Two for Two

We are now on the other side of both of our doctor's appointments for the week! And ... they were both good! I'll start with Neurosurgery since that was the biggie!

My heart was racing and my hands were shaking a bit as we drove to Children's Hospital today. I had spent the past few days preparing myself for bad news and arming myself with evidence that her shunt was getting better. I've had many reservations about this particular surgeon despite many positive reviews when I've mentioned the name. Since Emma's second surgery, she has continued to have swelling and fluid around the valve and resevoir which is what I though we were trying to fix with the revision. I had prepared, well maybe convinced, myself that she was going to tell us we had to do another revision. I had a list of argument points running through my head to avoid rushing into surgery and was even ready to say no to surgery and ask for a second opinion.

To my surprise, she said it looked good! She said the fact that it was soft was very good and that it was okay that it fills when she cries and when she's lying down. I was shocked!! My list of complaints flew out of my head and my ill feelings went along with it. I asked when we should expect it to heal completely. At least 3 more months was the answer! It would have been nice if I'd been told that a month ago. Instead, I was told 'awhile'. What does that mean?

Anyway, she thought Emma looked very good developmentally and neurologically. She measured her head which she said was still on the larger end of the spectrum, but that she didn't think it was disproportionately large for her body size. Thank you! Head size is not always dictated solely by age! She measured Jeremy's and mine as well because I mentioned that big heads run in my family. Surprise, surprise! Jeremy and I are in the 98th precentile for head size as well! She wasn't surprised since we are bigger people and therefore said Emma's head size makes sense! Hooray!

She ended by saying she wanted to see her in a year! I told her we'd be moving to Pittsburgh in the summer so she said to see her before we leave. She was happy to hear Pittsburgh was our destination - neurosurgically speaking - and that she'd be happy put us in touch with a good surgeon should we need one! I can't tell you how relieved we were leaving this appointment! Finally! We feel like she really will be okay!

Yesterday, we went to the pediatrician. Another good appointment. Although still stuggling with the weight gain. She was 25 inches long (75th percentile) and 12 lbs 6 oz (less than 50th percentile). She only gained 5 oz in 2 weeks. I was surprised. I felt like she was eating more and eventhough she doesn't like to take a lot at once, she seems to have compensated by eating more frequently. We haven't decided just yet what to do about it. Dr. Sullivan wanted to wait until our neurosurgery appointment today to see if it could be shunt related since I was sure she was going to say it wasn't working. Since it's not though, we may concentrate her formula so she gets more calories or we may try a different reflux medicine although I'm not sure it's reflux related. She did say that this is the time when babies start to gain more slowly and that she actually is still following her growth curve so maybe she's just a light eater. Perhaps it's because she spends so much time eating her hands!Really, though, if this has become our biggest concern, things are going well considering how much worse it could be. Great report on all other accounts though!

I was worried that the upcoming holiday season would be filled with worry over additional surgery. It's so nice to know that we can relax and just enjoy the holidays! My mom said she prayed all day about our neurosurgery appointment. Of course, we've said prayers of our own. Thank you, Lord, for answering our prayers!