Indeed, Very Happy Holidays!
I am writing this blog entry while at my in-laws as we help them celebrate the Christmas holiday. My in-laws have been super understanding about the fact that we are currently status quo with Becky and eating issues until we meet with the Developmental Nutritionist. They made her special pasta for the holiday dinner and everything. Truly kind and truly understanding. I realize so many people with preemies are not that lucky. My hope is that in future years, Becky will be able to increase her variety of foods so that this is not an issue. With some of the OT side of things already at work, I am already starting to see some interest food-wise here and there, so hurray Becky!
Go Go Go Becky!
Also on the big news front, Becky decided on her own to go without a Huggies Goodnite and instead slept with only panties. YAY! She is now almost 3 weeks and without any issue. To say that Gregg and I are proud of her is an understatement. Big Girl!
Cough, Cough, Cough Oops!
The holidays though, have brought up one nagging issue. Every time Becky gets over a cold, a nasty dry cough remains. She is totally hacking away at night and it seems nothing will help. Last night I attempted to give her Albuterol as a last resort. As she was inhaling she must have had some sort of reflux issue and next thing I knew she projectile vomited all over the bed. The poor kid! Gregg and I are thinking it may be time to explore the reflux issue again to make sure it is not at work on her system again and also working against her with the cough (which we have begun to wonder if it is truly asthma or not) and also with feeding issues. This is not new to her but we had thought this had resolved itself when she was a little over one year old and well past the preemie side of things. Has anyone had this? I would love some feedback!
Update on the OT Side of Things
Well, we started up the exercises with the Body Sox, the hot dog roll exercise, balance balls and more. Sadly with my father having a hospitalization in the last couple of weeks and the holidays changing the schedules drastically, we have found ourselves failing miserably on that front. I am planning to re-schedule the Occupational Therapy appointment so we can get more time to help Becky progress.
Update on the Nutritionist
We are looking forward to the first conference call with the Developmental Nutritionist at the end of January. Until now, it is status quo until we have that program in place. I really hope that this helps! It has been such a help to talk to other Moms through Preemies Today (www.PreemiesToday.com) so I don’t feel like I am being neurotic about all of this. Apparently I am so not alone here and that is reassuring.
Bailey is the same way when he gets sick. Even at six years old, I still have to sleep near him when he gets sick because we don’t know when the projectile vomitting will occur. Other times he is fine. I wonder if the flap on his stomach is not strong enough to keep things down when he coughs real hard?
As for his feeding issues, it is most likely related to his autism. He is much better than he use to be so we have made some progress.