Tori's 4 month appointment at Children's Hospital.....

Today Tori had her 4 month appointment with the high risk clinic at the hospital. A few weeks late, due to scheduling conflicts with our favorite doctor, but worth the wait!

Tori now weighs 12 lbs 3 oz and is 24 inches long! Talk about a growth spurt! Her head is just under 16" which he was really thrilled about since it indicates normal brain growth, something they worry about with preemies.....he said that her head is actually on the charts! He has been working with preemies since 1974 and said that normal head growth is one of the greatest indicators of a positive outcome overall!

He completely agreed with me about delaying solids, saying that he would prefer that we wait until at least 4 or 5 months adjusted age (so 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 months actual age) to even consider starting and that if we wanted to wait LONGER that was fine with him. He is THRILLED that she is nursing and completely breastfed at this point.

She was cleared for her surgery next Friday to remove all of the hardware they placed when they did her bilateral nasolacrimal reconstruction. Surgery is scheduled for 1:30 PM, we have to be at the hospital at noon. Prayers would be much appreciated!

There are 2 issues they are concerned with:

1) there is a slight "turning in" or crossing of her left eye. He said it is very slight and something that the eye doctor may want to follow. He said it will most likely correct itself, but to be aware of it and alert the eye doctor if it seems to get worse.

2) Tori has "uneven tone". There seems to be a slight difference in tone between her left and right side of her body. Because of this she tends to turn her head to the right (or is it left, I am so confused!!) and only used her right arm to reach for toys. The uneven tone is most obvious in her neck and arms. The doctor mentioned that her head lag (head falling back) doesn't have to do with the size of her head but because the muscles in the back of her neck are tight. The physical therapist gave us a bunch of exercises to work on and we are going to start physical therapy in 6 weeks. They are hoping that since they caught it now that by the time we go in to start therapy the issue will resolve itself. Ironically I had mentioned to Jay a few weeks back that she seemed "tighter" than our other kids had across her chest and through her arms.

We aren't due back at the high risk clinic until near the end of May!