Pediatrician Appointment

Brandon had his 4 month pediatrician appointment this morning. He weighs 9 pounds, 6 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long. Dr. O'Brien said his lungs sound good and clear and he is happy with how he is doing. On the preemie growth chart he is between the 25th and 50th percentile for both his weight and length. That is a big difference at where he was when he came home from the NICU. Then he was only between the 5th and 10the percentile on the preemie growth chart. Brandon is almost big enough to be on the non-preemie growth chart. He just missed it for his weight and length. Dr. O'Brien pushed on Brandon's umbilical hernia and said it should definitely close on its own eventually. He said it is a very small opening that is causing the hernia. The only problem seems to be that Brandon prefers to have his head facing the right. It is causing some stiffness in his neck so I need to try to turn his head to the left more often. He said Brandon could wind up needing a physical therapist to come and do some stretches. I asked if I should contact early intevention about this and he said it couldn't hurt. So I will give them a call in the next day or two. Brandon had three shots today. He was not too happy about it. Each time he got a shot he let out a loud cry and held it out.

Eye Exam and Abdominal Ultrasound

Brandon had a busy day. This morning we went to Dr. McNamara in Cherry Hill to see how Brandon's eyes were. Dr. McNamara said they have improved slightly from last week so he believes they will most likely continue to improve. He wants us to see Dr. Turtel on Monday next week because if Dr. Turtel feels they got worse then we can go back to see him in Cherry Hill on Tuesday.

This afternoon Brandon had his abdominal ultrasound at Monmouth Medical Center. This was to look at his umbilical hernia. His bowels are pushing into his hernia but there is good blood flow to it and it is not incarcerated or strangulated so it should be ok for now without surgery. We will have to keep a close eye on it and make sure it doesn't get hard or that Brandon does not start throwing up. Then he will need to have surgery immediately. If he does wind up needing surgery it is a pretty easy procedure. Brandon has his 4 month appointment on Thursday with Dr. O'Brien so I will talk to him then about the results from the ultrasound today and see what he says. It was actually quite annoying going to get the ultrasound. We got to the hospital and they told us we had to go sign in to the right of the escalator. When we went there they told us we had to go sign in at radiology. We went to radiology and she said we had to sign in where we originally were. We went there to sign in and nobody was there. Someone finally came back and signed us in but it took awhile and Brandon was starving by this point because they said he had to fast for 4 hours prior to the ultrasound so he was screaming.

After his ultrasound we went to the NICU to say hi. It was nice seeing the nurses there but none of his primary nurses were there. The nurses that were there could not get over how big Brandon has gotten.

New Steelers Outfit

Brandon wore his new Steelers outfit for yesterday's game. Unfortunately the Steelers lost their game.

Pictures from this week

4 Months Old

The Eye Saga Continues

I brought Brandon to Dr. Turtel this morning for his appointment to have his eyes looked at. He looked at the first one and seemed happy with how it looked. Then he looked at the second one and said he was a little concerned. He then told me that the nerves have developed to the edge of each eye like they should. On one of the eyes there is a cluster of nerves at the edge and the retina is raised. He wanted us to go see a retina specialist this week sometime to get another opinion. He said he thought Brandon most likely would not need the laser surgery but he wanted it checked out. He gave me the names of two doctors who are both in Cherry Hill and told me he wanted Brandon to be seen this week by one of them. I called when I got home from the appointment and they were able to get us in today. Stu came home from work to go with us. He was working overtime for election day. Brandon saw Dr. McNamara who was in agreement with Dr. Turtel about the problem in the eye. He said it could wind up correcting itself or it may not. If it does not he will need laser surgery even though he won't meet the normal criteria for the surgery. He does not have plus disease and it is past the time when the laser surgery is normally done. It seems like if he does need to have it he would have it done on a Thursday and stay for 23 hours following the laser surgery. We are crossing our fingers that the eye problem will resolve on its own. I am nervous about him being intubated (on the vent) for the surgery.

Hershey also had a problem this morning. We woke up and his whole face was swollen. I called the emergency vet number since it was before hours and my in-laws had to take him to the animal hospital. The animal hospital was concerned that if we waited until the vet opened his throat could swell shut too. It turns out he was bit by a bug. He also has been biting at his front and back paws on his left side. I had him at the vet a week ago and they said it was nothing. Turns out he has a yeast infection on his paws. He is home now and looking much better. He had to stay at the animal hospital for a few hours because he had a fever initially so they were not sure if he would need iv fluids. What a day it has been!

Umbilical Hernia

Brandon has had an umbilical hernia since before he was discharged from the hospital. It looks like a large raised belly button. An umbilical hernia occurs when part of the intestine protrudes through a weak spot in the abdominal muscles. During pregnancy, the umbilical cord passes through a small opening in the baby's abdominal muscles. The opening normally closes before birth. If the muscles don't meet together in the midline completely, this weakness in the abdominal wall may cause an umbilical hernia at birth or later in life. It is very common in preemies and the majority of the time they close on their own. Sometimes not until the baby is 4 or 5 years old. I noticed that it has been looking larger so I brought Brandon to the pediatrician today to have it looked at. She thinks it is probably ok but she wants him to get an abdominal ultrasound to make sure it is not incarcerated. If it is incarcerated )protruding abdominal tissue becomes trapped) he will need surgery to close it. His ultrasound is scheduled for next Tuesday.

Brandon was weighed when he was the pediatrician. He weighs 9 pounds! The doctor that we saw couldn't believe he was a 26 weeker since he is doing so well. He is now out of his newborn clothes and in 0-3 month clothes.