The Emma Report

Sorry for the long delay everyone, but there is still nothing to report. I spoke with Emma’s pediatrician on Friday and she has not yet received the reflux study test results from CHEO. Until we hear differently, we’ll continue to treat Emma with reflux medication as it seems to be helping.

We’ve actually had a quiet week. For the first time in months, we didn’t have any medical appointments and we were able to just hang out at home. It will be nice when spring finally arrives, as we can then get out of the house a bit more (once the risk of colds/germs is lower). Big Sister has come down with another cold again, so I hope Emma escapes the same fate …

Since we don’t have much to report, how ’bout some more pics that show just how much our little one has grown?

Emma’s first mom-assisted bath back in October:

and ‘splashin’ in the bath this week

Emma was a real trooper for both tests this week (part one consisted of several scans over a 2-hour period on Tuesday, part two was a 10 minute scan the following morning).

Unfortunately, the radiologist wasn’t able to read the results while we were at CHEO so now we have to wait ’til our pediatrician gets the report, likely late next week. In the meantime, how ’bout a couple of shamelessly cute pics of Miss Emma while we wait

Happy Valentine’s Day!

As you can see from these pics, Emma enjoys Tummy Time for about 2 minutes.

Then she complains and lets us know that she would much rather be sitting up in her bouncy seat, thank-you-very-much

Emma continues to do very well. She’s gaining weight and now has deliciously chubby legs and a lovely “Buddha Belly”

We’re off to CHEO tomorrow and Wednesday for the reflux tests, so I’ll report back later in the week with the results…

Emma was one day old….

Here’s a picture of her from the early days (taken when she was about 6 weeks old):

and here is another taken earlier this evening (Emma is displaying her Happy-Six-Month Birthday card from Big Sister):

my, you’ve come a long way, baby!

Since her discharge from CHEO last week, Emma has been doing very well. The combination of reflux medication and the milk-thickener seem to be working and she is much less congested, is breathing more easily, and hasn’t desated at all. We saw her pediatrician for a checkup today and Emma is now tipping the scales at 10-and-a-half pounds! That’s a 9 pound gain over her birth weight!

Oh, and here’s proof that Emma is not always a smiley girl

Emma was finally discharged this evening (Yay!!!)

Today’s study showed that Emma did not aspirate when she feeds (Double Yay!!!) although on two occasions (after she had been drinking for a while and was getting tired), some fluid almost entered her larynx. The occupational therapist therefore suggested that Emma could benefit from thickened feeds, so we will now add a special powder to her milk in order to make it the consistency of nectar or tomato juice. This should allow her to swallow it more easily and reduce the risk of aspiration. It will also help with the reflux. Once her NG tube was removed and she had successfully taken a thickened feed (a test Emma passed with flying colours), we were allowed to leave (Emma also hadn’t needed any oxygen since Monday morning, so the 24-hour-without-O2 criterion was also met). We have to go back next week for the second swallow test to assess the reflux situation, but at least that can be done on an out-patient basis.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of pics of Emma expressing her happiness at being home again