our prescription for caffeine was only for a month, (kind of hinting that maybe it'd be nice to not have the monitor more than a month) and he said to call when the end of the prescription comes. Obviously it's too early to tell if she can get off the caffeine...and we know that!
We discussed her immunizations and she got more shots today. He said that the first RSV preventing (synagis) shot she got at Stormont would decrease her chances of getting it by 50%. She'll get a synagis shot every 28 days until cold/flu season is done (April). They'll have a home health nurse come and administer it. He also said they have the medicine shipped to our front door...what service! She got the second Hep B vaccine and then also the rotavirus. She didn't like that too well and has been a tad fussy (again understandable). We will be visiting Dr.Duff at 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months...and then if needed obviously.
We then hurried over to Melanie, the lactation consultant at Mercy Hospital, and met with her and tried nursing again. I think Ellie had performance anxiety...she only ate 18 mL (weighing her before and after). No, we decided that it was a big day for her and she was tired from the Dr. visit and handling and then those not so fun shots! So we are going to try again on Friday this week! Her feedings the rest of the day have been pretty consistant with 50ish mLs...Ellen would be proud! :)
Until next time...Team Gramkow signing off!
This was pretty funny because she does not like her hat...or maybe the lights? :)
I know I know...she was upset, but still really cute!
She's more awake these days which is fun and tiring all at the same time. Still no bowel movement today, so Dr.Duff said a suppository was needed. So far it's helped...a little. We've also been cleaning our apartment more to make room for Ellie's stuff! And..we even decorated a section of a wall for her Farm Animal themed nursery (that really won't exist fully until after we move in May!) Enjoy the pictures! We're still trying to get back into the swing of things!
