Arianna update

So its been a while since I've devoted an entire post to the preemie princess herself.

So might as well do that today!

As of today Arianna is 13 months, 2 weeks, 6 days. She weighed 18 lbs and was 28" long at her doctor appointment in March.




Outstanding preemie 'issues':
1. Reflux
2. Weight Gain
3. Development Delays
4. Hearing
5. Eyesight

Arianna's reflux has always been in the back of our mind. We had, honestly, forgotten about it in February. We thought she would be 'typical' and outgrow it. The only time we would remember about it was in the morning when we would get her out of her crib and noticed she (and the sheets) smelled like she had thrown up - that acid smell. So at her 12 month appointment I was hoping to take her off of it. The pediatrician surprised me by saying "The dose of Axid she is on isn't not even a therapeutic level, it should be more than double". Hmm, why weren't we told to increase the dose? So we were told to double her to 3 ml 2x/day, or take her off it completely. We tried 2 days off it completely and she was miserable... throwing up, not eating. Yep, still have reflux. Yep, still on Axid.

Arianna had an EXPLOSIVE weight gain from January to March - she put on 4 lbs! Pulling her out of daycare and having my mom watch her (thusly devoting a lot of time to teaching Ari to eat solids) was the best thing for her! We were surprised at her 12 month appointment that she was actually measureable on the height and weight charts - she's 25% for both, for her actual age. We were floored as in October she wasn't even on the charts for her weight and as a result could have been labeled failure to thrive.

Developmental Delays are still a large concern for us. At this point, it does not appear that Arianna's brain hemmorage is going to cause any physical disability such as cerebral palsy and physically she doesn't have any tone issues. At 12 months she started crawling, 3 weeks later she started pulling herself to a stand and now she can walk pushing a small cart. Her gross motor (which was the area she tested most delayed in) seems to be catching up. Her fine motor, also siginificantly delayed from her actual age, is starting to catch up too. She grasps small objects and feeds herself. Her favorite thing other than feeding herself is grabbing my necklaces and trying to 'fed' them to me. Her cognitive development is almost on par with her actual age - daycare has helped here. Her social development seems fine, for her age. She is very attached to mommy and daddy right now. She frequently cries we dad drops her off at daycare, which is hard for him. Her language skills are behind. She was on par for it but its pretty obvious, to me anyway, that she will have issues. It doesn't help that she has had 9 different ear infections since September and has failed every single hearing test she's ever had either. Her Oral Motor is coming along nicely too - she eats well and will hold the spoon in her mouth! Her self-help is going good too. We don't have any concerns, at this point, that would cause alarm.

Hearing is a tricky subject for us. We brought home a baby that we believed was deaf. She failed all of her hearing test in the NICU and has since. She has another test at the end of June and I'm sure it will be the same. She fails her tympography test which measure the amount of fluid in the middle ear. She's heard the world, as if she's underwater, her entire life. Its very sad. The solution? I don't know yet. Many say ear tubes but I'm not convinced that surgery is the answer. We see an ENT next week as long as she doesn't get another ear infection and I hope he has some answers for us.

Arianna's eyesight is of great concern for me but not because they have found something wrong with her eyesight or that she has retinopathy of prematurity - because she doesn't. She is at risk for eye problems simply because she was born prematurely. I was also born prematurely and had a terribly eye turn as a child. I wore glasses from 4 to 14. As a matter of fact I just went to the eye doctor on Tuesday and got a new prescription. I will wear them forever now. Due to my history Arianna is at greater risk for similar problems. I loved my glasses as a child but I also know that many children are teased for them. That is one of my biggest fears as a parent. School teasing/hazing left a huge impact on my social development as a pre-teen and I will stop at nothing to ensure that Arianna doesn't have to endure what I did. I can't, however, stop her eyes from changing or get her into contacts. I can only hope she won't need them.

She is gaining alot of independence and individual freedoms and we truely enjoy watching her grow/change. She is a handful and I don't believe a year has gone by.

To think, this time last year she was just coming home from the NICU: