THE appointment

On Monday March 4th, we had our BIG appointment.  The one where Finn needed to show some serious weight gain or we would be discussing surgery schedules.  Of course, he had come down with that virus exactly 2 weeks before the appointment.  And that first week of the virus he lost a good pound and half, if not more.  I was nervous and very stressed.  After having his coughing attacks over the weekend, I put a call into the doctor the next Monday.  Here we were one week before the appointment and he was well enough that I felt comfortable putting him back on his Periactin, but he was still having some coughing issues.  So the doctor prescribed a 5-day round of Prednisone.  While I will admit that I'm not a fan of Finn on steroids (or any kid for that matter) it does have an added side effect of increasing appetite.  By the time we were to go in on the 4th I knew he would make his weight goal.  In fact, I was sure he would be at least a half a pound over their 31 pound goal.  When their scale came up with 32.1 pounds I was elated!  To add to that, Finn did so well with check-in.  It was the best he had ever done!  He stepped right onto the scale without a fuss, let the big (and in my opinion, scary) man measure him, and even sat still for his blood pressure and oxygen levels.  He was a gem!  And I was one proud mom!

Treatments the weekend before the appointment

getting all checked-in

The doctor and nutritionist were amazed at his weight gain.  The term "g-tube" wasn't even mentioned once!  And when I asked about his endoscopy that we had scheduled she felt we should hold off on that as well.  We both agreed that it wasn't necessarily the best time of year to have him at the hospital, that his high risk airway issues were concerns, and that my observations about his constipation leading to vomiting made a lot of sense.  She felt that as long as he was gaining his weight, we were good to let things go for a bit.  Happy day!!

It was a quick appointment.  We were out in record time--about an hour and a half--and we don't have to go back for another 3 months.  So, the next time we talk to Dr. Z is to ask her help to speed up the newborn screen process for baby girl!  I can't believe that I have a free month and half (without the thoughts of surgery and hospitalizations hanging over my head) to think about this pregnancy and get ready for baby.  What a great blessing!  Thank you all for your prayers!