Friday, March 23, 2007

Mommy report:Grouchy girl, grouchy mom

Although this is Braska's blog, several of you have been asking about my status, so I'll do a quick update on that along with her info. I saw my primary doctor here again today for a check on one of my laparoscopic wounds which is...let's say...not healing as well as the other three. I'll spare you further details. But it is a bit worrisome, so I thought I'd have it checked out before the weekend. He thinks the symptoms are not worth great concern at this point, but I'm glad I had him verify that. He did say to touch base early next week if things are not improved. And I'll still be seeing my surgeon for follow-up in St. Louis on 4/2. Overall, I'm doing well post surgery, although Braska has healed way faster than I have, for sure.

After her shots yesterday, she has had some minimal reaction in her leg, just the same as she did last time, which just causes her to be uncomfortable. So she was one grouchy little thing today, and she made sure that I got absolutely nothing done, work wise. We did go get her blood drawn, and although they still had to stick her twice, they did get enough on the second stick. This is good, as she is horrible to try to draw from... but she sure screamed more than ever before. There's that energy coming to play again.

She seems to be eating better today, but again, she was very fussy and that made things difficult with feeding too. I'm really hoping things improve overnight, since I'll have to be working all weekend to get caught up from the last two days. And that doesn't exactly make me the most pleasant person ever to be around, but I'm managing not to snap just yet.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Mommy report: Weight issues

As most of you know, for all but the last six days of her life, Braska has been fed through an NG tube. This was for two reasons: to ensure that she would gain enough weight to make it to her surgery (check!), and because she would not suck properly with a bottle. As of last Thursday morning, she has been breastfeeding and has been without the tube, which we celebrated with a big yippee! Unfortunately, she has been losing weight, so her pediatrician is now concerned that she is not getting enough.

So today we had a visit from Tammie with home health. (We are still sad that it was Dayna's day off.) Braska was weighed pre-feed, then I fed her, then she was weighed again. She gained only 0.6 ounces, which is supposed to mean that is all that she ate. I can't see how that's possible, but the numbers are supposed to be believable. She was sucking and swallowing like a champ, and she was super contented when she was done, so it would appear that she had a good meal. I just don't understand the weight differential.

The first changes we have to make are to make sure she is eating on a 3-hour schedule again. We've been allowing her to dictate when she eats, but apparently she is like her dad and food is not a priority. And she's been sleeping through the night, so we've been letting her skip one feeding then, but we have to stop that for now as well. Darn....I was enjoying getting more than 2 hours of sleep at one time.

Tomorrow we see Dr. Y for her 4-month check and shots, so I'm sure we'll be discussing what he wants to do. I really do not want to go back to NG at all, so we'll be looking for alternatives. But if it's best for her health, we'll have to go that route, of course. I'm hoping I can stuff her full today and her weight can be up tomorrow when we go to the doctor... that would be good.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Mommy report: Home health discharge?

Braska's home health nurse, Dayna, came today for what we thought would be the final visit. The order was for a weight check to make sure she's maintaining after surgery and with the med changes. Her weight was down a little from last week, at 11 lbs 1 oz today. Since she just started feeding on her own last Thursday, and we can't really measure how much she's getting like we used to, we will be watching this closely with home health and her pediatrician.