February 2013

A little update on Emma: 

She is 13months old and almost out of 3-6mo clothes! She is Scooting everywhere on her bottom or rolling. She hasn't figured out how to get back into sitting once she is down, but that doesn't stop her.  We are working with physical therapy still once a week, hoping to get her to crawl soon!
Here is video of her scooting, she is much faster now!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151189013461933&l=7302510757286346755

She saw both the ENT and Nephrologist(Kidney Doc) recently. Both were good visits, the ENT is leaning towards tubes, and she just last week had her first ear infection. But we are waiting to see if the fluid goes away on it's own in about 5 months. Neph came back with more of the same, her kidneys are trending to normal so we are still watching those, they have some stones.
We tried to get Emma insured through Gerber Grow-up, but they said due to her CLD (chronic lung disease) she is ineligible at this time. After over coming so much, it was a reality check for me.
She sees the Opthamologist on the 1st, it is 2hour appointment, with eye dilation. I am hoping that comes back good too. Many preemie's need glasses at age 1.
We are trying to get her to sleep in her crib, but she has been in the rock n play long enough now that she knows the difference, and even when she sleeps, she sleeps less in the crib. Baby steps!

Emma had another feeding assessment with the Speech Therapist yesterday. Emma doesn't drink much from a cup, and isn't wanting to nurse as much. We are going to start having sessions once a month to work on that but also to work on getting her to eat different textures. So far she loves any dry snack and can eat thickened baby food, but doesn't quite know what to do with things that are slimy, like chunks of fruit, banana or avocado.
The Speech Therapist had no concerns with he language skills!! Emma signed "more" for the first time during our session and "all done"! She shakes her head for fun, but seems to know that it means no. She is very clear when she is done eating, she shakes her head and shuts her mouth up tight.  She is showing more and more personality, she isn't quite as quick to smile at everyone, but still smiles readily for me. She clinches her fists tight and grrrrs at her brother and sisters when they take a toy from her, or paper (her favorite thing to eat)! She babbles sweetly and on rare occasions says, "MaMa".
And she is CLAPPING!!! She has been trying for a long time, but now she does it all of the time!!!
We are staying away from playdates, and most outings so that we can keep her home and healthy. I have been getting more nervous about RSV lately, because almost all of the babies that Emma was in the NICU with that I have kept in contact with have been re-hospitalized with it!
I am so proud of my Tiny Warrior! She amazes me every day! I am so blessed to be her Mommy!