Brooklyn's hair is getting so long! And it's starting to get wavy, just like mama's!!! I love it!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A girl with a curl
Brooklyn's hair is getting so long! And it's starting to get wavy, just like mama's!!! I love it!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
June Pulmonologist visit
On Wednesday, we went to see Dr. G2, Brooklyn's pulmonologist. The basic stuff first: she weighed in at 19.8 pounds and was 29 inches long. Her respirations were 36, and her oxygenation was 95.
Just like the rest of Brooklyn's doctors, Dr. G2 was very pleased with her recent weight gain, and was happy that she has caught up on her motor development!
Let me explain what has been going on with Brooklyn's laryngomalacia, since I know I haven't blogged about it much lately. She still has a stridor much of the time. Sometimes it is really loud, but sometimes it is just moderate. It is usually at it's loudest when she is walking around and playing and when she is sleeping. She had stopped making that really deep, jaggedy sounding stridor that sounded like she was trying to catch her breath about two months ago, but now it is back. We hear it probably 10 times a day lately. On a positive note, she does have periods of time where her breathing is completely quiet, sometimes even when she is sleeping.
Over the past couple of weeks, Brooklyn has started having some intercostal retractions again. It never lasts for very long - I'm talking less than a minute at a time. Sometimes it's when she is playing and working really hard, but sometimes it's when I am just holding her and she is sitting still. We hadn't seen her have any retractions for months, so I was shocked when she did it when I was holding her before bed the about 2 weeks ago. I asked my mom if she had noticed this at all, since she keeps her during the day. She said that yes, over the last couple of weeks she had probably seen Brooklyn have retractions about 6 or 7 times. I don't understand why this is coming back all of a sudden. We had thought she was completely over that.
When we saw Dr. G2 at the end of March, he had told us that Brooklyn should completely outgrow her laryngomalacia by the time she was 14 months old. Obviously, this has not happened, and she is 15 months old now. Not only has she not outgrown her respiratory problems, in some ways they seem to be worsening.
So, needless to say, I was ready for our appointment with Dr. G2. Throughout the entire office visit, Brooklyn was playing and walking around the exam room. This was a good thing because Dr. G2 was able to hear what her breathing sounds like and how noisy she can get when she is being active. (At our last appointment, Brooklyn was really quiet and wouldn't crawl around so that he could hear her!)
Dr. G2 said that he doesn't know why Brooklyn hasn't outgrown her laryngomalacia. I questioned him about it two different times, and he just didn't have an answer for us. He said that Brooklyn may have to have another bronchoscopy soon so that he can look at her airway again and try to figure out what is going on. He wants me to email him a video of what her stridor sounds like when she is sleeping this week. He said that he will decide whether she needs another bronchoscopy after viewing that.
He increased her Bethanechol dosage by 25%. Dr. G2 always gives us a copy of the report that he sends to her doctors after each appointment, and the report says this is because "this medication may have an anecdotal effect of increasing airway tone and therefore help with some of the malacia symptoms." So we are hoping for a side effect. Weird. He said that he isn't too worried about the intercostal retractions since she is only having them for short periods of time.
So, to sum up: No answers. Possibility of having to put Brooklyn through another surgery. And did I mention no answers? I am so frustrated with being told Brooklyn will outgrow her laryngomalacia at 4 months...6 months...8 months...a year...14 months....and then it doesn't happen. Why not? Dr. G2 didn't speculate on when she would get past it this time. Not the positive visit I had hoped for. Sigh.
Just like the rest of Brooklyn's doctors, Dr. G2 was very pleased with her recent weight gain, and was happy that she has caught up on her motor development!
Let me explain what has been going on with Brooklyn's laryngomalacia, since I know I haven't blogged about it much lately. She still has a stridor much of the time. Sometimes it is really loud, but sometimes it is just moderate. It is usually at it's loudest when she is walking around and playing and when she is sleeping. She had stopped making that really deep, jaggedy sounding stridor that sounded like she was trying to catch her breath about two months ago, but now it is back. We hear it probably 10 times a day lately. On a positive note, she does have periods of time where her breathing is completely quiet, sometimes even when she is sleeping.
Over the past couple of weeks, Brooklyn has started having some intercostal retractions again. It never lasts for very long - I'm talking less than a minute at a time. Sometimes it's when she is playing and working really hard, but sometimes it's when I am just holding her and she is sitting still. We hadn't seen her have any retractions for months, so I was shocked when she did it when I was holding her before bed the about 2 weeks ago. I asked my mom if she had noticed this at all, since she keeps her during the day. She said that yes, over the last couple of weeks she had probably seen Brooklyn have retractions about 6 or 7 times. I don't understand why this is coming back all of a sudden. We had thought she was completely over that.
When we saw Dr. G2 at the end of March, he had told us that Brooklyn should completely outgrow her laryngomalacia by the time she was 14 months old. Obviously, this has not happened, and she is 15 months old now. Not only has she not outgrown her respiratory problems, in some ways they seem to be worsening.
So, needless to say, I was ready for our appointment with Dr. G2. Throughout the entire office visit, Brooklyn was playing and walking around the exam room. This was a good thing because Dr. G2 was able to hear what her breathing sounds like and how noisy she can get when she is being active. (At our last appointment, Brooklyn was really quiet and wouldn't crawl around so that he could hear her!)
Dr. G2 said that he doesn't know why Brooklyn hasn't outgrown her laryngomalacia. I questioned him about it two different times, and he just didn't have an answer for us. He said that Brooklyn may have to have another bronchoscopy soon so that he can look at her airway again and try to figure out what is going on. He wants me to email him a video of what her stridor sounds like when she is sleeping this week. He said that he will decide whether she needs another bronchoscopy after viewing that.
He increased her Bethanechol dosage by 25%. Dr. G2 always gives us a copy of the report that he sends to her doctors after each appointment, and the report says this is because "this medication may have an anecdotal effect of increasing airway tone and therefore help with some of the malacia symptoms." So we are hoping for a side effect. Weird. He said that he isn't too worried about the intercostal retractions since she is only having them for short periods of time.
So, to sum up: No answers. Possibility of having to put Brooklyn through another surgery. And did I mention no answers? I am so frustrated with being told Brooklyn will outgrow her laryngomalacia at 4 months...6 months...8 months...a year...14 months....and then it doesn't happen. Why not? Dr. G2 didn't speculate on when she would get past it this time. Not the positive visit I had hoped for. Sigh.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
I ♥ Faces Week #23 - My Sweetie in Sepia
This week's I ♥ Faces challenge is "Sepia Toned." This was a harder challenge than I thought it would be because you truly have to find just the right picture to look right in sepia. I usually shoot in such bright colors that I think it made it even harder for me!
Anyway, I think I found just the right one. Here is Brooklyn in all her sepia toned cuteness :)
Please go visit I ♥ Faces to see lots of other great photos in this week's challenge!
15 month pedi visit...or....The Day Brooklyn Hit the Big 2-0!
Friday, Brooklyn went to see Dr. A for her 15 month well visit. This was a great visit for several reasons:
- We have not had to go see Dr. A in 3 WHOLE MONTHS....since Brooklyn's 12 month well visit! Of course, we have had specialist visits since then....but still, this is a record for us by far!
- During these 3 months, Brooklyn has grown a LOT. The nurses were oohing and ahhing over her and saying she didn't even look like the same baby anymore! Dr. A was very impressed with how Brooklyn looked and commented on how she has a little tummy now. So of course, I had to point out her little chubby rolls that have recently appeared on her thighs as well. :) Everyone at Dr. A's office knows us well and really cares about Brooklyn since she has spent so much time there. It was really cool to hear them all compliment her progress!
- And yes, my baby girl weighed in at 20 POUNDS EVEN!!!! And that puts her in the TENTH PERCENTILE for the FIRST TIME EVER!!! She was also 29 1/2 inches tall, which is 25th percentile!!!! That's a lot of capital letters and a lot of exclamation points....but wow....this is so HUGE for us. We have waited SO LONG for Brooklyn just to be on the growth charts. Last month at Dr. R's, she hit 3rd percentile, and now she has already made a jump to the 10th percentile!!! Awesome!!!!
So that's my big news!!!
Other than that...Brooklyn walked around for Dr. A so that he could see the way that she is leading with her left leg. One thing that is odd about this is that Dave had noticed that it is much more noticable when she is carrying around her toys. So I gave her my keys to hold, and sure enough, the left leg leading thing became MUCH more dramatic. Dr. A didn't know why. He said that Brooklyn does still have a slight head tilt, but he doesn't know if the two are related. He said that the way a child walks for the first two or three months doesn't usually mean that they will walk that way permanently. Dr. A examined Brooklyn and said that there is nothing anatomically wrong that is causing her to walk that way (nothing wrong with her hips, her muscle tone in her legs are even, her "butt creases" line up).
He said that we could put Brooklyn in physical therapy twice a week if we wanted....we said that we would do what he told us in that respect, because obviously we don't know if she needs therapy or not...we aren't the experts. Dr. A decided that we will keep an eye on her walking and head tilt for the next few months. He will see her at 18 months and decide whether physical therapy is needed at that time.
As I previously mentioned....Dr. A was thrilled with Brooklyn's weight gain and development. She has caught up with her motor development, where she was lagging way behind six months ago. He said that it was "miraculous" to see her doing so well now! He told us to keep doing exactly what we are doing with her feedings, because it is finally working!
He doesn't know why she hasn't outgrown her laryngomalacia and why her stridor is still so loud at times. We go to Dr. G2, Brooklyn's pulmonologist, tomorrow. Of course, Dr. A just defers to the specialist's areas of expertise and will wait for Dr. G2's next report. He agreed with what Dr. R had said last month...that since Brooklyn is now growing so well, she shouldn't need surgical intervention.
Oh...on a funny note, when Dr. A got up to leave, Brooklyn pushed his chair over to him (it's one of those stools with wheels) and tried to get him to sit back down. Dr A was laughing and complimenting Brooklyn on how smart she is, because most 15 month olds wouldn't know that the stool was a chair and what it was for!
These positive doctor appointments are so, so good for Dave and I. We didn't know what this felt like until a few months ago :) I hope that tomorrow's visit with Dr. G2 will be an encouraging one as well....
- We have not had to go see Dr. A in 3 WHOLE MONTHS....since Brooklyn's 12 month well visit! Of course, we have had specialist visits since then....but still, this is a record for us by far!
- During these 3 months, Brooklyn has grown a LOT. The nurses were oohing and ahhing over her and saying she didn't even look like the same baby anymore! Dr. A was very impressed with how Brooklyn looked and commented on how she has a little tummy now. So of course, I had to point out her little chubby rolls that have recently appeared on her thighs as well. :) Everyone at Dr. A's office knows us well and really cares about Brooklyn since she has spent so much time there. It was really cool to hear them all compliment her progress!
- And yes, my baby girl weighed in at 20 POUNDS EVEN!!!! And that puts her in the TENTH PERCENTILE for the FIRST TIME EVER!!! She was also 29 1/2 inches tall, which is 25th percentile!!!! That's a lot of capital letters and a lot of exclamation points....but wow....this is so HUGE for us. We have waited SO LONG for Brooklyn just to be on the growth charts. Last month at Dr. R's, she hit 3rd percentile, and now she has already made a jump to the 10th percentile!!! Awesome!!!!
So that's my big news!!!
Other than that...Brooklyn walked around for Dr. A so that he could see the way that she is leading with her left leg. One thing that is odd about this is that Dave had noticed that it is much more noticable when she is carrying around her toys. So I gave her my keys to hold, and sure enough, the left leg leading thing became MUCH more dramatic. Dr. A didn't know why. He said that Brooklyn does still have a slight head tilt, but he doesn't know if the two are related. He said that the way a child walks for the first two or three months doesn't usually mean that they will walk that way permanently. Dr. A examined Brooklyn and said that there is nothing anatomically wrong that is causing her to walk that way (nothing wrong with her hips, her muscle tone in her legs are even, her "butt creases" line up).
He said that we could put Brooklyn in physical therapy twice a week if we wanted....we said that we would do what he told us in that respect, because obviously we don't know if she needs therapy or not...we aren't the experts. Dr. A decided that we will keep an eye on her walking and head tilt for the next few months. He will see her at 18 months and decide whether physical therapy is needed at that time.
As I previously mentioned....Dr. A was thrilled with Brooklyn's weight gain and development. She has caught up with her motor development, where she was lagging way behind six months ago. He said that it was "miraculous" to see her doing so well now! He told us to keep doing exactly what we are doing with her feedings, because it is finally working!
He doesn't know why she hasn't outgrown her laryngomalacia and why her stridor is still so loud at times. We go to Dr. G2, Brooklyn's pulmonologist, tomorrow. Of course, Dr. A just defers to the specialist's areas of expertise and will wait for Dr. G2's next report. He agreed with what Dr. R had said last month...that since Brooklyn is now growing so well, she shouldn't need surgical intervention.
Oh...on a funny note, when Dr. A got up to leave, Brooklyn pushed his chair over to him (it's one of those stools with wheels) and tried to get him to sit back down. Dr A was laughing and complimenting Brooklyn on how smart she is, because most 15 month olds wouldn't know that the stool was a chair and what it was for!
These positive doctor appointments are so, so good for Dave and I. We didn't know what this felt like until a few months ago :) I hope that tomorrow's visit with Dr. G2 will be an encouraging one as well....
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Walking....
Okay, I have tried about a dozen times to post a video on here to better explain what I am about to tell y'all about, but Blogger just will not cooperate with me.
Brooklyn started taking steps on May 16. Yaaaaaaay Baby Bear! She is getting around so well now and we are so proud of her!
I do have a concern though...and that was going to be the reason for the video (other than showing off what my baby girl can do!). Within a couple of days after Brooklyn started walking, we could see that she was leading with her left leg. Like, a lot. It's like she takes a step with her left leg, then pulls the right leg after it. Not like a limp, because she does actually take a step with the right leg (she doesn't drag it), just like maybe one leg is a lot stronger than the other or something??? She definitely favors that left leg.
The reason this kind of freaks me out is because Brooklyn has had a head tilt for about seven or eight months or so. We knew her head was somewhat flattened because of her having to sleep in her car seat and not tolerating tummy time. The flattening was more so on the left side, so once we became aware of it, we had to roll up a blanket at night and put it under one side of her car seat head rest to encourage her to turn her head the other way. We were also supposed to do some physical therapy exercises with her to help it, but she screamed such bloody murder every time that I just couldn't do it anymore. When she started sitting, she would lean her head to the left much of the time. After she began crawling, it was pointed out to me that she always angled and tilted her head to the left.
I really don't think the leading with the left leg is as dramatic now as it was during her first week or two of walking. So maybe it will correct itself. I don't know. Brooklyn does have a pedicatrician's appointment this Friday, and she sees her pulmonologist next Wednesday. So I will definitely be bringing it up. But in the meantime, I am worrying!!!
Can anyone tell me whether this sounds like something I should be worried about??? Or has anyone had a similar experience???
Brooklyn started taking steps on May 16. Yaaaaaaay Baby Bear! She is getting around so well now and we are so proud of her!
I do have a concern though...and that was going to be the reason for the video (other than showing off what my baby girl can do!). Within a couple of days after Brooklyn started walking, we could see that she was leading with her left leg. Like, a lot. It's like she takes a step with her left leg, then pulls the right leg after it. Not like a limp, because she does actually take a step with the right leg (she doesn't drag it), just like maybe one leg is a lot stronger than the other or something??? She definitely favors that left leg.
The reason this kind of freaks me out is because Brooklyn has had a head tilt for about seven or eight months or so. We knew her head was somewhat flattened because of her having to sleep in her car seat and not tolerating tummy time. The flattening was more so on the left side, so once we became aware of it, we had to roll up a blanket at night and put it under one side of her car seat head rest to encourage her to turn her head the other way. We were also supposed to do some physical therapy exercises with her to help it, but she screamed such bloody murder every time that I just couldn't do it anymore. When she started sitting, she would lean her head to the left much of the time. After she began crawling, it was pointed out to me that she always angled and tilted her head to the left.
I really don't think the leading with the left leg is as dramatic now as it was during her first week or two of walking. So maybe it will correct itself. I don't know. Brooklyn does have a pedicatrician's appointment this Friday, and she sees her pulmonologist next Wednesday. So I will definitely be bringing it up. But in the meantime, I am worrying!!!
Can anyone tell me whether this sounds like something I should be worried about??? Or has anyone had a similar experience???
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I ♥ Faces Week #21 - Lucy Belle, the Fabulous Pug
Okay, so today I am entering my first I Heart Faces challenge! I'm trying to gain a little more confidence with my photography :). This pic is for the "Anything Goes" pet category. Please go check out the I Heart Faces photography blog - I love it!!! They have great photo challenges every week!
The story behind this picture is that 2 weeks ago Dave and Brooklyn went to the zoo and I was left at home by myself for the first time since Brooklyn was born. I got BORED. So out comes the camera. And one of Brooklyn's tutus. Poor Lucy ;) She's such a good sport.
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