2 year check-up

This is Dr. C, Madelyn's padiatrician. I have depended on him greatly in the last two years and as he is retiring, I will miss him so much. Madelyn was in great spirits at her two year check up. No tears, only giggles and a little shyness. Madelyn is now 36 inches tall and weighs 26 lbs. She is really doing well on her curve. Dr. C and I reminisced for a few minutes at how difficult she was to feed and how she just missed getting the feeding tube. That all feels like such a long time ago yet when I think about it I can still feel the stress.

All in all, Madelyn is developing normally and is a typical two year-old. Prais the Lord!

18 months old!

Can you believe it. Madelyn is now 18 months old. I can hardly believe how much she has grown in the past six months.

Madelyn had a pediatrician appointment the day after she officially turned 18 months old. Dr. Carson is the best. Madelyn of course is afraid of all strangers now and cried bloody murder. But Dr. C. has almost 35 years of peds experience and this did not phase him any.

Mady is now 32" long, and weighs 23 pounds. She is slowing down in the hieght range at the 50th percentile, but she is very strong in the weight curve and steady at the 25th percentile. Praise the Lord! We have worked so hard at feedings, and encouraged fun eating. She still favors breads, pastas, and fruit. But I am just so happy when she gives me the "sign" for eat, and when she says yum after every bite.

As I mentioned before, Madelyn is doing baby signing. It took a while for her to catch on. I thought that it would never happen. I felt a little silly make crazy actions for objects and actions, but my efforts have paid off. The first sign she figured out was diaper. Which is really nice because she sometimes tells me when she wants her diaper changed. Now she is signing everything, from different food, to toys, objects we see when we are out. She is catching on to words with the signs too and I am thinking that she will be stringing words together soon.

I am so pleased, I feel that Madelyn is almost just like any other toddler around. I love getting to see more of Madelyn's personality. She is so funny, strong willed, and very determined. That I guess is what makes her a survivor of CDH. God is good!

What Changes In A Day?

So, I really don't know what happened from one day to the next but Madelyn is doing great! On Wednesday we went to see Dr. Carson and she is doing well. (See last post.) On Thursday Madelyn had her six month immunization shots (we are one month behind due to a 35 day hospital stay.) And she was just bigger all around. Her weight was up to 15 pds. And her hieght is 28 inches. I am going to have to get a different car seat in three inches. I can't believe this. She is now in the 95th percentile in height! Now if you saw Carl and I, we are both short people. The only place there is any hieght is from my Dad at six feet tall.

Here are the two of them together. Grandpa is like her best friend. She is always happy to see him. I no longer have any grandparents and love the fact that she has such a great relationship with him already.

Check Up No. 12563? Okay, maybe not that many...

Today we packed up Madelyn and made the hour and a half trip into Winnipeg to see Dr. Carson ....again. I don't mean to say we didn't want to go see Dr. Carson. He is the best Paediatrician around. Everyone in the medical field loves him. All the NICU nurses thought he was the best and so does my family doctor. The thing is that we have been seeing Dr. Carson so often. First it was every two weeks, then every four weeks, now we hadn't seen him for over eight weeks. I liked not having to make the trip in to see yet another doctor, This is just life with a CDH baby. I packed up Madelyn and we picked up Carl at work at 9:30. Highway 75 was closed due to potential flooding from the Red River so there was a huge amount of extra truck traffic on highway 3. But we still made it on time.

I expressed my concerns that I thought Madelyn was developing Pectus. Pectus happens in CDH babies sometimes because the chest at birth is barrel shaped, or larger that usuall due to all the added organs in the chest cavity. After surgery the stomach, intestines, and spleen are moved back to the abdomen and the sternum can fall, or sink inward. Dr. Carson agreed that her chest was slightly cupped, but not yet a Pectus. He stated that Pectus can form at anytime and there are various degrees to it, and can become larger as she grows. I'm not sure what to make of this. My anxieties are not yet settled on that subject. I pray that it won't get any worse. It really is only a cosmetic problem, and does hurt or cause breathing issues. But doesn't every woman already have body image issues, and I want her to love herself and her body.

Madelyn's wieght is up. She is now 14pds and 15ozs. She gained about two pounds since our last visit. This was great news for me. I would really like to stop mixing her formula at 1.1 cal/ml. But apparently that won't happen. Madelyn started life at the 20th percentile and she now is somewhere between the 10th and 20th percentile. The hope is that she will return to her 20th percentile curve. Maybe at her one year check up in August.

Madelyn's other measurements are:
Head - 15th percentile
Length - 75th percentile (very odd since Carl and I are both short)
Weight - 15th percentile

The good news is that Madelyn is doing so well, that she will probably not qualify for RSV shots next winter! RSV season is almost over and I am waiting to go out and enjoy taking Madelyn with me.