Dr Appointment - 23 weeks

Yesterday you had another appointment with Dr. Campbell. It went pretty well. You are 23 weeks, which is 11 weeks adjusted age. She said you are doing really good. You gave her lots of smiles and then started to frown and cry. This was good because she was able to hear your sweet voice. She wants me to ask Dr. Panesar at the next appointment with him about your voice - the softness and kinda hoarseness of your cry. She said that sometimes from the multiple intubations and/or the bronchoscopy's done that it can cause damage and even possible growths on the vocal cords, so we will find out about that. In the meantime I just love your little cry. It does the trick. Even though it is soft I can hear you when I need to. (And I can block it out when I want to, not a very nice mommy, huh?)
She put you on your tummy and you did great with your legs- kicking and pushing your bum in the air, but you weren't real aggressive with lifting your head up or pushing yourself up with your arms. She is going have someone from physical therapy come do an evaluation on you to see if you need some exercises. We will see what they say- you may just need me to work with you, or maybe they will need to come every so often to work with you, we just won't know until they come do the evaluation. But I think all you really need is more tummy time so you can practice and figure out what to do with your arms and head.
You weighed10 lbs 5 oz. I have looked online at many growth charts and they all say something different and are difficult for me to read as far as what percentile you are in. Dr. Campbell told me you are in the 10th percentile for your length and you aren't on the chart yet for your weight. I assume they use your adjusted age of about 11 weeks, and you are tiny compared to an eleven week old baby, let alone a five month old!
If you have anything other than breastmilk then you are very gassy and get tummy aches. I introduced baby cereal to you a few times and you liked it but I also gave you a small formula bottle in the evening or before bed those same days so I don't know which one did it. Dr. Campbell said as long as you don't choke on the baby cereal then you can have it in very small amounts, but I think I will lay off it for a week or two. Also, she didn't want to change the formula that you are on since you did fine with it as an additive to the breastmilk when you were fed in the NICU and when you came home- when I was still pumping and adding it and giving you a bottle. Nursing is so much easier than pumping then giving you it in a bottle, and it took way too long! For now you only have a formula bottle when absolutely necessary- either when I leave you for a time with Grammy or Tia, or if I think you are just really hungry and my boobs are empty. So for now I am going to limit those other feedings and then reintroduce them in the next few weeks. She also said not to start baby food for another month or two.
You got one shot in your thigh and cried (hard!) for a second but when I picked you up you felt comforted and were just fine.
Dr. Campbell hasn't ordered any blood work since you have been out of the hospital, so she asked if it was ok with me if she had some lab work done. I figured we should make sure you are doing ok after having me take you off all your vitamins, supplements, and medications. So, the lady came in to do a blood draw. She said she does it all the time, even on small babies, small as in newborns, not small as in preemies. As long as she had some practice and new what she was doing (turned out she didn't know what she was doing at all!). So I asked if she was gonna draw from your foot and she said she was going to check out your arms first. The left arm didn't really have any good veins but she said the right arm seemed to have a good one. She had me hold your hand and shoulder and then when she got the poke finished she said I could let go, so I did and I backed away a little bit. Oh my goodness, she had the needle in your arm but it wasn't in a vein. She was moving it all around under the skin and it looked exactly like she was doing liposuction- in and out, in and out, and it was freaking me out. I kept dancing around and saying I was gonna faint and basically panicking. You were so angry but I couldn't do anything to comfort you because I would be in her way so I decided to say a prayer and I asked Heavenly Father to help me to know what to do for you. I instantly yelled, "Take it out! OK! OK! You're done! That's all! I can't watch this anymore!". She kind of looked at me like "lady just let me do my job". But I wasn't going to let her continue to do this to you. She took it out and ended up drawing from your foot, with just a poke and then by squeezing the blood out. You did fine with that and I was able to put my cheek to yours and talk softly into your ear and hold your binky in to help you feel comforted. Needless to say I left there feeling very mad and we will never let that lady get near you again!
One thing I asked about what the fact that you kind of throw tantrums. If I put you down and you don't want to be put down then you are instantly mad and begin to cry very, very hard. I don't understand. I talk to you and tell you that you are fed, changed, and a little sleepy and I try to rub your face and calm you down so you can go to sleep. You aren't havin' it though. You want picked up! It drives me nuts. I got this new wrap thing that is so totally cool- called a Moby Wrap and you absolutely love it! I can't have you in it all the time especially when I am going to be doing a lot of bending or if I am near the stove, etc etc etc. Dr. Campbell said that NICU babies, especially ones that are in for as long as you, are very determined and such fighters. We know this about you for sure! But that apparently carries on with you and now you feel like you have to fight for every thing you want. So if you want picked up then dang it you are going to do whatever you have to do to get me to pick you up. That's fine (for the most part) I will hold you as much as you want me to. It was quite traumatic all that time in the NICU when I couldn't hold you whenever I wanted.
I am so happy to have you home with me and healthy especially after being told that you would never make it on this earth. You are truly my miracle and I thank my Heavenly Father multiple times a day for the miracle of your life and allowing me to be your mommy here on earth.