Morgan Kate

Today Morgan Kate had her eye exam. It happened to fall at the same time as one of her feedings. Argh! So we packed the OG tube, 30 cc syringe, 5 cc syringe, tape, and stethoscope. We also packed a bottle just in case Morgan Kate was feely froggy. Thank goodness she was feeling froggy and took the entire bottle. Yahoo!

Good news! Morgan Kate's eye appointment went very well, except for the fact that Travis and I had to hear our sweet baby scream in pain. Oh, it was awful. However, Dr. C is terrific and tried to be quick. He said that her eyes have completely matured and are fully developed. He also said there is no sign of ROP. Awesome news! He no longer needs to see her, as he is a retina specialist, but she will need to see a pediatric opthamologist for the first few years of her life. Premature babies have a higher incidence of being nearsighted or cross-eyed, so these visits will be a preventative measure. We will not see this doctor until April. We are both so thankful that things went well today. We had a really good feeling about it, but then again you never really know. Needless to say, the news was a much needed relief.

Morgan Kate did a terrific job with the bottle at the eye doctor, but feeding has gotten progressively worse all day. She only took half of her bottle earlier and tonight I basically had to force it down. She has also been pretty fussy. I'm not sure if her ear is bothering her or if her stomach is hurting because of the antibiotic. We have a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning...hopefully we can figure it out.

Before Morgan Kate ever came home I briefly mentioned one night in a post about RSV. I never really talked about it or went into detail. At least I don't think so anyway. My brain is not nearly what it used to be and a lot of things run together. Anyway, RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus. I had never heard of RSV before our NICU days. However, I learned very quickly that it is something we MUST avoid. In adults, RSV is much like a simple cold, but in infants, especially premature infants or infants with other issues, it can be much more serious and even fatal. If Morgan Kate were to get RSV she would be back in the hospital and on a ventilator. Since Morgan Kate was born prematurely and has chronic lung disease she receives an Synagis injection each month during the RSV season (November-April). This Synagis injection helps prevent RSV and she will get these injections until she is at least two years of age. The reason I mention all of this tonight is because 1.) it's RSV season and Morgan Kate's lungs are extremely weak and 2.) a "fellow blogger" known as "MckMama" is dealing with RSV at this very moment and it scares me to death. This particular mom has her own blog which I keep up with daily and it's absolutely amazing. I don't know her personally, we have never talked, but she seems like such a great person. She dealt with some extremely scary things while pregnant and now she is having to deal with this. Bless her heart!  Her youngest child, Stellan is about eight weeks old (maybe a little older) and was just diagnosed with RSV. This weekend it started as a cold, little bit of mucus, runny nose and so forth. Today he was having an extremely hard time breathing, his oxygen sats were below where they needed to be and just recently he was admitted to the pediatric ICU. He is on the verge of needing the ventilator. It scares me to death because he is healthy and nothing is wrong with his lungs and he is now in the ICU. This is something that Morgan Kate HAS to avoid. It kills me that we can't share her with all of our wonderful family and friends, but at the same time I realize her health is our top priority and she cannot afford to get RSV. Tonight I will be praying for baby Stellan. I pray that he will be healed and he will recover. I also pray that his parents have strength and courage. Scary, scary! You can check out their site by clicking on this image:

On a much, much lighter note please take a look at the picture below.

Now, you may be wondering, "What is this?" or "Why is Heather showing us this?" Well, around 10pm last night I was drawing up some meds for Morgan Kate in a syringe. The syringe was not cooperating and I noticed that it shot some of the medicine into the air. Okay, no big deal. I chuckled a little. (It doesn't take much to amuse me.) I saw some of the medicine fall on the island and thought nothing more of it. I simply cleaned it up and told Travis what had happened. He started laughing and said, "Did you check the ceiling?" The ceiling? Why would I check the ceiling? I walked back in the kitchen and looked up. There it was, amoxicillin all over our ceiling. Oh, and the best part...it will not come off. Apparently, Travis had an experience similar to this the night before, but he missed the ceiling by a few inches.