Tuesday, February 23, 2010

February 23, 2010

5 comments
Getting ready for a walk on Saturday. This past weekend was pretty low key and the weather was great - 34 degrees. So nice to get outside with her.


She's such a great baby. This is how I found her after she'd been napping for a couple hours. Just waiting patiently for us to come get her...perhaps she thought if she cried we might try to start her feed early. :)

Monday, February 15, 2010

February 15, 2010

4 comments
TGIM! Not as catchy as TGIF, but thank God this weekend is over.

At 3:20 p.m. on Saturday Patrick went to lay Charlotte in her crib and in the process got the G-tube extension set caught between his body and her crib, pulling the Mic-Key button out of her. As he tried in vain to stop her stomach contents from gushing out I started making phone calls. We had been warned that should the tube come out we would have 2 hours to get her help or the hole would close.

The on-call pediatrician happened to be Dr. Colleen and she thought the surgeon in Hancock wouldn't want to touch it, so we hopped in the car for Marquette. About 5 minutes into our trip while I was on hold with the Marquette NICU Dr. Colleen called back and let us know they could insert a holder in Hancock so that we would not be as pressed for time.

Once we arrived in Hancock we learned that they were going to put in a Foley Tube, which was supposed to be good for at least 2-3 weeks. They said Marquette didn't have anything but the Foley Tube either, so it saved us a trip. Before we left our pediatrician let us know that the x-ray showed the doctor had placed the tube so deeply that it emptied into her intestines, bypassing her stomach. However, she didn't think it would be a problem. It was.

That night Charlotte started throwing up vibrant, green bile. I called the on-call pediatrician at 1 a.m. and she said to pull the tube back 1 inch. Then she called back in the morning and said to pull it back even more because she was concerned the balloon on the end of the tube might be causing a bowel obstruction. We did all of this but then realized before her noon feed that the tube had gone back into her stomach. Rather than guess at how far we should pull it out, we decided to take her back to the ER.

First, I called the on-call general surgical resident at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and they asked why they hadn't put the Mic-Key button back in. I wasn't sure so they called the ER in Hancock and talked to the doctor about how to put it back in. When I got to the ER the doctor took another x-ray and told me the Foley Tube was in the right place and we didn't need to take it out unless I wanted them to (apparently green bile and diarrhea were of little concern). I wanted them to. Charlotte got her Mic-Key button back and we are all much happier!

In between our trips to the ER Charlotte got to hangout with Pat's parents. It was nice to see them, but too bad their weekend here turned out to be so stressful. We left Charlotte with them for about 2 hours on Saturday night and went out for dinner and bowling. This was our first time leaving Charlotte with anyone besides a nurse. I think we were both in a bit of shock from the afternoon's events but it was nice to get out for a while.

While all of this was pretty terrible, it's nothing compared to what others are going through. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hoenisch's as Calvin was admitted to the hospital last week with a lung infection. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to meeting him this spring.

We are very grateful for Charlotte's respiratory health and hope the end of cold/flu season comes quickly.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

February 11, 2010

2 comments
Today's 6 month well baby visit was a pretty big event! The pediatrician Charlotte has been seeing was out of town so we saw Dr. Colleen. She was great, actually sitting down and talking with us over growth charts and feeding information (as opposed to rushing through the visit and being vague in response to our questions). This doctor does not accept the wait-and-see approach with her feeds, emphasizing that things will get easier and that this is not permanent.

Colleen is a D.O. and specializes in Cranial Manipulation. Her own children were 27 week twins and her daughter's feeding issues were corrected by this practice and she was then inspired to become an expert in this area herself. I've been Googling Cranial Manipulation and its validity is questioned for use in adults because the skull is no longer very malleable, but hopefully it works for Charlotte. It's very low risk - she'll basically be receiving weekly skull massages.

She also clipped the skin under Charlotte's tongue. Charlotte was tongue tied (the skin under her tongue was attached to the tip of her tongue), preventing her from having full mobility with her tongue. This should not have prevented her from eating out of the bottle, but did prevent her from nursing. We still won't push nursing unless she shows interest. It's not something Patrick or I have been devastated I can't do, so we'll just follow Charlotte's lead. The tongue-tied issue is something doctors have noticed and thought wasn't an immediate concern. We'd been told she may need to have it clipped if she were to have speech difficulties later on, and we're just glad she had it clipped now so she won't remember the procedure.

Charlotte screamed for most of this appointment with the cranial manipulation (not painful, she's just very sensitive), the tongue clipping, and then 4 shots. Poor baby! It was a tough way for her to start the day.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

February 10, 2010

2 comments
August 10, 2009
45 minutes old
1lb 7oz


February 10, 2010
6 months actual/3 months corrected
12lbs 0oz

Saturday, February 6, 2010

February 6, 2010

2 comments


Charlotte got to experience fireworks for the first time tonight. We got all packed up and headed down to the library for a great view (and a warm one too!) Bright lights are definitely high up on Charlotte's list of likes. And only one fountainous vomit episode and it all ended up on mom! A good time was had by all.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

February 4, 2010

0 comments

It's Winter Carnival time at Michigan Tech and we've had lots of fun sharing the festivities with Charlotte. Last night was the all-nighter and Charlotte took part in the fun until nearly 10 p.m. - what a night owl! She was wide awake when she got home, as you can see from the video Patrick posted yesterday.

Today we went back out as a family to see the finished snow statues and they were quite impressive. Charlotte slept through most of our walk, but it felt good for us all to get outside for a bit.

Last weekend we had brunch with the Vendlinski's, a family from the area who had preemie twins, and it was fun to see them. Their kids are standing and walking and starting to talk - wow. This was Charlotte's first opportunity to see other kids and hopefully she'll pick up their eating habits.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

February 3, 2010

0 comments

Followers

 

Charlotte's Page Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved Baby Blog Designed by Ipietoon | All Image Presented by Online Journal