Sniffles And Penguin Update

The first stuffy nose cold is runny though our house now. And yes, Tyler has it too. With all the trips to Dr.'s offices we've made, it's not surprising that we've picked up a cold virus despite washing and Purell. We've watched Rachel first come down with a cough and a slight fever on Tuesday. When a movie is more appealing than her playground, you know she is not feeling well. By Thursday morning we could hear a dreadful rattle in Tyler's breathing. Friday we went to the Dr.'s office just to make sure his lungs were clear and they were. After a few sleepless nights holding a baby that no one wants you to medicate because the stuffiness makes him unable to lay down on his back, and he's doing fine. Tyler is a superstar. His oxygen saturation never left the high 90's even though you can tell he was having a hard time breathing and he hasn't lost much weight from his 2 days of loss of appetite. At Friday's visit to the Dr, he weighted in at 8 pounds 1 ounce. Up 15 ounces in 8 days. The Dr. did a double take on those numbers. So far Saturday night, everyone is resting comfortably. Rachel still has her cough, but her playground is her best friend again. She wanted to sleep on it tonight. And Tyler is back to eating like a little piggy every 3 or so hours.

We had our little trip to Dartmouth on Wednesday. The ride up, a few Dr visits, and the ride back is exhausting. Tyler had is last torture eye exam. He graduates to having a high risk eye Dr in Concord now. He will be watched for problems like lazy eye and poor vision issues and is no longer at risk for retina problems. I believe he will have a regular eye exam around November. We also saw the Neonatologist. She thought Tyler look great. Very happy with his weight gain, his tone and movements, and off the oxygen. We did not see the neurosurgeon this trip. We've got to go back next week for that. He still has this big egg shaped pocket of fluid under his sutures that everyone up there says is normal. also our visit from Early Intervention was boring. It was all paperwork. The person who came out wasn't a therapist. Within the next two weeks he will be seen by a therapist and speech development.
All in all, a sleepless week for parents. Hopefully Tyler is growing fast enough to be on track to slow down on night feeds here soon.