Post-op MRI results

A few weeks ago, Emma had a post-op MRI to compare to the one she had before all her big surgeries in January.  We got the results from Dr. Troup this week.  He feels that everything looks improved, and he was overall very pleased. Emma will go back for another MRI in 6 months, which will be 10 months after the surgery. 

One disappointing thing about this visit is that, much to Dr. Troup's surprise, Emma's choking has been getting worse. Well, Russell thinks it's the same, but my mom and I think it's worse. And we're the ones with her all day, so we must be right...right? :)  The severity of her episodes isn't worse, but the frequency definitely is. So disappointing. But who knows, maybe she has a little allergy drainage or something irritating her this time of year?

Emma also had another sleep study, and the results from it were positive as well. Her central apnea has improved, but it's still in the severe range. Not the best news, but I feel like we're due for at least a little good news with Emma's health.

Ok, enough about the medical stuff - pictures? Yes?

My girls

When Reese began rolling over at 4 weeks old (yep, 4 weeks) she really enjoyed it most in her crib.  Well Emma decided that she and Reese both should roll over in the crib together.  At the end of the video, Reese doesn't seem thrilled about this idea, so Emma tries to make her feel a little better.

And here's Reese rolling over REALLY early:

My mom, Emma, and Reese in their (coincidental) yellow attire - time for spring!

Miss Emma - time for an update

I described in my last post how things are going for Emma with a new baby sister.  And I'll leave it at that - time for a post dedicated to Emma.

She is thoroughly enjoying her new school.  Finally.  They sing all the time, and Emma comes home singing and doing all the motions.  She will burst into spontaneous song and dance in the car, too - precious.  She has learned how to write her name and really enjoys practicing her writing.

As for her surgery recovery, we still have not seen any improvements in her symptoms.  A couple interesting things happened this morning, though.  I have had my doubts about the orthopedist she sees at Shriner's - they basically missed her scoliosis at one visit and then had a very strong reaction to how bad it was at the next one.  I asked why it had gotten so much worse by the second visit to see if he would be truthful with me...and he was.  He basically told me they whiffed on the first one.

Even before that scoliosis debacle, we have been visiting another orthopedist for a second opinion.  Boy am I glad we see him.  This morning was a routine visit with doc #2, and when I expressed my frustrations about the scoliosis to him again, he decided to take some quick x-rays of Emma himself.  Since Emma can't stand up, her x-rays at Shriner's had to be taken sitting with her back against a wall.  Russell went back with Emma today, so I'm not sure how they accomplished it, but they got her x-rays today of Emma standing.  Think about your own posture - aren't you more slouched and curvy when you sit?  Duh.  You need to be standing for a spine x-ray.  So the orthopedist today told us that her scoliosis isn't as bad as we were led to believe it was.  Instead of her spinal curve being 50-something degrees, he estimates it's actually closer to 30-something degrees.  Still there, just not as bad.  So what does that mean?

There's a surgery being done for kids with scoliosis that helps slowly straighten the spine through periodic adjustments to some implanted "ribs."  It's called a VEPTR.  Sorry to be rude and blunt, but you can look it up if you want.  It's too much for me to go into right now.  Anyway, if Emma is a good candidate for this procedure in the future, it won't be as intense or long-lasting if the scoliosis starts out at a milder level.

The other thing we found isn't as great.  Emma had follow-up MRI's a couple weeks ago to provide comparative films to those taken in December.  Dr. Troup will look at them and tell us what he thinks about the results of the surgeries.  We haven't seen him yet, but since all these doctors are in the Greenville Health System, they can pull up anything in a patient's records.  The orthopedist this morning pulled up the MRI's and told us what the radiologist's notes said.  Cervical MRI (neck) - no change.  Thoracic MRI (mid-back) - no change.  Here's where I stopped him.  No change?  Does that mean the syrinx that was drained has already filled back up again?  After more careful reading of the notes, the doctor confirmed that that's what the radiologist's notes say.  He quickly abandoned the reading of the MRI's with a comment about Dr. Troup being the best at reading them, and we just moved on.  Sigh.

If the syrinx fills up on its own, that means that we'll be looking at ANOTHER surgery.  This one will involve putting a shunt on her spine to constantly drain the syrinx.  I haven't looked into the specifics of this surgery yet, though - no need to worry about it now.

Ok, now for some fun stuff.

Being pampered at the salon:

Clemson baseball game:

Easter:

One month...a little late

We're back.  Reese is napping, and I'm taking a minute to blog.  Phew.  Time sure has flown by, and I'm behind on everything - blogging, thank-you-note-writing, birth-announcement-addressing, exercising (Ha. Priorities.)

Reese, however, is not behind - at her one-month checkup, she was 8 lbs, 5.5 oz and 21 inches long.  She is in the 74th percentile for her height and 20-something percentile for her weight.  At 6 weeks, she is STILL wearing newborn diapers and preemie pants, but she is definitely growing.  She started sleeping through the night at 5 and a half weeks old...fluke?  Maybe...but it's been 8 nights in a row, with the exception of one.

Here are the obligatory one-month shots, including one when Lola got jealous and Reese's facial expression seems to say, "Figures.  The dog needs attention, as always."

For certain bottles, Reese is incredibly active afterwards - arms and legs flailing constantly.  She loves to be on her back for those little intervals and gets pretty mad when she's held or restrained.  If this happens at a restaurant, we put her on her memory foam changing pad on the table and let her go to town.  Don't judge.  You don't know.  Notice the blur in this photo?  Because she won't sit still:

And other times, she's completely milk drunk.  Comatose, even.

And burping her when she's like this?  Forget it.  Sometimes it makes feeding her take FOR. EV. ER.

My mom was really great about saving some of the special things from my childhood, and this is one of them - the gown I wore home from the hospital.  Reese is almost too long for it, so I'm glad she was able to wear it a few times.

That last picture above was the first smile I've gotten on camera.  Reese started smiling around 5 weeks, and she's still not super generous with them, but we get about one a day.  I also got her first bath on camera.  It wasn't a happy time, but I managed to get a few shots before the real screams started.

Like most babies, Reese has a witching hour.  It's later than most babies, around 7:00 or so.  Some nights are agonizing for all of us, including Emma.

Speaking of Emma, she isn't crazy about touching Reese.  I think she's scared to hold her or touch her.  But she does NOT like it when Reese is upset.  Emma will talk to Reese when she thinks we're not listening.  Things like, "Close your eyes and take a nap.  Just take a nap.  It's the rules."  Yep.  It's the rules.  I have no idea where that came from.  She brings Reese toys - Reese's toys, NOT Emma's toys, and Emma thinks that Reese prefers the purple binkies over the pink ones.  Emma has pink binkies for when she wants to sleep in the car...Emma is so particular.  Pink is for Emma, purple is for Reese.  Reese has her own toys, Emma has her own toys.  Sharing might be an issue in our house.

That's a good little summary of where we stand with Reese.  Next post - Emma!