NICU visitors and fun, normal days

We had some folks over at our house last night as two Physicians Assistants (PAs)-- Lauren and Rebecca-- and one nurse, Clarissa, came over to check out Madeleine's growth. It was great catching up with the three as we spent so many days with them in the NICU at Children's. It was also great to hear their comments about Madeleine's growth. We know she's doing great but it helps to hear from folks who spent a great deal of time with her when she weighed 3 lbs as it reinforces how far we've come. Check out this link for a few pictures (we didn't take many-- guess we got caught up in visiting).



Madeleine's medical stroller also arrived today. The stroller has a few benefits. First, it is designed to promote good posture and actually comes with a rolling seat attachment that allows us to move Madeleine around the house (smaller than the actual stroller). The stroller itself also has a medical poll so when we're out of the house-- typically at doctor's visits, we can easily hang her feeding pump and bag. We were somewhat reluctant to get the stroller as we didn't want a "medical" stroller but it looks pretty good and Madeleine seems to like it:

(I love that outfit-- wish I could get a coverall made out of sweatpants with a hood in my size.)

We also had our first visit from the county physical and occupational therapist. Kirsten worked with her for a few hours and we learned a lot of tips on how we can ensure that Madeleine develops appropriately. The key now that she's growing is that we want her to develop her muscles and bone structure appropriately. Premature babies as well as babies with Down Syndrome, lack proper muscle tone and that can lead to poor posture and other factors that can impact development. We have a long ways to go but we think that we're headed in the right direction. Therapists will be out every week to monitor Madeleine's progress and to provide additional ideas that we can implement.

Finally, here's a quick video of Madeleine. This was taken over the past weekend so she's grown some since then. Still, its pretty representative of Madeleine's demeanor-- she's a happy and active baby:

That's all for now. Madeleine also went to the hospital today to get blood taken for follow-on labs related to Madeleine's high platelet levels and elevated liver functioning tests. I'll post the results and any next steps once we hear back from the doctors tomorrow.