Visit with Dr. Pranikoff

Today, Rachel had another follow up with her surgeon, Dr. Pranikoff. We got to travel back to Baptist Hospital. We hadn't been there in at least a month which was weird. We got taken back to the exam room quickly (wow) and then Rachel was weighed. Now, last week, last Tuesday at her pediatricians, she weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces and that was right when she started to get sick. Rachel was really sick all last week until Friday night when her fever broke. She has ear infections and a horrible cough now but last week she was barely eating as well. I was so afraid to see her weight today. I thought for sure she was going to be down half a pound. Well, I worry for nothing I guess. Rachel only lost 2 ounces and I know with the way she is eating again, she will gain that back by tomorrow. Whew. When you are the mom of a NICU baby, and you lived and died by the weight they gained (or didn't gain) then it's really hard to let that part go. Here Rachel was having a hard time breathing and her poor little ears hurt and I couldn't get over the fact she wasn't eating enough. Sometimes you have to take a step back and see what an idiot you are being. Anyway, Dr. Pranikoff was happy with how she was looking and how nice her scar looked and because we didn't have any problems to report, he sent us on our merry way. We will see him again in June and probably once more in September but then no more after that unless we have problems. I really don't think there will be any.

We stopped by the NICU with Rachel to donate some blankets and to see if some nurses we know where there so we could say hello. Unfortunately, they were not. So, I just want to say hello to Digi, Jamie, Sherri and even lactation expert, Martha if any of you are reading this. Though I am happy we are done with the NICU, I still miss seeing you guys. You were the light of my days there sometimes. I can't wait until Rachel is bigger and I can introduce her to you and she can say "Thank you" for herself for all that you did.

***It's really hard to get any pictures of Rachel smiling. She hates the camera. As soon as she sees it, she stops talking or smiling and just stares at it or looks away. One of these days we'll have to sneak some pics of some smiles as one of us holds her and talks to her because that is all she does most of the day. Since she stared feeling better, she talks to us constantly!