January 2012 CF clinic visit

Well the CF clinic has moved from the 5th floor to the 10th floor. They are now doing this thing to try and not spread 'contact' germs between CF patients. So they put on the disposable gloves and gowns between visiting each room. Makes it a bit more interesting watching them pull on and off gloves, etc. lol

They took a few more stats this time too. Olivia weighed 4.44 kg (9.76 lbs) and was 58.5cm (23in). Her O2 was at 100. Underarm temp 97.4*. BP, which they hadn't taken before, was 89/43.  All this before we even got to the room.

Get to the room and do the normal "Is all this information still the same" routine with the nurses. Then wait what feels like a really long time to see the nurse practitioner, who is the person we usually see. She likes her weight/growth, listens to her breathing, decides to add Prevacid for the acid reflux (they may remove the Zantac later), and checks to see if we have any questions.

Next up is the nutritionist. She checks to see how much Olivia is eating at one time, ups the Creon 6 to 2 pills per feeding, gets us another can of Pregestimil, fills out the paperwork for WIC to get more cans of Pregestimil, and gives the OK to do small amounts of rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula.

Then lastly comes the bad part, annual lab work. Back in come the nurses. They draw 14-16cc of blood from her scalp (actually easier than doing her leg or heel), but still horrible =( They had to prick her twice to get enough. She screamed bloody murder. =( At least it is only once a year and next time they should need as much, since with this batch they are also doing the genetic testing. The things I remember that they are testing for platelet count, C-diff, and vitamin levels. I know there is more but that is what I remember at the moment.

4 month well baby checkup

I took Olivia to her 4 month well baby appointment yesterday. Her length is still the same as at Vandy last month, 21.5 in. Her weight is up to 9 lbs 8 oz which is almost a 1.5 lb gain since last month! She is still on track milestone wise. Pediatrician is fine with her starting solids but we probably won't do anything except for the tiniest bit of cereal until the CF nutritionist gives the OK and explains more on how to give the Creon with solids.

Musings of the Day

So far little girl has not gotten any respiratory problems this cold and flu season. *knock on wood* Hopefully it will stay that way and keep her lungs nice and clear. I keep hearing about so many *healthy* babies that are having to go to the hospital for bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. and having to do breathing treatments (I'm assuming nebulizer) that it's making me a bit nervous.

Yesterday, we had our home visit from Children's Special Services. So now, just for Olivia, besides our private primary insurance, we have TennCare as secondary and CSS as tertiary. Hopefully, this will help keep us from having to pay too much out of pocket for her care. The next step is to see if we can get her on SSI.

Next Thursday we have her regular pediatrician visit and I will take her to the Health Department to do her vaccinations. As far as I can tell she is hitting all of her milestones. In her favorite bouncy chair she will bat and grab at the toy bar. She is finally attempting to roll over but usually doesn't succeed. She hold her head up well and she is smiling.


The week after that we go back to Vandy and will be doing the genetic testing that week. I dread that one. Trying to measure her at home, we still have her at 21.5" so she hasn't gained in length since last month's Vandy visit. I think she just had a really big length growth spurt last time so now she has to catch her weight back up to even out her BMI which they want as close to 50% H vs W as possible. We have a set of postal scales that almost exactly match the Vandy scale and she came to 9lbs the last time we weighed her on it which is a gain of a pound. We have a week and a half to get another half pound or so on her.

The newness of having a baby sister is starting to rub off of the older girls. They still love on her and help with her, but not as much as before and rarely do they fight to be the one helping anymore. LOL.

Tonight, we have a girl scout meeting. Baby girl may as well be part of the troop. If Mike is under pressure to finish a project, she hangs out with him; otherwise, she is in the stroller or sling and hanging out with the troop. Tomorrow, she gets to hang out with Memaw for a little bit. The local scouts are having a cookie rally/pool party with no tagalong baby girls. I think it will be good for the other two. They will get some time with mommy without Olivia even though they will be together.