Friday, September 15, 2006

Babies Update

So far, everyone is doing better.

Mom still has some pain for the C section. It takes about 6 weeks to fully recover. You hear about women who prefer a C section, as it is more "convenient", more civilized and less painful. I do not see how anyone would choose a C section over natural childbirth. It is major surgery, one of the few that they have to cut you open for. I recommend avoiding it if possible.

Katherine is doing great. She is eating a lot, but she usually gives us 3-4 hours between feedings. We have to supplement her feeding with formula, as the wife is constantly pumping breast milk, as we try to get as much as possible to Jocelyn. I think the wife is starting to feel a bit like a cow.

Jocelyn is doing better. All drugs, IV's etc are out of her. She is still feeding through a tube and the plan is to wean her off of that. It must be done slowly, to ensure she still gains weight and can feed normally when we get her home. We hope to have her home in 1-2 weeks.

On the other aspect, we still do not know what is wrong. They are suggesting her brain development was not normal, based on an MRI. However, they cannot (or will not) speculate on what that means for her development. My understanding is that most of the time they cannot tell, and must monitor the child's development and base any predictions on that.

So, it seems unlikely that we will get any definitive answers. We will be taking her in for scans at regular intervals for probably the next 5 years, and maybe to special development training. Not much more to say on this subject. It could be nothing; she might be similar to her sister as she develops. Or not. And we may not know until it happens.

That said, she has undergone some tests that are grounds for hope. Her hearing and eyesight tests are normal. She was very alert the other day when I visited her and she seemed to look and respond to my face and voice. I also heard her cry to the first time, although it was a weak and half-assed attempt. Nothing like her sister's.

I want to thank all the readers of this blog for their positive comments and prayers. It means a lot to us that there are people thinking and praying for our daughter.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting the update... I'll keep your family in my prayers for a while yet! Glad to hear Jocelyn is doing better though.

And your wife has my empathy on the C-section! I had my gallbladder out awhile back and that was teeny tiny incisions and it took forever to feel normal again... I am really hoping to avoid a C-section.

Anonymous said...

I am glad things are going better for you all.

Spitfire said...

Thanks for the update. I'm still thinking good thoughts for your family. I'm glad things are better.

Candace said...

I had a C-section - make sure she doesn't overdo it during the recovery, or it will take much more than 6 weeks (speaking from experience).

Hope your babies are both doing okay now.