From Two to Five in Nine Months! Ok, 27 Weeks and 3 days...: Two Year Check Up and Brielle's EEG

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Two Year Check Up and Brielle's EEG

The girls had their two year check up this week which was exhausting to say the least. Imagine three two-year olds and three adults all in one little exam room. It gets a little crowded and the girls get a little impatient. I wanted to talk with the doctor about some concerns I had about Brielle, but it was almost impossible amongst the chaos.

Luckily their exams went rather quickly and our awesome nanny took then out of the room so we could think straight. Brielle's weight is about 19 pounds 2 ounces (she screams bloody murder when we try and weigh her) give or take an ounce or two. She is only up one pound from her last visit and is now starting to trend downward on the preemie growth cart. She isn't a dot yet on the "big kid" chart. So we talked about her eating. (The girl can eat). We talked about her stools. (She goes number two 3-4 times a day). She still breathes more rapidly due to her lung condition which may be causing her to burn more calories. The doctor and I were mildly concerned so decided to run some tests. Brielle was not a fan of that decision. She had to get her blood drawn and we have to collect a urine and stool sample at home and bring it into the clinic. The doctor is mainly looking for any disease that may cause malabsorption of nutrients (ie celiac disease). So far everything has come back normal! We are hoping she hits a growth spurt one of these days. If not, we have the option of putting her on an appetite stimulant.

I was also concerned about her staring. There is a type of seizure (absence) where a child just stares off into space. Brielle stares and sometimes I don't know if she is staring at something or just staring. So we decided we should run an EEG to make sure she isn't having seizure activity. Let me tell you that was an awful morning for us. As soon as they put her name band on she said, "No, all done!" We then went into the room which has the same equipment as what was needed for her sleep study. She looked at me again and said, "No, all done!" I told her I wish but not yet. I literally had to lay on top of her to keep her still so the nurse could put the 30 electrodes on her head. It should have been a short and sweet process, but it took us about 45 minutes. She kept telling us she was all done which broke my heart. As soon as her electrodes were on she curled up next to me and fell fast asleep. Hopefully, they find nothing and once again it's me being paronoid. We are still waiting for the official EEG results.

So, not to forget the other two. Teagan and Rianne and growing well, but we did have a discussion about hitting and discipline strategies. We will see if they are effective or not. Teagan has mellowed out a bit and Rianne has become the one who is a handful. Rianne is getting her molars, so maybe (crossing fingers) once they come thru, things will be better.

Rianne is 24 pounds 2 ounces (16%) and 33 3/4" (52%) tall
Teagan is 24 pounds 6 ounces (19%) and 32 3/4" (25%) tall
Brielle is 19 pounds 2 ounces and 30" tall.

Dad thinks these numbers are bunk and that they should measure on October 8th, their actual due date, but now that there are four women in the house, not a lot of anyone listens to daddy.