Update on Ashlyn

We have something to be very thankful for this Thanksgiving. Ashlyn had a wonderful appointment with her neurosurgeon yesterday. Dr. S was happy with her progress and says she is doing great. From now on, she will just need to go in for an annual visit to check her shunt (unless complications arise of course). Her head size is 43.5 mm, which puts her at the 75th percentile. Imagine that....my daughter with hydrocephalus who had been off the charts is in the 75th percentile! Absolutely amazing! We feel so blessed that Ashlyn is doing so well despite her rocky start.

Tomorrow, Ashlyn will be introduced to solid food at her first Thanksgiving celebration. I cannot wait, and I will definitely take lots of pics to capture the special day. :)

Ashlyn's 2 Month Checkup

Ashlyn had a couple of doctor's appointments on Tuesday. First, she got up bright and early to go see her neurosurgeon, Dr. S. We were in the examination room for 5 minutes max (gotta love those specialists)! Dr. S. looked at her incisions, felt her fontanelle, measured her head circumference, and inspected the fluid accumulation around her shunt.

He said everything looks great right now, and she is back to the 98% on her head circumference chart (she had been off the charts). He told me not to worry about the ridge along her coronal suture that it is nothing to be concerned about right now. Phew! He did mention that the fluid accumulation around her shunt is not necessarily a bad thing, but he usually sees it decreasing by this point. If the fluid continues to increase around the shunt, he mentioned he might consider a shunt revision in the future. But for now, everything is going just as it should be! We don't have to go back to see Dr. S. for 4 months. And if everything is still going so well, we will just have to have a checkup with him once a year.

Later we went to Ashlyn's 2 month checkup with her pediatrician, Dr. A. Drumroll please......

Here are her most recent stats:
Height: 22 1/4 inches (55%)
Weight: 11lbs 12oz (75%)
Head: 40.8 cm (98%)

In 3 weeks, she gained 1lb 4oz and 3/4 inches. My baby is growing up way too fast!!

The rest of the appointment went well. Dr. A did an assessment, which was completely normal. After talking with me, Dr. A decided to increase Gracie's dose of Zantac to 0.6ml twice a day. At the very end of the appointment, my sweet baby girl had to get 4 shots and 1 oral vaccine! Her reaction to the injections broke my heart....it is so sad to see your baby cry out in pain. Poor girl...but she was brave and only cried for a minute after the nurse was all done.

I cannot get over that my little angel is 2 months old.....And I cannot believe how great she is doing! I feel so blessed that everything is going so much better than I could have ever expected. Ashlyn Grace truly is my amazing little miracle. I feel so grateful that God has blessed us with her. Okay, I need to stop typing because I am already starting to get teary eyed!