Pediatrician Appointment

Now that we've been home for 5 days we've adjusted to our new schedule-- which isn't much of a schedule at all! The dogs have adjusted to Elise's little noises and aren't bothered too much by the new change. In fact, Brutus seems to enjoy following us around and enjoys napping next to Elise. Wherever she is, he isn't far behind. As for Garth, he can take her or leave her. I think Garth just enjoys having people home more often.

Our first pediatrician's appointment was yesterday. Elise has gained weight-- up to a whopping 5lbs! The NICU team had taught us to closely follow the amount of milk ingested so it was a concern of mine that she wasn't eating enough from nursing (even though she continues to get a bottle afterwards). Then again, don't all parents worry about this?!

Everything else is looking good as well-- height, weight, head circumference are all normal for her premature size. Dr. Kennedy seems to think that by 6-12 months she will catch up to her peers with her growth-- although developmentally she'll be 5 1/2 weeks behind.

We are also submitting pre-approval for the RSV vaccine. RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. Most healthy adults can be infected by coughing or direct contact but recover within 1 to 2 weeks. However, infection in newborns (especially small preemies) can be severe and would require hospitalization with a ventilator and even death (if untreated). Obviously, preemies have extra small breathing passages so any buildup of mucus (a symptom of RSV) could be life threatening. The vaccine would be administered once a month until the end of the season (March or April). By next year, she would be strong enough without it. Unfortunately it is quite expensive-- over $1000 a shot! Hopefully by our next appointment (in two weeks), we will know if we are covered. By keeping outings and contact with people to a minimum, along with frequent hand washing, we would drastically reduce our risk of exposure. Basically, Elise is on lock down!

We continue to run on little sleep- but I feel that I'm slowly adjusting to my new hours. Dr. Kennedy still wants us to wake and feed Elise every 3 hours during the day but we can let her sleep up to 4 hours at night-- if we are that lucky! We are truly blessed by our little, healthy girl that giving up some sleep is a labor of love! There is nothing like holding and snuggling with her-- just ask her Daddy!