Doctor's Appointments

Yesterday we had Tanner's 15 month check-up and Peyton's 4 year check-up. Both are doing amazingly well. They are both small but I didn't expect anything else.

Tanner's stats are:

Weight - 19.14 lbs (0.69%)
Length - 30.25 in (16.73%)
Head - 17.5 in (1.19%)

Peyton's stats are:

Weight - 30.2 lbs (7.52%)
Length - 37.5 in (6.16%)

We still can't turn Tanner around in his car seat due to the weight requirement! It's a good thing he has two older brothers to watch while in his car seat. I think he would be a little bit happier in the car if we could turn him around. So, it looks like I might need to help him gain some weight. The doctor did say I could put Carnation Instant Breakfast in his milk to help him gain weight. I'm not concerned and neither is the doctor....it was just a suggestion. He is still WAY behind in his gross motors skills so we will continue working with his physical therapist. She comes out twice a month and so far Tanner is doing really well. He is now cruising all of the furniture and he just started to try to climb on the couch. It's still a little tall for him though! His preferred mode of transportation is still the bum scoot. It's so stinking cute. He does know how to crawl; he just doesn't care to do it. He is starting to bridge gaps between the couch and coffee table. We are hopeful that he will be walking before Disney World in October! He also cut a tooth on the bottom last week. He has his top two and now one on the bottom!

Peyton is also doing really well. He is looking pink and has way too much energy. He is usually up by about 6:15AM to tell me he has to go potty. And then he climbs in my bed and does NOT go back to sleep! He is potty trained during the day but not at night. He wakes up dry about 1/4 of the time. He has been on diuretics since his surgery so I'm thinking that might be part of our issue. It's just nice not having to change diapers on him anymore. He has had an accident or two when he is playing and doesn't think to stop and go potty. And now he realizes that he doesn't have to ask me everytime he needs to go. He just goes to the bathroom and takes care of business!

Peyton also had a Cardiology appointment this morning. His sats are in the high 80's. This is the first appointment in a long time that we haven't had an EKG, a chest x-ray, or an ECHO. It was so weird to do his weight, height, blood pressure, and sats and then just wait to talk to the doctor! The doctor says he looks awesome! She is having us slowly get rid of his Lasix and Aldactone. She wants to have him completely off those two by the time Disney World comes around. If we can get rid of those two, he will only be on one aspirin a day. That's what we had pre-surgery so I can't wait to get back to that! And if we can do it before Disney World, I won't have to worry about a refrigerated med for the trip. She doesn't want to see us again until NOVEMBER! That's 4 months! She said he is fine for all the rides at Disney as long as he meets the height requirement.

I also realized today that we have had a pretty easy ride with HLHS. I asked the Cardiologist why Peyton had the BT Shunt in the beginning instead of the Norwood, like most HLHS kids do. She said that when they do the Norwood, they are also repairing the aorta. In Peyton, he has always had a good aorta so we have never had to mess with that. With this being the case, we avoided one less open heart surgery and the recovery that comes with that. It just showed me that every kid with HLHS is different and that Peyton's is a very special case. Most HLHS kids have aorta problems, not pulmonary vein problems. And our issues have always been the pulmonary veins versus the aorta.

Anyway, we had some great reports from the doctors and are pleased with the outcome! Hopefully I will get around to posting the pictures that have been sitting on my camera for about 2 months now!