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 ....