It seems that everyone in the Gatewood house is healthy at the moment. (Well, that is, except for Bradley who is chronically ill. His kidney values were so bad last Friday that the vet thought by Monday we'd have to put him down, but after lots of subcutaneous fluids and Dave's remarkable pet nursing skills, he's perked up and is eating so we're just taking it day by day now.)
Last Saturday Claire's breathing became worse, despite the doctor on Friday saying that that day was probably the peak of the illness and she would begin improving. We called the doctor Saturday afternoon and he asked a ton of questions and determined that she was continuing to do OK. So we continued her breathing treatments all day and night and watched her like a hawk.
On Sunday her breathing was even worse: she was wheezing and congested, breathing 85-90 times per minute (normal respiration rate is 30/minute), and showing her ribs when she breathed (a sign of labored breathing). After another call to the doctor, he suggested we take her to ER. So off we went to St. Mary's ER for the second time in less than three weeks. Even though her breathing rate was scary, her blood oxygen levels were good. They gave her Motrin for the fever and more breathing treatments, and after spending the entire afternoon there for observation, she was sent home.
We followed up with the pediatrician on Monday and she was better, and she continued to get better this whole week. I would say now she's pretty much back to normal.
On Wednesday she had her 6-month check-up with her regular doctor. She weighs 19 pounds 6 ounces! (90th percentile for weight and 75th for length) And she was well enough to receive all her vaccinations, including her flu shot.
The only bad news from her appointment is that she hasn't lost her tongue thrust reflex. That's a newborn reflex that causes the baby to push out non-liquid substances from her mouth to prevent her from choking, but it's supposed to disappear by the fourth month so the baby can move food from the front of her mouth to the back. Even though Claire has an interest in eating solid food, she's unable to do it properly, and the doctor said that if she still can't eat properly within a month, we'll have to take her to be evaluated by a speech therapist (I guess they're trained to correct infant feeding problems too). Whatever...I think this is a minor bump in the road compared to the other things we've had to deal with over the past year!
I still need to work on uploading the video of Claire. That is, as soon as I get our thank-you notes completed for Christmas presents, Christmas decorations put away, and some laundry done! Things have been a little crazy around here.
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