Still Growing

It's been a while since I have created a post so I actually have quite a few updates. First of all, we had an appointment with a developmental nurse this past Saturday. This service is actually provided by the state for free (tax dollars at work). She came to our house for the appointment so that was nice. Her job is basically to examine Kayley and see if there are any concerns developmentally. She also asks us quite a few questions to see if there is anything out of the ordinary. When she got to our house, she walked in and took a look at Kayley sleeping in her pack 'n play. Her first words were, "Wow. Look how big she is. She looks like a regular newborn." It's a funny statement because Kayley is actually 3 months old. But, it's a good statement because since she was born so prematurely, they don't really expect her to look that way for a while. After Megan and I heard her comment, we were gleaming with pride over our newborn looking 3 month old chubby girl.

The actual examine went very well. The nurse was very happy with Kayley's development. She also weighed Kayley. Kayley was a wet diaper aided 8 lbs 12 oz. This is a 6 oz increase since her last weigh in at the doctor's office 3 days earlier. Again, no problems gaining weight. This is a positive because it allows Megan to try to breast feed Kayley more. Upon being released from the hospital, they only wanted Megan trying once a day because Kayley needed the calories from the breastmilk-formula mix through the bottle. Since Kayley is doing so well, Megan can try at every feeding. Kayley's next appointment with the developmental nurse will be in October.

Kayley and Drew seem to have a lot in common except for one thing. Drew is a very healthy pooper and Kayley is not. Drew is a 4 to 5 times a day'er and Kayley is a maybe-once-a-weeker...if we're lucky. On Monday, Kayley was going on about 7 days without a good one. Up until then, it didn't seem to bother her. However, on Monday, she finally had it and seemed very uncomfortable. It was really affecting her eating and her mood. So, in the suppository went and out the poop came. Kayley was much more relaxed and it helped her mood and eating tremendously. Later that night, Kayley took 110 cc's from me. That's a new record for us.

Speaking of eating, Kayley has been doing pretty well. She's still pretty inconsistent. She does well but there seems to be a couple of times during the day that she's either uncomfortable or just not interested in eating. It really becomes a fight to get her to eat at that time and she usually wins. Good thing she normally recovers and eats well the next couple of feedings. We have kept Kayley on a 3 hour eating schedule including through the night. She keeps her average cc's consumed in the 60's and 70's per feeding. The gas and spitting up has subsided a little bit since we have her on Mylicon. Don't get me wrong though, she's still the gassiest baby I've ever known!

Kayley had another doctor checkup today. It was basically to get Kayley's current weight and for us to ask any questions we had or voice our concerns. One of our biggest questions is about how to keep Kayley from getting sick. Can we take her outside? Can Drew go to playgroups risking the possibility that he may get sick and bring it home? Basically, the answer to those questions is yes, but be cautious. We definitely have to limit Kayley's exposure to large groups. However, Kayley can be taken on walks, etc. Also, there is no reason to punish Drew through all of this. He needs to get out and play. We're still really cautious in the house. We all make sure to wash our hands before touching Kayley. We have hand sanitizer dispensers placed throughout the house to use. Is that too much? Maybe. But is it worth the risk? We can pick up so many germs by just going to the grocery store. So, buy stock in Purell because we're going to keep using quite a bit of it.

Kayley's weight at the doctor came in at 8 lbs 11 oz. Yes, that is lower than the development nurse weighed her at on Saturday. But, since that weigh in Kayley has pooped. She drops quite a bit of weight when she does that. Also, as mentioned above, the developmental nurse weighed Kayley before changing her. Kayley's diaper was wet so that added some weight to the scale. Overall, the doctor was happy. We now just have to take Kayley back weekly for weight checks. We won't see the doctor unless something unexpected happens.

The last update from the doctor is that she told us to start putting a small amount of rice cereal in Kayley's bottles. This will help with her reflux. So, we started that today and Kayley hasn't flinched at all. Hopefully it will cut down on her spitting up and her reflux.