Scarlett had her 9-month check up on Friday and she got a clean bill of health. woo hoo! She's small for her age (very small), but other than that, she's doing great! Dr. Gonzalez said that she wants to see her in a month because of her weight, but that's just to make sure that she gains some weight.
I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but Scarlett lost a whole pound in barely one week when she was still on the feeding tube and oxygen about a week after she was released from the hospital, because she was consistently vomiting her feeds. We were able to get the vomiting to stop, but in that week that we were trying to figure out why she was puking, she lost a pound. This was significant because it's more than 10% of her body weight!
Beth (Scarlett's cardiologist) said to increase her calorie intake to 26 calories per ounce. So basically for every 6 ounces of breastmilk I pump, I will put 3 teaspoons of baby formula to help bulk Scarlett up. It is working so far, because she weighed 14lbs 6oz at the ped office yesterday. However, overall she's still 'off-the-charts' for her weight (severely underweight). But like I said,... I'm told that's "normal" considering she's only 5-weeks post surgery. So Dr. Gonzales will check her weight again in a month.
Scarlett loves eating her socks.
She's becoming more and more active and spends time on the floor playing independently with mommy or daddy close-by. She still has significant separation anxiety issues (and now her sister Violet has them too), which makes her *love* being held and hate being put down, but little by little she's getting there.
Her new favorite thing to do is play with the refrigerator magnets
I mention that Violet also has separation anxiety issues, because she sees me holding Scarlett and she says "Pick me up mommy! Pick me up!", then if I don't she has a total meltdown (as only a 2-year old can). It's not unusual for me to have Scarlett in one hand and Violet in the other. I feel really sorry for Violet, because I confess I ignore her a lot of the time because I have to attend to Scarlett's needs first. Poor little Violet. :(
So, needless to say, I love it when Scarlett is occupied with playing independently, because then I can squeeze in a little attention to my neglected 2 year old. Who, by the way is a 'challenging' child to begin with. Some people say Violet is "high spirited", and others would say "she's spoiled", but I just say she's a feisty little firecracker (gee.. I wonder where she gets that from?). My girls definitely have distinctly different personalities. But one thing is certain. They are loved to pieces by their mommy and daddy. : )
(Violet, Todd, Scarlettt)
No comments:
Post a Comment