Monday, November 26, 2012

9a.m.

Called to check on little miss Feisty Pants...SHE WEIGHS 2LBS!!!!  She hit the mark when they weighed her last night.  So exciting!  We are totally having a celebration dinner tonight!  In other news, she has had an episode today, but I guess that's to be expected since she's still trying to do the breathing thing on her own.  Could I possibly love this baby any more?  I doubt it. :)

-Keli




Our 2 lb party will be at ruby Tuesday in north Augusta at 6pm. All are invited. Send me or keli a text that you are coming so I can reserve table enough for everyone.


Proud daddy adam.


8p.m.

Dr. Sharpe came to talk to Adam and I today...for about an hour.  Thankfully I was kangarooing with Aubrey the whole time, so I was quite content to let him talk.  He showed us a couple of her latest growth charts:  her head circumference is right on track (a melon head like her mom, perhaps?), but her weight curve is not, well, curvy enough.  She should be staying along the same percentile curve that she's been on, but she's leveling off instead of going up.  Basically, she needs to grow more.

He showed us the results of her last brain sonogram...she had one around the time she was born, and it showed no bleeding in her brain but a "prominent choroid plexus" (the very center of the brain, sort of like the cork in the center of a golf ball).  The one she had last week showed that the choroid plexus had decreased in size...this means that there probably was very slight bleeding around that area at the time the first one was done that made it look bigger then.  The doctor said that this was a level one bleed (the smallest) and would have no impact on Aubrey in the long run (they only worry about level 3 and 4 bleeds).

The results of her EEG were in as well.  That's a test that looks at the electrical activity in the brain.  The doctor that read the scan said that she has "well organized background activity as per age;" this means her brain is basically normal for her age.  He also said that there was "sharp activity more than normal as per age."  This doesn't mean she's having seizures--he was specific that there was no clear evidence of seizure activity.  Dr. Sharpe said that there is abnormal electrical activity in her brain; but, he also said that it's hard to trust the results of EEGs of babies this age because their brains are still developing.  He's putting her on phenobarbitol, an antiseizure medicine, just to see if it will calm her brain down some.  He said that extra "unorganized" brain activity could be contributing to her apnea episodes.  We want her to grow, and the episodes are keeping her from growing like she should. 

 There are 3 causes of her apnea/bradycardia episodes: reflux, positioning, and central.  Reflux is what it sounds like--stuff comes back up her food pipe and gags her, her heartrate goes down, then her breathing goes down.  Positioning is also self explanatory--if her airway isn't open, her oxygen goes down.  Central is coming from her brain--meaning her brain isn't communicating the things it needs to communicate to get the lungs to work like they should.  In that case her breathing slows or stops, then her heartrate goes down.  It all goes back to growth--once she grows and her brain and lungs and digestive system get better at what they're supposed to do, the episodes will decrease.

Whew.  Done with science class for today.  It's all interesting to this biology girl.  Sorry if it's boring for everyone else. :)

Her 2 pound dinner party was a success; we had 13 people at dinner celebrating our baby girl.  Can't wait until she actually gets to be there for the parties.

This is the quilt that Pam made for Aubrey to lay her pretty little head on. It has animals on it.

This is the quilt that is covering her condo now. This side is a collage of shirts from different family members. There is even a piece of Keli's baby blanket.

This side has blocks from family that have written messages and Bible verses for Aubrey. Ephraim, Aubrey's cousin who is 5, wrote in his own handwriting, Aubrey I love you.

The quilt in place.

Getting ready for Christmas, there are snowflakes on her condo, and on the left under the blue screen, a nativity and Christmas place mat.

-Keli




Oh and when she makes it to three pounds we will have a Starbucks party! Keep checking back to watch her progress and prepare to party with us at the next milestone!

Adam