6 weeks old, where does it go?

Hello Everyone. Yesterday PJ was 6 weeks old. Today, I took him to his pediatrician, because his sinuses have been plugging up since the beginning, just about, and it's gotten to the point where it's disrupting his sleep, and interfering with his feeding. (poor baby ) Also, his eyes are junky, have been since the beginning, too.

The Dr. ran a thin little tube up each nostril to make sure there were no blockages, and thankfully, there weren't, then with the same teeny tube tried to suction out any mucous that is bothering him, and there really wasnt any. He's just got teeny tiny sinuses, I guess. He screamed throughout this fun time. (Can you say, STRESS?) Any way, unfortunately there's nothing to give him at this young age to relieve his pluggy sinuses. We have noticed, however that it's worse at night, or at naptime, so the Dr. recommended we elevate his head a bit for sleeping, and I put him on my bed, on a pillow, and he's been asleep now for 4 hours and not making that awful snorkeling sound, and not waking with every little sound, as he has been doing, I think for not sleeping well. Of course, I've not figured out how to do this same set up in his bassinette, but I'm working on it.

His tear ducts are clogged. His eyes get goopy. Dr says he'll need to see an eye Dr. but not yet. Probably around 6 months. I just wonder if they'll get better on their own, or if he'll have to have surgery. Same with his sinuses, will they open up? Or will he have to have surgery to fix them?

He's now 19-1/2 inches long, and 8 pounds, exactly! Just like a newborn baby, only he's 6 weeks old. So, in 6 weeks, his total weight gain is 2 pounds, 10 ounces, and in length he's gained 2 and a half inches. Not too shabby, huh?

his eyes

Oh! What they do to me. They see into the very core of me. He understands the profound depth of my love for him. Those little almond shaped eyes, the window not only to his soul, but to my own. He is my heart, outside my body. God how I love this little man.

Down Syndrome Clinic at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital

Down Syndrome Clinic at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
Today was lil' PJ's appointment at the Down Syndrome Clinic, which is held every Thursday. I was so impressed with the level of care that our babies get here in Nashville. We were seen by a Speech Therapist, a Dietician, a Social Worker, a Physical Therapist, a Cardiologist, a Pediatrician and a Psychologist peeked in to say hello also.

PJ had an echocardiogram done (an ultrasound of the heart) and they did find a little bitty leak, which they call an Atrial Septal Defect. The Doctor assured us that his heart is strong, and he is a very healthy boy, and that many babies, of all developments have these, many are never dectected, but because they look so carefully at a down syndrome child's heart because of the high occurance of heart defects, they are often found in our babies. It's only 5mm in measurement, and it can't even be heard as a murmur, and he reassured me that 98 - 99% of cases resolve themselves within a short period of time. He says we'll re-do the echo in 3 months, and it will very likely be gone. If it doesn't go away on it's own, the dr. says that a surgery MAY be performed at around age 2, depending on PJ's overall health, but he really made it sound like that would not be the case.

PJ's weight is up to 6 pounds 10 ounces, so that's a total gain of 1 lb, 3.4 ounces since birth, in 3 weeks and 1 day. His color is good and nobody had any concerns with him overall. The time flew by, it wasnt boring or frustrating and there was no wait.

It was very educational. Oh. We even saw Sheila, the Director of the Down Syndrome Assoc. of Middle TN, who we met at the picnic early in the summer, so she got to see PJ for the first time.

I wonder how other cities compare in caring for our babies?

Hugs and love to all,
Kathy

Bath number 3

Ok, so we had to make sure bath number one and two we weren't going to drown the little wiggle worm, but by bath number three we felt confident enough to get a couple of pictures. He really is squirmy, but seems to like getting his bath.



Thanks!