Beta Blockers Working!!

So Carter has begun taking the beta blocker medication for the hemangioma on his forehead.  We met with his pediatrician and asked a thousand questions about this medication in babies.  He said he had personally used it on two other babies who had them in locations that would have been inoperable and said it worked very well.  But it is basically kind of uncharted territory.  He didn't have a lot of answers to our questions, and of course we had googled everything we could find on it.  Carter had to go in for a base blood pressure reading, and the doctor felt of the hemangioma and measured it.  He goes once a week for a blood pressure check and the doctor takes measurements and feels of it each time.  Courtney is taking pictures to chart the progress.  He has been taking the medication for a week and a half and already it has greatly reduced in size and appearance.  When he started, the skin was very red and tight-looking where it was bulging out.  Now, it is much softer, smaller in diameter and has a different appearance.  The only side effects noticeable are that Carter is really tired for a short time after he takes the medication (he takes 3 doses a day).  So we are very hopeful that this will speed the reduction of this. 
His last weight check was 10 lbs. 2 oz.  He has like 2 or 3 chins now!  He is fascinated with ceiling fans!  If there is one in a room, he cranes his neck to stare at it no matter which way you turn him.  And he is starting to make little cooing noises, but usually acts surprised when it happens.  I told Courtney, in a short time, he will be doing that non-stop and probably at inopportune times!  He now holds his head steady for long periods of time and is getting stronger by the day.  And he wiggles and riggles all over.  Still hoping he can sit in a bumbo seat by Christmas - will make for really cute pictures!
More later...

Carter's First Thanksgiving

Well, Carter survived his first Thanksgiving!  He visited with the Gann family early in the day, and then came to see the Myers/Alexander's for the afternoon.  His last weight check was 9 lbs, 4 oz!!  He is just growing like a weed!  He has begun to smile on purpose, and is starting to coo some.  He is becoming more vocal when things aren't like he wants them - I wouldn't call it a cry - more of a yell!  He lets you know when he's mad!  He has had several nights that he has slept for 6 hours or more.  All good signs of growing and maturing.  He is quickly outgrowing his clothes.  He wore newborn for a good while, and the 0-3 months size are now starting to be too short!  He is holding his head up for longer periods.  Maybe by Christmas he will be able to sit in a bumbo seat.  We are all so excited for him to experience his first Christmas.  I said I wasn't even going to buy a bunch of toys because he doesn't know it's Christmas, but you know how that goes.  One trip down the baby toy aisle and I had several things tossed into my cart!  His daddy says he is already spoiled, but isn't that what we are supposed to do?!  He is not a big fan of the bounce seat or anything really, that involves not being held!  The doctor says by the time he is around 6 months, it will be OK to let him fuss a little and try to soothe himself, but for now, the spoiling continues!

Carter's Visit with the ENT specialist

Carter saw the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor yesterday.  This appointment was scheduled for him while he was still in the nicu.  And it is always tough trying to time feedings with an hour drive to Springfield.  So we get there and go to check in, only to be told that this is the day the doctor is in Lebanon seeing patients.  And we were the second people to arrive at the Springfield office instead of Lebanon.  Thank you "Beth", whoever you are for making us drive 100 miles with a crying baby when we didn't need to.  So after all that, we came back to Lebanon and saw him here.  He had some concerns because of the hemangioma on his head.  He said sometimes if they are prone to have those, they can get them in their throat and it will constrict their airway.  So he ran a scope down Carter's throat to have a look (this was less fun than driving with a crying baby).  He has what he calls a floppy airway.  This causes him to have a stridor, or make funny squeaking sounds when he eats, essentially trying to get all the muscles working correctly between his windpipe and throat.  It is expected he will outgrow this by about 7 months.  There were no signs of a hemangioma in the throat, which is great news.  He suggested prescribing beta blockers, given orally, to begin to reduce the hemangioma on his head.  He said earlier treatments involved steroids, but they had greater side effects.  I guess beta blockers are the newest treatment for this.  The down side - they slow the heart rate somewhat. We are going to discuss this with Carter's pediatrician and get his opinion.  I have also read they can lower blood sugar levels, so I feel like if we do this, he should be frequently checked for both blood pressure and glucose levels.  Hard decision to make.  The studies say the sooner you begin treatment for hemangiomas, the more successful their reduction is.  But he just got off his apnea monitor and not sure we want to do anything that might affect his health.  Praying God will show us what decision to make.

A Clean Bill of Health!!

Carter saw his pulmonologist today and they said he no longer needed his apnea monitor!!! Yay!  No more loud alarms in the night!  He had several alarms this past 2 weeks, but they were all false.  And they said he should be growing out of his "periodic breathing", which is common in preemies, where they have periodic pauses.  A pause of longer than 20 seconds is considered apnea.  He hasn't had any of those in a while.  His little face looks fatter every day!  He is now up to 8 lbs, 5 oz.  Growing like a weed.  At his last pediatrician check-up, he was in the 25th percentile for his weight.  He is now in the 50th percentile!  We are so thankful for his progress. 
When he was still in the NICU, he developed a small pink spot on his forehead. The nurses called it a "storkbite", or birthmark, and said it would likely go away.  Well, It didn't.  It is now referred to as a hemangioma.  It is a collection of blood vessels close to the skin.  The pediatrician said it was common in preemies, and most of them reduce in size or totally go away by the time the child is 18 mos-2 yrs old.  Carter's is about as big around as a nickel, and raised maybe 1/4".  We asked about just having it removed, but the doctor said if you do that now, he will have a permanent scar.  If we wait and it goes away on its own, there will be no scar.  So we will wait and see.  It doesn't seem to bother him, or hurt or anything. 
So, all in all, a great report today!!

Happy Two Month Birthday!

Carter is two months old today!! He had his two month doctor visit on Friday. He now weighs 7 lbs. 5 oz. And he is 19" long!  He has grown so much. He got his first vaccinations, cried the biggest cry I have ever heard him cry!  Poor guy! We gave him some Tylenol to help with the pain and avoid fever, which he didn't care for, but it seemed to help him sleep. He is really starting to look at you now. At first he didn't really focus on anything, but now he gazes at your face while your talking to him. We read our first real book on Saturday and I thought he would like seeing the bright colors of the book, but he just watched me as I read, which was just fine! In the last week he has had more spitting up than usual,  and the doctor said they usually peak about now and then it will taper off. He suggested giving him a half of a pepcid instead of a fourth and it seems to be helping.
It's still amazing to think that this is who we all wondered about while he was in the womb.
What he would look like, who's eyes he would have, if he would have hair, what would his personality be. Time has nearly stopped - my house is a total disaster, all projects are on hold,laundry piles up, and its all ok, because we have paused to watch this amazing new life unfold before our eyes!  We are truly blessed to have this little guy in our lives!

Carter is up to 6 lbs 10 oz!

Carter is growing, growing, growing!!!  He saw the pulmonologist on Wednesday, and they downloaded the information from his apnea monitor and said that all the breathing alarms were false, and most of the heart rate alarms were false.  There were a few low heart rate alarms that were real. They were when he would reflux.  He did this in the NICU as well.  The dips were only for a short time and he always corrected himself.  Carter now only needs the monitor when both he and mama are sleeping.  So he can be free of that machine when he is awake.  He goes back in 2 weeks to have another check and see if it can be totally removed.  He saw his pediatrician yesterday, who thought he probably didn't need the monitor at all.  His weight curve is excellent and his legs are starting to look a little pudgy!  And I know you can't tell baby's eye color yet, but I am betting on blue - just like his dad! And while we were waiting for the doctor to come into the exam room, he pooped, so we changed his diaper and right when we took the dirty one off, he decided to pee and we looked like a comedy act trying to avoid a total disaster!  Of course, it didn't bother Carter! The pediatrician also said to let him sleep through the night until he wakes up - Courtney has been waking him every 3 hours or so to feed.  So that's good news and maybe worth a few more minutes of that precious sleep!  Next visit to the pediatrician, he will get vaccinations :(.  I am sure he will cry and probably mama will too!

Carter's First Trip to Grandma's House!

Well, Carter came to visit me last night!  And he brought his mom!  It was her first solo drive with her in the front and him in the back, and they survived.  And he lived through the commotion at my house.  Courtney brought her dog, Kyba, who joined our dogs, Weezer and Remmy.  There was lots of barking, and he slept right through it!  Weezer was mad and pouted most of the night.  Remmy was very curious.  He passed by the pack 'n play several times before he realized there was something alive in there.  He stood for the longest time looking through the mesh trying to figure out what that little grunting thing was.  When we sat on the couch with Carter, Remmy got as close as we would let him, trying to sniff where he could.  He really wanted to lick him, but we wouldn't let him get close enough.  Carter was asleep when he got there, but eventually woke up and stayed awake for most of the visit.  There were lots of new things to look at!  He even got an early Christmas present - a noisy, bright colored ball to look at and listen to.  Lucky for us, this Christmas, he won't know he got one less thing when the day arrives!  He goes to his pulmonologist this Wednesday, and we hope he will remove the apnea monitor.  It goes off so often that no one pays any attention to it now.  He will see his pediatrician Thursday for a weight check.  We are anxious to see if he gained.  His belly and legs look a little fatter to us, so we are hopeful he's packing on that weight.