12/12/06: Day 151 (Tues.) Doctor Visit!

Evan had a follow-up appointment at the Children's Multi-Specialty Clinic in Tucson. We thought we would be seeing Dr. Morgan, but it was a different doctor (I think it was Dr. Brown). Our appointment was at 8:30am and we hoped we wouldn't have to wait as long as we did at the last appointment.

The nurse called us back to do his stats...he weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces; was 22 inches long; and his head circumference was 39 cm. I plotted his latest stats on that image, so you can click on it to see a bigger view. He's still just below average, but that's o.k.!

The doctor suggested we increase his amount to 4 ounces every feeding. He's been taking about 3 ounces every time. We have to get him to about 28+ ounces a day in order to plump him up more.

The nurse came in with the "magic" pulse oximeter. Of course Evan maxed out on the pulse ox while on the oxygen. Now, the moment of truth...we turned off the oxygen flow. He did great! He averaged about 96-97%. That was a big improvement from two months ago when he was averaging the low 90s.

We were hoping to hear the great news that he could come off the oxygen...um...didn't happen. At least we can stop the Lasix in two weeks. The doctor didn't want to make too many changes at once since he's wanting us to increase the amount of his feeds. When he comes off the Lasix, we have to watch for any major changes in his breathing. While he's sleeping, we have to do periodic respiration counts to make sure he's not laboring harder to breathe. He should be breathing between 30-40 respirations per minute. If he is breathing more rapidly, it's a sign that there may be moisture build-up in his lungs and we have to start the Lasix again.

We have to come back (again) for follow-up in about 5 weeks. The doctor anticipates that he will get the green light to stop the oxygen. The next time we take him to see Dr. Ettinger, we need to get a pulse oximeter reading on him to see what his true oxygen saturation is at our altitude.

So, we continue with the oxygen! Bummer!

-----------
**Weight Check: 10 lbs. 5 oz.
**Height check: 22 inches
Chronological age: 21 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days
-----------

10/17/06: Day 95 (Tues.) Tucson Doctor Visit

We were hoping for good news from the pulmonary doctor (Dr. Morgan)...it wasn't the news we had hoped for, but it was good news. We had hoped to hear the words "he doesn't need the O2 anymore"...we didn't. :-(

His appointment was scheduled for 11:30am and we got there about 15 minutes early. We were so happy when they called us right away and they did all the usual stuff (weight/length check, took his temperature). Well, they put us in one of the exam rooms and we waited, and waited. T's stomach growled louder and louder. Then Evan was hungry, so we gave him his bottle.

Dr. Morgan's nurse finally came in about 12:30pm to do all the preliminary paperwork (stuff that we though they should have had already such as his birthdate, when he was discharged from UMC, etc..). She gave us much of the same information we already knew such as not taking him into malls or crowded places to reduce his chance of picking up any funk. She tested his O2 saturation (the thing we have all been waiting for) while he was on the O2. He was maxed out, as we expected. Then, we took the O2 off, held our breath and watched the monitor numbers. He averaged about 92-93% on room air in Tucson. Pretty good! The nurse thought maybe the doctor would allow us to take him off the O2 during the day and put him back on at night to give him a little push.

Dr. Morgan came in with a medical student by his side. Nice guy, very friendly. He checked Evan's lungs and said they sounded great. Yeah! No crackling! I am assuming from the results of Evan's O2 saturation that the doctor did not give us the green light to take him completely off. He would rather keep weaning him down (at least that will save us a little on switching out the O2 tanks as frequently). When we take Evan to Dr. Vedock's for his weight check, we'll have them test his O2 saturation at 1/8 liter (he's on 1/4 right now). Dr. Morgan said he is really close to coming off the O2, but he still couldn't give a definitive time frame. It's all due to altitude at this time. If we lived closer to sea level, he would already be off.

So, our little guy is still tethered to his tank. We have to go back to see Dr. Morgan in December. I would hope by then he would give us the go ahead to remove the O2.

Here's the weight check for ya Joey!!

-----------
** Weight Check: 8lbs. 1 oz
** Length: 20.25 inches
Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 4 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 3 days
-----------

10/14/06: Day 92 (Sat.) We Miss Marianne! 3 Months Old!

Today was the UMC NICU annual picnic at Udall Park up in Tucson. This was the first time having Evan in the car for an extended period of time. He did great! We found out about the picnic via e-mail from Marianne...the NICU forgot to send us an invitation. :-( Anyway...it was great to see Marianne again since she was on vacation when Evan was transferred to the Sierra Vista Hospital. We got caught up on lots of stuff...it was great to hear that some of the babies who were in the NICU for a long time finally went home. We also learned that Marianne is a finalist for the March of Dimes Arizona Nurse of the Year! Fingers crossed she wins!
-----------
Chronological age: 3 months 1 weeks and 1 days
Adjusted/developmental age: 4 weeks and 0 days
-----------

It's a Boy!

After paying for another ultrasound (after the less-than-stellar u/s last week at UMC)...we find out it is definitely a boy! I went to a place in Tucson called Already Adorable, which is a 3d/4d ultrasound business. Such a better experience! The 3d/4d technology is really incredible.

I got the package where I get 2 ultrasounds (the other will be at the end of July when I'll be about 32 weeks). So the change should be pretty dramatic from these pictures. Of course, this baby does not like to be photographed, so the pictures didn't turn out super-great.

20-week ultrasound experience

I need to vent about my 20-week ultrasound experience I had yesterday. My ob/gyn scheduled me for my 20-week u/s up in Tucson (at a big city hosptial that will remain nameless...ahem...the initials are UMC)...which is at least an hour and half away. My ob/gyn's office told me to check in at the Imaging Desk (which according to the hosptial signs, that is where all the CT/MRI/Ultrsound scans are done). I give them my name and they can't find me in the system, they finally tap into the main appointments database and tell me that I have to go up to the 8th floor to have my u/s done.

We make it up there and it's the labor/delivery floor that has an ob/gyn office attached. The waiting room was packed with pregnant women from all walks of life (it was a bit eye-opening to me). My appointment was scheduled for 11am, so I was very well hydrated and ready to go for an 11am u/s. The white board on the wall says they are running 40 minutes behind...immediate bladder shrinkage! Needless to say, I couldn't hold it anymore when 11:25 came. How ironic that I get called in at 11:30am!

Now for the fun part, I am thinking (just like my 2 previous u/s)! Wow was I wrong! The woman doing my scan took about 5-7 minutes doing all the measurements...all the while not speaking a word or telling me what she was measuring. After she was done doing all the measurements, I asked her if she was able to tell the gender. She very tersely says that that is not her priority (which I understand) and that if she had some extra time she would look. She finished up the last minute measurements and took oh, about 2 minutes to go back and try to determine the gender. She tells us very nonchalantly, well...I couldn't tell for sure, but if I were to guess it would be a boy. Wow...thanks...so much for my idealized vision of the u/s technician happily telling us what we were expecting. One good thing is that she said she didn't see anything out of place as far as heartbeat, structure, etc...with the baby.

She gave us 4 pictures that are of horrendous quality...I think one of them is a picture of a foot and the other three are profile pictures that I can sort-of make out a head/face. I am still really irked over the whole thing since my previous u/s experience was wonderful, the u/s tech guided us through the whole thing, pointing out what she was looking at. Last night it really hit me hard since I have no idea if I'll have another u/s during the second half of this pregnancy...I really feel like I was robbed of an experience.

20-week U/S scheduled

My 20-week ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday May 2 up in Tucson. Yea! Another trip to Tucson! We'll be able to find out the gender (hopefully) at this one. Yes, we're being complete spoilers and want to know the gender. It's been so difficult for us to even get to this point in a pregnancy, that knowing the gender is not something we want to be a secret. I'll definitely post pics and info from that test.