Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Pictures!
Sweet Katie is 9 months old and just so completely adorable. We got 3 new pictures today. I am only posting 2 since the third is with her foster mom and out of respect to her I am not going to post it.
Friday, December 9, 2011
3 year check up
I took Kiya in for her 3 year check up. It has been one year since we have seen her pediatrician. Kiya (knock on wood) doesn't need to see her regular doctor often. She gets the sniffles or a slight fever but nothing we haven't been able to manage. That said she does see a few doctors every 12 weeks so I think we are good on the doctor visit quota.
So here is what we learned while at Kiya's yearly check up.
1) She is VERY tall. Everyone couldn't believe just how tall she was. She wasn't being super cooperative so at a minimum she measured in at 39.5 inches tall but is likely closer to 40 inches maybe more. On record she is 39.5. That puts her well into the 90th percentile for height.
2) She is super skinny. She weighed in at 33 3/4lb in cast so we have to subtract about 3lbs. She is in the 25th percentile for weight once you adjust it down to factor out the extra weight the cast adds.
3) She has super dry skin in the winter. The doctor wants us to really work on it and keep in touch if our ideas don't work. We are using the Aveeno baby lotion twice daily with a layer of aquaphor on top and that seems to be working.
4) She is a trooper when it comes to getting shots. She just got the flu shot this year but was so great. One scream and done. Of course the princess sticker helped :)
5) Scoliosis and her treatment were definitely on the agenda. We got caught up on the casting and the progress or should I say lack of progress. We discussed long term what could happen and at what point we are willing to stop casting and go to bracing and or surgery. She and I both agree that as long as Dr. H agrees to keep casting her that we will cast as long as we can. Then if feasible we will brace to allow her time to grow and get older before pursing rod surgery. Our ultimate hope is to not have to have surgery at all but if we do then we would hope to be able to delay it so we could do permanent rods and not growth rods. We are so far from this point in Kiya's treatment but it was nice to lay it all out there too.
6) Ok I saved the big issue for last. The heart murmur. We discussed it at length and she listened a few times and heard nothing. She is of the opinion that it is possible that Kiya has a benign flow murmur which can't present in children when sick, stressed or dehydrated. It is harmless and something she will outgrow. She does not feel that an EKG or an echo cardiogram are necessary at this point but will support us if we decide differently. She also said that if she did have an actual heart murmur it wouldn't be heard sometimes and not others. At this point we can't do tests in cast so come cast off week in January, we will go back and see her doctor again and see if she hears the murmur when Kiya is out of cast. We will decide at that time if we need to pursue further testing.
So here is what we learned while at Kiya's yearly check up.
1) She is VERY tall. Everyone couldn't believe just how tall she was. She wasn't being super cooperative so at a minimum she measured in at 39.5 inches tall but is likely closer to 40 inches maybe more. On record she is 39.5. That puts her well into the 90th percentile for height.
2) She is super skinny. She weighed in at 33 3/4lb in cast so we have to subtract about 3lbs. She is in the 25th percentile for weight once you adjust it down to factor out the extra weight the cast adds.
3) She has super dry skin in the winter. The doctor wants us to really work on it and keep in touch if our ideas don't work. We are using the Aveeno baby lotion twice daily with a layer of aquaphor on top and that seems to be working.
4) She is a trooper when it comes to getting shots. She just got the flu shot this year but was so great. One scream and done. Of course the princess sticker helped :)
5) Scoliosis and her treatment were definitely on the agenda. We got caught up on the casting and the progress or should I say lack of progress. We discussed long term what could happen and at what point we are willing to stop casting and go to bracing and or surgery. She and I both agree that as long as Dr. H agrees to keep casting her that we will cast as long as we can. Then if feasible we will brace to allow her time to grow and get older before pursing rod surgery. Our ultimate hope is to not have to have surgery at all but if we do then we would hope to be able to delay it so we could do permanent rods and not growth rods. We are so far from this point in Kiya's treatment but it was nice to lay it all out there too.
6) Ok I saved the big issue for last. The heart murmur. We discussed it at length and she listened a few times and heard nothing. She is of the opinion that it is possible that Kiya has a benign flow murmur which can't present in children when sick, stressed or dehydrated. It is harmless and something she will outgrow. She does not feel that an EKG or an echo cardiogram are necessary at this point but will support us if we decide differently. She also said that if she did have an actual heart murmur it wouldn't be heard sometimes and not others. At this point we can't do tests in cast so come cast off week in January, we will go back and see her doctor again and see if she hears the murmur when Kiya is out of cast. We will decide at that time if we need to pursue further testing.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Kiya turns 3!
It finally happened. My sweet baby girl is officially 3 years old. Her birthday was just a few days after Thanksgiving. We celebrated with the family on Thanksgiving day. She even got all dressed up in her party dress and sparkly shoes which she LOVES. The dress lasted about an hour but the shoes lasted all day. Seriously have a girlie girl.
Great shot of her blowing out her candle. She wanted pink cupcakes so on top of a turkey, this momma made cupcakes for her little princess. The dress was gone by this point and back to cheering on the Packers. You can't see it but she still has her sparkly shoes on.
The first time in 3 birthdays with little miss that she actually dug right into the frosting and managed to eat almost 2 cupcakes. Well I should say, one whole cupcake and all of the pink frosting and a few small bites of the second cupcake.
Me with my little girl. Man I love this kid and while she can be a handful some days, she is truly the best. I am a lucky momma indeed.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Catching up
So I know it has been awhile. I have been a tad busy with work, life, etc. So this is catch up post number 1.
I was honored to go on my very first Mom's weekend. It was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. I went with Catie, Chrissy, Sarah and Kelli my fellow cast moms from Chicago Shriners. It was our first get together outside of the hospital.
We went to some remote really dark state park in Indiana. So glad I wasn't driving alone it was really dark.
That aside the weekend was full of laughs, tears and some serious bonding. There was that initial fear would things be awkward since we usually only see each other in the confines of the hospital on cast day. Within 5 minutes that fear was gone. We all just clicked. We got it. We got each other. Our bond may have started with the plaster cast that our kids share but it goes so much deeper than that.
We shared. We confided. We supported. It was awesome. Oh and we had more fun that I had had in awhile. It was amazing and silly. We saw the new Twilight movie. We ate junk food. We drank wine. We had a blast.
This time it was 5 of us and hopefully next time there will be more. It was a much needed time away with some really great women that are like sisters to me. I cannot wait until we can do this again. I still hate scoliosis but I am glad I get to walk this path with such amazing people. People who are a phone call or text message away on the good days and the bad.
I left the weekend feeling connected and really blessed.
I was honored to go on my very first Mom's weekend. It was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. I went with Catie, Chrissy, Sarah and Kelli my fellow cast moms from Chicago Shriners. It was our first get together outside of the hospital.
We went to some remote really dark state park in Indiana. So glad I wasn't driving alone it was really dark.
That aside the weekend was full of laughs, tears and some serious bonding. There was that initial fear would things be awkward since we usually only see each other in the confines of the hospital on cast day. Within 5 minutes that fear was gone. We all just clicked. We got it. We got each other. Our bond may have started with the plaster cast that our kids share but it goes so much deeper than that.
We shared. We confided. We supported. It was awesome. Oh and we had more fun that I had had in awhile. It was amazing and silly. We saw the new Twilight movie. We ate junk food. We drank wine. We had a blast.
This time it was 5 of us and hopefully next time there will be more. It was a much needed time away with some really great women that are like sisters to me. I cannot wait until we can do this again. I still hate scoliosis but I am glad I get to walk this path with such amazing people. People who are a phone call or text message away on the good days and the bad.
I left the weekend feeling connected and really blessed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)