Busy, Busy, Busy!

Lordy, between me and Peanut we had 8 doctor/therapy appts last week. Eight! It would have only been 7, but I had to add a last minute venous ultrasound to make sure the lump on my left leg found by my gyne wasn't a blood clot (it wasn't). How old am I? You know, you think to yourself, "I eat healthy, I exercise, I keep a positive attitude, but does it really matter?" It makes you want to throw your hands up and go to Dairy Queen for a Snickers Blizzard. Enough complaining.

See anything missing from this photo? Why, it's Charlotte's oxygen tubing! We don't know what happened, but over the last two weeks Peanut's lungs have just kicked into high gear! She's on 1/16L at all times now and I've even been able to take her off the O2 a couple times a day for 1 hr intervals. She doesn't last too long without the O2 but I can tell it's getting better everyday. I was able to snap this pic while I was switching out her tubing and she seemed to be doing so well that I left it off for a bit to give her a break. Plus she was pretty mad at me for peeling the tape off of her cheeks, so she needed to cool down for a bit.

Last Tuesday we took Charlotte to the NICU for a visit. Her primary nurse, Jan, wasn't there, but a couple of her associate nurses were there as well as other nurses we met and several doctors. They all commented on how big Charlotte is getting and how great she looks. It's all thanks to them! Of course, I was so busy chatting I forgot to take a picture of the momentous event, but that means we'll just have to take a trip over there again.

However, I did get a pic of Patty and Olive before we all went to the zoo last weekend. Can you believe Olive is only five days older than Charlotte? But give Peanut a few months and she'll start catching up to Olive.

We all had a great time at the zoo. Peanut didn't have a clue that anything different was going on, but it was good for Brian and I to get out for a bit. Since Peanut's lungs are getting stronger and she's getting bigger we're starting to include her on short trips. Just yesterday we walked over to the local Trader Joe's with her to pick up some sushi and wine. Mmmmm.

Speaking of the zoo, I'd like to send a quick shout out to Aunt Kari, Uncle Teddy, Isabella and St. Louis Grandma and Grandpa who sent us a family pass to the zoo! Thanks to them we'll be hanging out there all summer! So if anyone is ever interested in going give us a buzz. And yes, for those that know me well, I know I said I would never take my kids to the zoo, but things change when you have a Peanut. But I'm still not taking her to the circus!

Charlotte had her hearing aid molds taken last Thursday. We go back on May 16th to pick up the final product. Unfortuately the Easter Seals we are going to is down one audiologist at the moment, so that's the earliest we could get in. But a couple days isn't going to hurt. We were told to not be surprised if she doesn't react when we first put them on. I'm still excited, though. I'm also starting the process of getting her evaluated for a cochlear implant. It will probably be a couple months before we can get in to see the specialist at Children's Memorial Hospital, so now is as good a time as any to start.

Today we had a follow-up appt at Peanut's Ophthalmologist. Her eyes look good and she doesn't have to go back for 4 months! Yay! I did a little dance of joy when I heard that news. Now we can scratch one doctor off the list of regular visits. He had mentioned in the last visit that she was near-sighted, but this time she was far-sighted. I guess babies vision keeps changing for awhile. I asked how soon babies can get glasses and he said now. I can't believe it! But her sight is fine for the moment and we'll see how she's doing at the next appt.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm off for a run and then I think I'll have a fudgsicle ....

Where's Summer!?

Peanut's ready for summer, but I don't think summer is ready for Peanut. We had snow here last week, which I guess isn't really all that odd for April, but enough already!

I hope everyone had a good Easter. We had my parents over for dinner so they could visit with Charlotte. No one comes to see us anymore. We just happen to live in Charlotte's house.

We had our appointment with Easter Seals last Wednesday and the audiologist did a little more testing and found the same results that the other audiologists found. So, now we're just waiting for the hearing aids to be approved by the powers that be down in Springfield, and maybe in a week or two Peanut will be able to go back and get the molds done. The hearing aids will be the ones that go behind the ears and then the microphone goes in the ear along with a mold that fits her ear canal. We'll probably have to get the mold redone quite frequently. I've heard estimates from every two weeks to every two months, depending on how quickly her ear grows.

The audiologist at Easter Seals had a neat software program where she could input the ranges that Peanut could hear and then play sounds for us as she would hear them. For example, she played a woman speaking just as you and I would hear it that sounded just like the woman was standing next to me. Then she played the woman speaking as Peanut would hear it. It sounded to me like the woman was a few rooms away and she had a pillow over her mouth - distant and muffled. So, not only does Charlotte need sounds to be amplified, there's also going to be clarity issues that we'll have to overcome. I say "we" because here is where Brian and I and the therapists come into the picture to try and figure what she's hearing and then try and connect that to what you and I hear.

I am so grateful that the state will cover the costs of Charlotte's hearing aids and therapy for the first three years through Early Intervention. It's a fantastic program that the state runs and we have been lucky enough to get a new person as our rep. She's very responsive and eager to learn how the system works. However, they do not pay for hearing aid batteries so if you see any coupons for hearing aid batteries in your local paper can you please send them to us? Thanks!

Charlotte's been doing much better with her O2. I've been able to wean her down to 1/16th a couple of times and she's responding much better. I'm predicting that she'll be off the O2 in 3 wks. Brian thinks I'm being a little overly optimistic and he's banking on 4-5 wks.

Believe it or not, Charlotte has no doctor appts this week! Her nurse will come tomorrow and the PT is coming on Friday, but we don't have to leave the house except to go for walks. Sounds like a good week to me.

Smile! You're on Candid Camera!

It took me awhile, but I finally got a pic of Peanut smiling! This was taken on one of the nice, warm days we had in March, and I was able to break out some of the cute dresses she has. Now it feels like winter again. There were even flurries yesterday! Oh well, guess we're stuck inside for a little longer.


Medical update ... Peanut went in for her second ABR last week and they found the same results as the first test - borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. The doctors and audiologists were very adamant about her getting hearing aids as soon as possible so that she doesn't miss out on too much. So, we have an appt with Easter Seals next week to have a hearing aid evaluation. Hopefully by the end of April she'll have both hearing aids. I'm anxious to see her response when she finally has the aids. Will she be scared by all the noises, will she be curious, will she try and turn them off when I talk? We'll just have to wait and see.


One of the big challenges we'll be facing is keeping the hearing aids in her ears. She's getting to the point where she realizes she can pull the tape off of her oxygen tubing, so she's not too far away from being able to pull a hearing aid out of her ear. The state is sending over a DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) twice a month to help us by offering techniques to keeping her hearing aids in and to give us some general guidance on how we can help Peanut to handle all the new sounds she'll be experiencing. The DTH will work with Charlotte for the first year and then a speech therapist takes over for as long as needed. I guess the immediate focus is to work on the hearing side and then later work on the verbal.


This past Monday was another follow-up with the Ophthalmologist. He said her eyes haven't changed so we don't have to go back until next month and that should be our last appt! Yay! Nothing against the eye doctor (he's a very nice man), but I really don't like going to that appt. Neither does Peanut. The doctor has to pry her eyes open and then move the eyeballs around with this wand thing. Granted, they do give her numbing drops, but it's still traumatic for both of us. Plus she's getting stronger, so she doesn't just sit there and take it like she used to. She's starting to fight back. He also mentioned that she's near-sighted, so I'll find out at the next appt when we have to see someone about that. Hopefully not for awhile. I can't imagine they can do anything at this point. But then again I'm shocked at what they're able to do for her hearing so early.


I signed up for the Intro to Psych class, which starts in mid-June at the local Community College. When I went to register online I kept receiving error messages that they had already received my application. I thought maybe I was going crazy - did I already register and just forget? Turns out they had me on their database from a summer science program I did there when I was 12! So, of course, it took me days to get them to change my info on their system and finally get me registered.


That's all for now.