Today we had our genetics appointment (finally after waiting for 3 months!) It was a great appointment. They took our family history, family tree, and B's medical history. They measured our heads and sure enough - we both have large heads (not to the capacity that Brooklynn does). They did all sorts of measurements (measured the space between her eyes, her ears, her hands, her feet), took her height and weight, measured her head, etc. etc. Dr. A determined that based on her growth being so perfect and her development being on point, there is no concern or reason to do any more tests. She said based on what she had been told she was prepared for us to have her chromosomes drawn, but after meeting her, and seeing how cute she was (her words not mine) :) she determined this did not need to happen. She is saying that we will label it "familial macrocephaly".
She did say, however, that if there were ever any concerns that popped up (she stopped hitting her milestones, her growth halted, we found something medically wrong) to call and they will see us again. If we find out anything at cardiology to notify them and they will probably want her seen. I have a feeling our cardiology appointment will go smoothly as well - she only has an intermittent murmur and she is growing leaps and bounds so I don't see how it could be anything wrong.
Other than that we are doing really great! Had a wonderful weekend taking pictures of the girls and going to the pool and enjoying the SUPER hot weather!! Still waiting on the results from the sleep study, hoping to hear about that soon!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Brooklynn's Sleep Study
Brooklynn had her sleep study last night and it SUCKED!! We arrived at 7:15pm, and they started putting wires on her by 7:45pm. It took them 45 minutes to put them on and the whole time she was crying. Literally the only thing that calmed her down was the movie Curious George. Thank heaven for Child Life because they found us a portable DVD player and the movie!! She finally was able to lay down and fall asleep by 8:45pm. Unfortunately, the whole night either she woke herself up or the RT would wake her up because of the wires falling off. I bet it was probably about 10 times throughout the night she was woken up. She looked like a war victim! There were probably 20 wires going from her head, one on her chest, one on her back, 4 on her legs, a sat probe on her foot, and two bands that wrapped around her chest and abdomen. This afternoon she is back to her old self and smiling and playing! So I guess it did not effect her too much!
They told us it takes 2-4 weeks to have the results read. The RT however said that he thinks ours will be read earlier than that because he is putting it on the top of the list. He said she snored so much throughout the night that it worried him. Strange, because I felt like other than her crying and seeming exhausted from that, I felt like she was quieter than normal. I guess we will see how it is interpreted. I will be really freaked out if they show she is doing something really bad because she was 100x worse prior ot starting the Prevacid back up.
Thank you to my mom who watched her this morning so I could sleep! Here are some pictures of her adventures last night.
They told us it takes 2-4 weeks to have the results read. The RT however said that he thinks ours will be read earlier than that because he is putting it on the top of the list. He said she snored so much throughout the night that it worried him. Strange, because I felt like other than her crying and seeming exhausted from that, I felt like she was quieter than normal. I guess we will see how it is interpreted. I will be really freaked out if they show she is doing something really bad because she was 100x worse prior ot starting the Prevacid back up.
Thank you to my mom who watched her this morning so I could sleep! Here are some pictures of her adventures last night.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Brooklynn's 15 month appointment
We went to see Dr. N. today for Brooklynn's 15 month appointment. Measurement wise she is doing okay. She weighed 26 pounds, which is actually down in the graph, she is at 80% (down from 90% which is still good but she felt it was due to her coughing so much the last 3 weeks. Her height is on a steady growth at 70% at 31 inches. Her head didn't grow!! It was at 21 1/4" which is flatlined from last time! Yay! We talked a lot about differnt things, including whether I should be concerned about her genetics appointment. She stated she didn't feel like she had anything in her head disorders wise and the ones it seemed like the genetics were concerned about based on conversation that the results all came back. She said since she is on point developmentally we shouldn't be too worried. Developmentally she is on point. She is starting to walk on her own - letting go of things and walking between objects (sometimes up to 10 steps). She points to what she wants, she says 3-5 words (no, done, more, hi, bye), and with food she is doing amazingly. We need to work on getting her off the bottle (which I promised we would work on after her sleep study), and we need to work on stacking blocks. I asked about working her up for allergies, which Dr. N. stated she likes to hold off until 2 years old so we dont get false negatives. Shots we are holding off for 2 weeks until after her sleep study and other appointments. Assessment wise - her ears look great. She has no murmur at this point, but we still need to see cardiology to rule out structural defects. When she cries she gets tight and does not have much air movement, but no wheezing, and she still has a nasty cough. So that brings us to our next topic....working her up for asthma. For the last week we have been trying to use albuterol treatments when she has coughing fits per request of the Sleep Clinic Doctors. It was really hard to tell if the treatments helped her because she always coughs a bunch after a nap, and than gets better. They seemed to help a little bit but it was hard to know. We are still wondering why she has this long term cough. It goes from a tight sounding cough to a loose cough, and she will have fits of up to 15 minutes after waking up. So we were prescribed flovent to try giving her twice a day for two weeks. If she improves, than we will be calling it asthma and doing an asthma action plan. Tomorrow night is our sleep study - so I am sure I will be posting pictures and information about how that goes! Isabella is becoming more of a little person. She LOVES performing - infact she performed her slippy fish song for the doctor today. She loves art. She is obsessed with her new swimsuit which she wears every other day. We have not gone to the pool yet thinking it would be a little too cold still. Hopefully soon.She found her new favorite movie - Tangled. It is super cute. Today we went ot get ice cream and Izzy was feeding Brooklynn ice cream and water. It was SOO cute! She is such a little momma.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Next three weeks of appointments
We are starting our countdown for appointments for Brooklynn this next few weeks. On Tuesday we went to the sleep clinic for evaluation of her sleep patterns. They informed me that she has the potential to have an asthma/reactive airway disease diagnosis due to how sick she gets and how frequently she has a cough and requires some sort of treatment. We did start her on Prevacid 3 weeks ago to see if her nighttime symptoms could be caused by reflux (breath holding, snoring, tossing and turning) and the reflux could be causing more swelling. It has seemed to help substantially, but she still has minimal snoring, occassional stridor, still wakes up about 2-4 times a night, and wakes up coughing quite a bit. Due to all this they felt like she needed a sleep study, which will be done on June 2nd. We have to be there at 7:15, at which time they place 20+ wires on her head and body and expect her to sleep through the night...that ought to be interesting!! We also learned something new - she has a high arched grooved palate, which might be some of the problem. It means her airway is smaller than most in her mouth, which if she has any swelling in her throat (aka swollen adenoids and tonsils) this could potentially make things worse. She is also a mouth breather, and when she coughs she sounds tight. I was thinking - great just one more thing to add to the list when we see genetics...
On Tuesday night we took her to her pediatrician due to her having a cough and being REALLY irritable. They tried giving her albuterol nebulizer treatment, which she screamed and hollered the WHOLE time and did not seem to improve. However, we were told to try to albuterol breathing treatments at home if she has a coughing attack and see if that helps. If it works 2-4 times, than we will be diagnosing her with asthma. Yikes. The doctor did not hear a murmur this time, which she said is encouraging.
Next week we go for Brooklynn's 15 month appointment on Wednesday, and than Thursday night is our sleep study. On June 6th we go see genetics and on June 8th we see cardiology. So we have lots of unknowns that will hopefully be answered within the next two weeks! I am REALLY nervous but really glad to have that chapter done. Let's just hope they all clear us and say that everything is perfectly normal and we can start living without doctors appointments all the time!!
Well there is my update on Brooklynn!! Izzy finished her first year of school last week, and she loved every minute of it. I have a feeling next week she will start realizing she is not seeing her friends and her teacher and will be really upset. But we will be going back to that school next year so hopefully she will have some friends in her class!
On Tuesday night we took her to her pediatrician due to her having a cough and being REALLY irritable. They tried giving her albuterol nebulizer treatment, which she screamed and hollered the WHOLE time and did not seem to improve. However, we were told to try to albuterol breathing treatments at home if she has a coughing attack and see if that helps. If it works 2-4 times, than we will be diagnosing her with asthma. Yikes. The doctor did not hear a murmur this time, which she said is encouraging.
Next week we go for Brooklynn's 15 month appointment on Wednesday, and than Thursday night is our sleep study. On June 6th we go see genetics and on June 8th we see cardiology. So we have lots of unknowns that will hopefully be answered within the next two weeks! I am REALLY nervous but really glad to have that chapter done. Let's just hope they all clear us and say that everything is perfectly normal and we can start living without doctors appointments all the time!!
Well there is my update on Brooklynn!! Izzy finished her first year of school last week, and she loved every minute of it. I have a feeling next week she will start realizing she is not seeing her friends and her teacher and will be really upset. But we will be going back to that school next year so hopefully she will have some friends in her class!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
More Tests?
We took Brooklynn in to her pediatrician tonight because she has still been having problems with her breathing at night. She goes from snoring, to coughing and pausing her breath, to stridorous breaths. She also have periods that are almost like she is sobbing in her sleep that lasts for 10 to 15 minutes. We have brought it up at previous appointments, but it never really worried me too much. But it hasn't improved, and if anything it has increased in her snoring.
Dr. N. said we would try a couple of things. First, we will try the prevacid again (she was on that her first 6 months of life) to see if maybe reflux is causing swelling and making it worse. She said if that doesn't improve it in two weeks to call and she will prescribe a nasal allergy medicine to see if it is swelling in her nose. We already know that her adenoids and tonsils have been swollen in the past, but we need to get her to at least 18 months of age before they will even THINK about doing any surgery. So hopefully these will solve those issues. We are going to be referred to the sleep clinic as well to do a sleep study. She said this takes a while to get into, so that should give us time to know if the other two options are working, and if they are we will cancel. If not, we will be scheduled for a sleep clinic.
She weighed 26.6 pounds today which was crazy! She is getting to be such a big girl.
When Dr. N was listening to her she heard a murmur. She said it was faint and hard to hear, but she had not heard it previously in other exams (and other doctors have listened to her and they had not heard it). She had a murmur when she was younger, but it went away. So she wants us to go see cardiology and get an echo done to make sure it is benign. She said with her breathing stuff it might be a good idea to check it out just in case. So one more test my poor baby has to go through.
But that is it. Her ears looked great - which is wonderful news to us since we have had so much trouble with them in the past!
PS - Izzy is doing great! She is super active and always singing and dancing! She sings "ABCs" "Twinkle Twinkle", "Farmer in the Dell", etc and knows almost every word! It is super cute! I think the older she gets the cuter she gets! Too bad she is starting to learn how darn cute she is and using it to her advantage :).
Dr. N. said we would try a couple of things. First, we will try the prevacid again (she was on that her first 6 months of life) to see if maybe reflux is causing swelling and making it worse. She said if that doesn't improve it in two weeks to call and she will prescribe a nasal allergy medicine to see if it is swelling in her nose. We already know that her adenoids and tonsils have been swollen in the past, but we need to get her to at least 18 months of age before they will even THINK about doing any surgery. So hopefully these will solve those issues. We are going to be referred to the sleep clinic as well to do a sleep study. She said this takes a while to get into, so that should give us time to know if the other two options are working, and if they are we will cancel. If not, we will be scheduled for a sleep clinic.
She weighed 26.6 pounds today which was crazy! She is getting to be such a big girl.
When Dr. N was listening to her she heard a murmur. She said it was faint and hard to hear, but she had not heard it previously in other exams (and other doctors have listened to her and they had not heard it). She had a murmur when she was younger, but it went away. So she wants us to go see cardiology and get an echo done to make sure it is benign. She said with her breathing stuff it might be a good idea to check it out just in case. So one more test my poor baby has to go through.
But that is it. Her ears looked great - which is wonderful news to us since we have had so much trouble with them in the past!
PS - Izzy is doing great! She is super active and always singing and dancing! She sings "ABCs" "Twinkle Twinkle", "Farmer in the Dell", etc and knows almost every word! It is super cute! I think the older she gets the cuter she gets! Too bad she is starting to learn how darn cute she is and using it to her advantage :).
Monday, March 28, 2011
ENT and Baby Mia
Brooklynn had her ENT appointment a couple weeks back. She ended up not passing her hearing screen on her right side, but when the Dr. looked in her ear he said there was a little blockage on her tube so hopefully that is all it is. We go back in 8 months for a repeat hearing screen and follow up appointment instead of 1 year. He said everything looked pretty good. He looked at her adenoids and tonsils again, and he said that her tonsils were slightly swollen, but not touching. So we still have the concern for risk of sleep apnea. Brooklynn still has pauses in her sleep and wakes herself up with loud breathing, but it is infrequent and not too long of pauses, so right now we are just watching her.
Friday March 18th I had a phone call from my mom saying my sister was going to the hospital (on her DUE DATE!) in labor. After work, I met my mom and dad with my girls at the hospital. She was in labor and progressed throughout the night. We were there ALL NIGHT (luckily we were the only ones in the waiting room since we took over the whole place). At 3 am we were told she was complete and would be pushing. Took a little nap and woke up at 5:30am without any news. My sister ended up pushing for 3 hours but had to have a c-section. We were able to see Mia Harlyn (we did not know if it was going to be a girl or boy) at 9am. Izzy loved seeing her little cousin through the window. She weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce, 21 inches long! I was so excited - she is super cute and I am really loving that I have a new niece! We went back that night to finally hold her and I fell completely in love! Izzy has been over to my sister's house for 3 days, and every time she wants to hold Mia! She keeps asking when Mia can come to our house and I tell her when she is a little bigger. That makes her sad because she doesn't think she can hold her! She loves her cousin Mia - and I love it.
Brooklynn is starting to cruise A LOT more and when we hold onto her hands she goes crazy and walks really fast! So I think she will be walking any moment now!
Friday March 18th I had a phone call from my mom saying my sister was going to the hospital (on her DUE DATE!) in labor. After work, I met my mom and dad with my girls at the hospital. She was in labor and progressed throughout the night. We were there ALL NIGHT (luckily we were the only ones in the waiting room since we took over the whole place). At 3 am we were told she was complete and would be pushing. Took a little nap and woke up at 5:30am without any news. My sister ended up pushing for 3 hours but had to have a c-section. We were able to see Mia Harlyn (we did not know if it was going to be a girl or boy) at 9am. Izzy loved seeing her little cousin through the window. She weighed in at 8 pounds 1 ounce, 21 inches long! I was so excited - she is super cute and I am really loving that I have a new niece! We went back that night to finally hold her and I fell completely in love! Izzy has been over to my sister's house for 3 days, and every time she wants to hold Mia! She keeps asking when Mia can come to our house and I tell her when she is a little bigger. That makes her sad because she doesn't think she can hold her! She loves her cousin Mia - and I love it.
Brooklynn is starting to cruise A LOT more and when we hold onto her hands she goes crazy and walks really fast! So I think she will be walking any moment now!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Izzy's 3 year and Brooklynn's 1 year appointment
Last week we had the girl's well child check ups. It went pretty well. We will start with Isabella. I was concerned because she is a really finicky eater and I was not sure how she would be on her growth. She is doing really well though with that. She is 39" long (putting her in the 90th percentile) and 33 pounds (placing her in the 50% which is really good she used to be in the 25th). So she is long and lean (which I already knew!) Developmentally she is on point and doing all the things she should be doing. She received one shot and did not even flinch! She was so excited - as we were walking out of the office she told all the nurses "I am better now". She loves going to the doctor.
Brooklynn did pretty well too. She was weighing in at 22 pounds 6 ounces (placing her in the 80th%), her length was 29 3/4" (she dropped from being in the 90th percentile into the 75%ile). Her head of course was well above the 100%ile measuring at 21 1/4". If her head grows much more she won't even be on the growth curve chart. Developmentally though she is doing pretty well. She is not walking but the doctor said that could be up until 15 months before they even start worrying at all. We do have to follow with genetics in June just to kind of finish off the checklist due to her head size. I am kind of happy we are going down that route because than if they say she is perfectly fine people can stop worrying. If they are afraid of something than at least we will know from people who see genetic disorders. They are so specific on exams (literally they measure ears, feet, distance between eyes, etc) so they really take a look at all her measurements and see specifics which is nice.
We are following up with ENT tomorrow. Since her tubes she has not had any ear infections which is AMAZING! I need to bring up that she occasionally has the loud breathing and pauses in breathing (but less than 10 seconds, and definetly not 5 in an hour). So we will see what he says about that. She has been waking up the last two nights really upset and crying and we have a hard time calming her so not sure if she is teething, getting sick, or if these pauses are starting to wake her up, or a little of everything.
My sister Kristen is due any day for her baby which I am super excited about! She is due Friday officially. I can't wait to be an aunt again! I love that there will be another baby in the family!
Well that is it for the updates for now. I am sure you will hear from me again soon.
Brooklynn did pretty well too. She was weighing in at 22 pounds 6 ounces (placing her in the 80th%), her length was 29 3/4" (she dropped from being in the 90th percentile into the 75%ile). Her head of course was well above the 100%ile measuring at 21 1/4". If her head grows much more she won't even be on the growth curve chart. Developmentally though she is doing pretty well. She is not walking but the doctor said that could be up until 15 months before they even start worrying at all. We do have to follow with genetics in June just to kind of finish off the checklist due to her head size. I am kind of happy we are going down that route because than if they say she is perfectly fine people can stop worrying. If they are afraid of something than at least we will know from people who see genetic disorders. They are so specific on exams (literally they measure ears, feet, distance between eyes, etc) so they really take a look at all her measurements and see specifics which is nice.
We are following up with ENT tomorrow. Since her tubes she has not had any ear infections which is AMAZING! I need to bring up that she occasionally has the loud breathing and pauses in breathing (but less than 10 seconds, and definetly not 5 in an hour). So we will see what he says about that. She has been waking up the last two nights really upset and crying and we have a hard time calming her so not sure if she is teething, getting sick, or if these pauses are starting to wake her up, or a little of everything.
My sister Kristen is due any day for her baby which I am super excited about! She is due Friday officially. I can't wait to be an aunt again! I love that there will be another baby in the family!
Well that is it for the updates for now. I am sure you will hear from me again soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)