Rocking Roy

Roy's had a very settled week since his reflux has got under control. He is now (mostly) a delight. He is inclined to cry before he goes to sleep, but it is a bareable cry and not terribly distressing.

He is only 12 weeks, but it seems like long-long ago since he was in hospital with heart-failure. It even seems like ages ago that he was getting the nurse visiting twice a week, and me giving him medicine 5 different times a day around the clock.

Roy seems to be a fan of Elvis. I gave Sheena a bath and left him listening to Elvis in the lounge. Not a wimper.

Dangerous Dinasaurs

Roy had his first night sleeping through the night without a feed. Not bad going for a breastfed baby at 11 weeks.

He has so far managed to avoid his sister's very bad cold and conjunctivitis. He's already laughing at her singing antics at dinner time.

Roy is now off his lasix and we've noticed that his face is filling out now that he is off the diuretics.

We still can't work out if his hair is blond, brown or red, but I am leaning towards dark-blond.

MUCH Better

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Roy is doing so well. His appointment with the cardiologist went better than we expected.

In the space of a week he's been weaned off all his heart meds. Roy is MUCH more settled so its either the Zantac kicking in, me going off caffine, or its coming off the captopril, either way its lovely... and a relief.

We see the cardiologist again when Roy is 6 months, and he'll have another Echo and an ECG then. He's still got a murmur now, but its much better. He is so much healthier that he no longer qualifies for the monthly RSV immunisation shots that were costing $2,500 a pop (govt funded). If he got bronchiolitis now, it would be similar to most kids getting a nasty chest infection, and not immediately life threatening. We only have to get Roy weighed as per the normal schedule which is about monthly at his age.

Otherwise, Roy is rolling over already having just turned 11 weeks. He's about to go in this photo.

Smiles for the camera

Roy is still very unsettled for periods of the day. I still think it might be due to all the heart-meds he is on, and it upsetting his tummy. He only had one feed overnight last night (hip-hip-hooray), but was up for an hour after it rather than dozing back off to sleep. Ironically, I am sleeping much better than when I was pregnant - and it wasn't just the last trimester, it was the whole pregnancy.

Roy sees his cardiologist today, and I think (hope), the plan will be to take him off captopril. He hasn't gained weight over the past 10 days, so he might just not be having a growth spurt for now. Regardless, I am confident that he'll be happy with how Roy is looking.

Is it over?

Roy has had a very difficult week with colic. Not a lot of fun for anyone in the house. We seem to have found some relief thanks to Donnalix. Roy's Peadiatrition suggested it, and its the last line of non-prescription medications to treat colic. He's been settled since he's had it today - amazing what 1ml of the right stuff can do to a baby. Infacol and Gripe Water had been pretty much useless.

Otherwise, the Pead was pleased with Roy, and he said if he didn't know Roy's cardiac history, he would have no concerns with his breathing or general health. We have to see him again when Roy is 6 months, but we'll be seeing the cardiologist regularly in the meantime.

Not much else to report. Colic is quite all consuming.

Seven Week Smiles

We got several genuine smiles from Roy today. Quite the happy camper. He barely needed his do-do (which he's been addicted to), so I think his tummy has settled down. He was pretty content wherever he was which made the day very easy. Sheena is getting used to her baby brother being around, and seems to be able to hear him call before I do, saying Roy-oy-oy. The health nurse visited him today to do all the measurements and developmental checks which are going fine.

Yesterday was quite another story, when he had his immunisations. He got the normal vaccinations, as well as his extra one for the RSV virus. We had them done at the Childrens hospital due to his cardiac risk factor. I left home at 9.15am, the appointment was at 10.30am, and I didn't get out of there until 2.30pm. No ones fault, just a combination of going at baby breast-feeding pace, as well as going from clinic to clinic while I sorted out getting scripts for this and that. Roy got a mild fever and was quite unsettled in the early evening, so had some panadol that helped.

Today

Out and about.

Roy enjoyed his first trip to the park. He is allowed out as long as he stays rugged up. I bought this snow suit before Roy was born - how ideal!