April 16, 2010

Well, the mini-van excursion to Bowie, MD didn't turn out as planned (the guy repeatedly lied to Bill, Bill called him out on it, and then they left mini-van-less). So...back to the drawing board on that one. If anyone knows of a good deal on a 2010 or 2011 Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey, please pass the info along.

Today was family meeting day with the Doctor/Nursing staff...

Let's start with Will. The good news is that he is packing on the weight...he's almost "busting" out of his preemie clothes! Will had a swallow study completed and they determined he doesn't have reflux, but he does have something called nasopharyngeal - a typically self-resolving issue which causes milk to spray up into the nasal passages. When he bottle feeds, they will thicken the milk by using rice granules and will hold him upright. Since the milk is heavier due to the rice and he's straight up, the milk should flow down. When mom is to feed him, she will pump for the first few minutes then hold him upright instead of horizontal. Hopefully this helps get the little guy more comfortable with bottle/mommy feeds. His eye exams are usually his strong-point but it was found during this week's test that he is beginning to develop a low level of rhetonopothy, so he is being tested every week now. The rash on his head is looking much, much better and the rash on the rest of his body is being treated with hydrocortizone cream. He's only had two doses of the cream thus far but mom feels it is looking better already.

Tenley's nose is very, very, very congested - keep in mind that babies do not know how to breathe from their mouths, so it's kinda scary too. ENT (ear, nose, throat) examined her and determined her nasal passages are swollen. Her nose is very small (much smaller than her brother's) so thats not helping matters either. They decided to move her feeding tube from her nose to her mouth and she will not have bottle or mommy feeds (along with the saline drops they had already been giving her) to see if this helps her congestion at all. She might also need a blood transfusion next week due to having low hematocrite levels for the last week or so. The good news is that her bottom rash is looking much better.