May 13, 2011

Charlotte hasn't been swimming yet, but she loves trying on her swim suits. I'm not sure she'll ever wear this two piece outside of the house because its a bit too easy for her to pull on her G-tube, but she enjoyed playing in it. Thanks to my cousin Karen for the hand-me-downs!

She's very interested in socks and shoes and loves to help us put hers on each morning. Before we know it she'll be dressing herself!

"If you're happy and you know it shout Hooray!"

Lots of teeth!

The park is a lot of fun...

...but get me out of this swing!

Since our last post Charlotte has developed a cough and increased vomiting (possibly related). We've resumed her nebulizer treatments to hopefully help her sleep more soundly, and next week we'll start the new formula.

Last week we had a follow-up appointment with her pediatrician to make sure her ear infections cleared up. She still has a bit of fluid behind her ear drum, but the doctor doesn't think it's causing her any pain. We'll be back in August for Charlotte's 2-year (yes, TWO YEAR!) well-baby visit and hopefully they'll be all cleared up by then.

We've had very little success brushing Charlotte's teeth, and her pediatrician recommended toddler toothpaste which I didn't even know existed. We bought some, it smells like candy, and now Charlotte kind of likes chewing on her tooth brush. Every once in a while I'm able to do some brushing, but we rely primarily on wash cloth chewing to clean her teeth. The pediatrician showed us a WWF-style hold that we can try, but I'm hesitant because every time we force it she vomits...a lot.

Good news! Charlotte loves mashed potatoes and gravy. She eats about a tablespoon in a sitting. It's fantastic.

And for our latest stress! Charlotte had her eyes examined yesterday and her left eye has stayed pretty stable from a -4.25 refraction to a -5.00 refraction. Her right eye, however, has changed from -4.25 to -13.50. We learned that this is not uncommon in kids who had as severe of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) as Charlotte did. The ophthalmologist says this happens because the human brain is lazy (efficient) and is going to take the easiest way out. It starts to rely on the good eye and stops using the weaker eye, which decreases the vision in the weak eye. Step 1 is to get a new lens, so Charlotte and I visited Grand Spectacle last night to order her new lens.

Step 2 is to return to the ophthalmologist in 3 months to find out what's next. It seems likely that Charlotte will need to wear a patch for a few years to force her brain to use her weak eye. I have a hard time grasping what this means for her vision long-term, so I asked her new ophthalmologist to what degree I should be concerned. She said it was difficult to quantify...really any response other than - "don't worry at all!" makes me worry. She did give us a good website to review: http://www.aapos.org/terms_faqs. She said Charlotte COULD develop Amblyopia and MAY develop Strabismus. What in the world is the difference between could and may in this context?