Princess

Sorry everyone...I haven't had a chance to update the blog in over 10 days but I've been a bit of a Princess and extremely busy. I was interviewing Nanny's so Mommy and Daddy can get some help around the house and to take care of me because I am a bit of a handful. We found Auntie Soufei, a very nice lady from Taiwan who's very sweet to me. She is always singing and playing with me. Mommy and Daddy like her too...and the best part is she is a really good cook! Daddy is quickly gaining back all the weight he lost in the Challenge. I am doing really well at home and have double my weight since coming home...I am over 9 lbs now! I am starting to outgrow some of my preemie clothes...you know what that means Daddy...Godmother Cindy is taking me shopping...Neiman Marcus here we come!!!

Labor Day Weekend

I had a bunch of visitors Labor Day weekend, so Mommy dressed me up like a ballerina.



Daddy says ballet dancers have messed up feet and toes from being on their tippy toes all the time. I think I may have an advantage because I have big chubby toes and can probably balance on them for a long time.



Godmother Cindy came up early in the week...but she conveniently forgot to bring up her Chanel Bag collection for me.



I'll let it slide this time because Godmother Cindy came up to help before the Nanny started and let Mommy and Daddy spend some time together and relax. Mommy and Daddy got to go out and have dinner at "Sea Salt" with the generous gift certificate that the Xolair Team from Mommy's work gave them.


Mommy's friend, Auntie Yi from SoCal came up to visit for the weekend too.


















Auntie Sadie (Daddy's cousin) and her "new" fiance Uncle Justin stopped by too. They have been dating for a long time and I think Auntie Sadie started playing that Beyonce song "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" and started singing...

Cuz if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it
Don’t be mad once you see that he want it
If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it

Uncle Justin got the message.

You looking at me...

Mommy and Daddy said they were getting lots of emails and calls because I haven't posted on my blog for 10 days...sorry I have been busy...that is busy gaining weight! I am now 7.5 lbs.

It was pretty hectic last week leading up to the Labor Day weekend...I had a couple of doctors appointments, home visit from Jan the developmental specialist and Godmother Cindy came up from LA to help out.

So I had a follow up with Dr. William the ophthalmologist and we got some good news...my ROP looks like it's starting to resolve by itself so I probably won't need to get a laser treatment. I need to go back to see Dr. William next week for another follow up and hopefully my eyes keep fixing themselves. I am using the Force like a Jedi and channeling all the positive thoughts from everyone into my healing. Mommy keeps calling me her "Little Yoda"...I don't know why...I am not green and don't have pointy ears....must be the cheeks.





I also went and saw two surgeons last week. When I went to see Dr. Myles my pediatrician, Mommy and Daddy were worried about a little sore I developed on my belly by my incision scar, so Dr. Myles arranged for me to see a surgeon right away at Children's Hospital of Oakland. I got to see Dr. Wolfgang...funny my doggy is named Wolfie, which is short for Wolfgang. Dr. Wolfgang wasn't too concerned about the sore, which turned out to be a stitch abscess - basically one of my stitches beneath my skin was working it's way out and got a bit infected. But Mommy and Daddy have been keeping it clean so it should just heal itself in about two weeks. Well we talked about doing when we should do my reattachment surgery and it looks like the earliest would be November...Dr. Wolfgang wants me to get good and fat....probably over 10 lbs before scheduling.



I also saw Dr. Tippi who did my original surgery at CPMC when I had NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) and she basically said the same thing as Dr. Wolfgang...so we wait and keep dealing with the ileostomy bag. Mommy and Daddy hate having to change the bag because I wail and cry really really loud because it hurts when they have to remove it. We typically need to change the bag every day or two but sometimes we've had to change it 3-4 times in one day because the pouching system doesn't adhere well because I have a big hernia and the bag ends up leaking.

Where the Wild Things Are

Mommy is having lots of fun dressing me up. She didn't play with dolls when she was a kid because she had so many male relatives...so she's reliving her childhood with me as her baby doll....great!

Look at the wall of outfits...Mommy is gonna have a great time dressing me up. See how I look like that little Hello Kitty doll on the wall over Grandpa head. Grandma likes my outfits especially the one with the brown top and pink heart...she was asking Mommy where she got it and if they had one in her size. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit last week from Houston.



Last week was animal week, Mommy was dressing me up in these cute and sometimes silly outfits.



Here I am suppose to look like a yellow rubber ducky...see the little duckies on my feet...ha ha!



I am posing and doing my imitation of that Aflac duck.




Isn't it ironic that people like to their baby to look like animals and their animals to look like people?




I wonder if Ewok is embarrassed that other dogs will laugh at her because she has on a red bow tie?

Bobbleheads

Daddy thinks Mommy and I look like Bobbleheads in this picture. Mommy thinks Daddy is an idiot!

Three more letters...ROP

I went to the ophthalmologist today to have my eyes checked and guess what...another three letter acromyn. I have Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) which is an eye disease that affects prematurely born babies, especially those with very low birth weigh like me. If I was a full term baby, my retina would have matured while I was in Mommy's tummy and I would have a fully vascularized retina with organized blood vessels. However, coming out early, my retina was not fully vascularized and my retinal blood vessels probably stopped and started to grow abnormally which may result in scarring and retinal detachment. ROP can be mild and may resolve spontaneously, but may lead to blindness in serious cases...Stevie Wonder had ROP.

Daddy told me that between 1941–1953, there was a worldwide epidemic of ROP. Cases were then seen all over the world and the cause was, at that point, unknown. By 1951 a clear link between incidence and affluence became clear: many cases were seen in developed countries with organized and well-funded health care. Two British scientists suggested that it was oxygen toxicity that caused the disease. Babies born prematurely in such affluent areas were treated in incubators which had artificially high levels of oxygen. Studies on rats made this cause seem more likely, but the link was eventually confirmed by a controversial study undertaken by American pediatricians. The study involved two groups of babies. Some were given the usual oxygen concentrations in their incubators, while the other group had "curtailed" oxygen levels. The latter group was shown to have a lower incidence of the disease. As a result, oxygen levels in incubators were lowered and consequently the epidemic was halted. Both oxygen toxicity and relative hypoxia can contribute to the development of ROP.

So I need to go back and see the ophthalmologist next week for follow up. It's just my right eye and it's treatable. If it doesn't resolve by itself then I will need to get laser ablation therapy which is a fancy way to say"burns away" the periphery of the retina, which has no normal blood vessels. That would mean that I would have to be admitted back into the hospital for a couple of days.

I am also going to see my surgeon next week...maybe I can get a two for one deal and get my eye done and my intestine reattached at the same time!

Thank you for smoking!

The last couple of weeks have been super busy with lots of doctors appointments and home visits. I've been to the pediatrician weekly and Dr. Myles says I am doing great...gaining lots of weight and over 5.5 lbs! I think most of my weight gain last week was in my feet. I have toes like Fred Flintstone!



I also had a visit by Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Betty from the Medically Vulnerable Infants Program (MVIP). The program provides early intervention services for babies from birth to age three who are at risk for developmental problems because of medical conditions or complications surrounding the pregnancy or birth. The program provides home support for families and needed intervention to foster optimal developmental outcomes for each child. Over the next three years, Nurse Practitioner Betty will be doing home visits to play with me and follow my development. Well that is as long as there is funding from Sacramento and people keep smoking.

Daddy and Mommy said smoking is bad for me but ironically also good for me because the MVIP gets funding from First 5 California, also known as the California Children and Families Commission. In 1998, the voters passed California Proposition 10, an initiative state constitutional amendment in the California General Election. The official name of this amendment is “The Children and Families First Act.” This amendment put a $.50 tax on cigarettes, and even up to $1 on other tobacco products such as chewing tobacco and cigars. The revenue from this tax go to funding early childhood education in California like First 5.

So thank you for smoking...but for your own good you should look into a smoking cessation program! (hint hint...Godmother Cindy)