Life's Next Adventures: Saying Goodbye to some doctors appointments

We have said it before and I will say it again, the NICU life does not end at discharge. Most babies can be seeing specialist up until age 2 or even beyond that, so it takes time! For us between February 6-18th, we had 4 appointments with doctors and specialists, that is a lot (and definitely does not give Olivia enough time to forget what just happened, she screams the second she gets placed on the scale for weight)! Thankfully that does not happen too often, but it is not unusual either. These last few weeks, though, brought some good news and a goodbye to one doctor--Olivia's cardiologist! Honestly, one of my favorites, Dr. Allen, is the kind of doctor you hope for, just not hope for your child to be seeing a cardiologist. He takes time to explain everything, to interact with your kid, and understands their limitations and need to be close to mom or dad. He has a wonderful heart, apologized profusely when he was running 10 minutes behind because he had to take his son his lunch that he had left behind, and just such a warm and caring doctor. I cannot recommend him enough if you have any pediatric cardiology needs. I actually left the appointment and told Marc I will miss seeing him, though I am not sad we got discharged. We talked about Olivia's heart thrombus here (where I apparently was also singing Dr. Allen's praises), anyway, the goal was for her body to naturally absorb the calcification that occurred when she had the umbilical line placed and the MRSA infection and her body did just that. On her echo yesterday you could not longer see the thrombus, so he signed off saying she no longer had her intracardiac mass/thrombus and had a normal echo! Dr. Allen, like all Olivia's doctors are pleased with her progress. We hear time and time again, you would never know she was a preemie now!

Among the other good news, was our 1 year appointment with the NICU clinic. She was/will be seen at 6 months, 1 year, and 18 months (and 2 years if needed, but the hope is to be discharged at 18 months). Well at her 1 year adjusted (14.5 months actual) appointment, she met her a nurse practitioner, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist (at her 6 month appointment she also saw the pediatric dentist, but he was not in the office the day we went this time). Based on their assessment, she is tracking at 14-15 months (her actual age) in both OT and speech, and is tracking right about 12 months (her adjusted) age for PT. The nurse practitioner said she looked like a happy, health 14.5 month old baby girl. So overall, we left the appointment feeling very encouraged. Olivia is right where she needs to be for the time being. We are continuing with PT services at home twice a month (they recommend continuing for at least the next 3 months) and hope that by her 18 month appointment in July that she will be able to be discharged from these appointments too!

If you cannot already tell, we are proud parents--proud of the little girl Olivia is turning out to be and super proud of how far she has come from her tiny 2 pound 4 ounce self. (Did I mention she is now 20 pounds, over 2 feet tall, and wearing 18 month clothes--CRAZY!)

Here are some fun day to day pictures of her preciousness...