Co-Pays and Crying

I know you are all wondering how things are going since Mini has been home. I am sorry I have been so busy I haven't found time to blog. Sometimes I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I am exhausted and my shoulders are beginning to bother me from holding Mini. The past week was busy with Dr visits. Katie went to the cardiologist to have her VSD checked. A VSD is a ventricular septal defect. In Katie's case the hole is healing and according to her Dr it is in a spot where if it doesn't repair itself it won't require surgery to fix it. She will go back in a month for an ultrasound to check it again and make sure it is still healing.

She went to have an ultrasound on her sacral dimple. Right above Katie's little bum crack there is a small dimple. Actually it is a hole but it isn't open if that makes sense. This little hole or ducktail as I call it, can be a sign of a tethered spinal cord. As I understand it a tethered cord happens early in fetal development. If not repaired it can cause severe pain and digestive problems. (For more info click HERE) We have to confirm whether or not she has it with an MRI and here's where the annoying part comes in. We were scheduled for an MRI on Friday morning but had to re-schedule because the Riverton Hospital wing of Primary Childrens does not have the proper facilities to keep Mini for 12 hours after her scan. She has to stay 12 hours after because they have to sedate her and they need to make sure she wakes up after. I'm okay with that so we rescheduled for the afternoon that same day and I packed a bag for the two of us to stay at PCMC overnight. When I got to the hospital Katie hadn't eaten in around 4 hours and she was getting cranky. We went back to get ready and they weighed her and then a coordinator came in to tell us that Katelyn was too small to have any procedures that day. Katie weighed 6lb 4oz and according to the hospital protocol she has to be a minimum weight of 6lb 6oz. REALLY? They called our pediatrician and asked him what he wanted us to do and they sent us home. Until a child is 14 months old they have to have a 12 hour stay so we will wait until she is a little bigger and have the MRI then. I was pretty annoyed but I would like my baby to be healthy so we will do what we have to. Katie goes to see the eye dr on Thursday to have her eyes checked again.

As far as adjusting to life as a mom of 2, it's exhausting. Katie is slowly getting used to sleeping in her crib and is waking every 3 hours or so and I don't sleep as well but I have a monitor and she sleeps with the humidifier on her for the noise so we are doing better. our family has come down with the sniffles which has not been fun because of course Katie gets it and has a serious snore when she sleeps. I am actually pretty proud of myself because as small and fragile as she is I am not afraid to put saline drops in her nose and suck them out with the bulb syringe. I hate seeing her nose red and her cute little stork bite just makes it worse.

Katelyn is an adorable baby. She is beginning to coo more and she holds her head up so good when she is against my chest. She loves to hear Emma talk to her and is starting to like her swing and the play mat we borrowed from my mom. She is getting too long for her preemie jammies but when I put her in newborn sizes her little hands disappear and her feet end up in one leg instead of two. She hates to get her diaper changed and is not a patient girl when it comes to eating. She sleeps a lot but it just gives me a reason to cuddle to her. As wonderful as it is to have her home with us it has been tough too. It has been hard for Colt and I to adjust to not sleeping in the same bed and he doesn't like to hear Mini cry. He has been a huge help with Emma though. He puts her to bed and plays with her so I can rest or feed the baby. I love my little family and as tough as it can be I wouldn't change a thing.