Houston x2

We made the trip back to Houston yesterday to meet with Dr. Cass and check out the goop situation. Harper's culture results came back from the pediatrician and she did have a bacterial infection so I was happy we were able to get in to see him before the Thanksgiving holiday. Since Jared was in Louisiana for work, my parents made the drive to Houston with Harper and me. Jared met us there for the appointment.

Let me first say I am so thankful for Dr. Cass. He has so much patience and is so reassuring to us regarding Harper's progress and her future outlook. Any time we email with questions, whether its a Saturday or 10pm at night, he responds within ten minutes. We felt so at ease the first time we met him and continue to feel this way each time we speak with him.

As far as the appointment goes, I come from a career in sales so I like results. I like to hear that I'm accomplishing goals. I'm so use to having a number or finish line to reach so I'm a little lost without my quarterly goal in my new career as mom of an O baby. However, going to each doctor's appointment is kind of like having a monthly review. I have someone that can tell me if we're reaching our goals, whether it be weight, progress on the O or even her development. Our appointment yesterday was like someone telling me I've finished the quarter right on track with my end of the year goal. While Harper does have an infection, it should start reacting to the silvadene we started applying so we should be able to keep Harper off of antibiotics this time. As far as her omphalocele goes, Dr. Cass was very pleased. He said it looks like its reduced by about 15% since our last visit and that he is happy with the way we're wrapping it. The skin growth is looking great and he was pleased with the fresh, pink skin that's showing up. So on the O front, we're meeting expectations!

Dr. Cass was concerned with the amount of reflux Harper is having. While the spit up doesn't seem to be irritating her, the amount she's spitting up might be playing into her low numbers in weight gain. He's suggesting a reflux medicine but it will really be our pediatrician's call on this. We have an appointment tomorrow morning to go in for a weight check to see how she's progressed since last week's appointment. Hmm, I wonder if I could qualify for an incentive trip if we can get this kid to weigh more???

Harper had a very pleasant trip on the way to Houston. She was so easy and happy the whole way. Her first night in a hotel wasn't as restful as Jared and I had hoped. While she was never really wide awake, she continued to stir, whimper and moan about every hour. One of us would get up, put her pacifier in her mouth and she'd go right back to sleep. About an hour later, she'd start stirring again. One time I thought I'd just let her whimper through it and hope she'd go back down but that only irritated her more and I didn't want to end up with Rage on my hands so out of bed I went.

The drive home today was a little rough for Harper's parents due to lack of sleep. Harper did great most of the way but got a little irritated just as we were passing an exit and we thought we'd have her hold off just a little longer. Unfortunately, the next gas station was 19 miles down the road! Rage came out to play but she was put to bed as soon as the warm bottle emerged. Other than that, Harper was pretty easy on the trip home too.

Unless something comes up, we won't need to go back to Houston until January. So thank you Dr. Cass for being a doctor that cares about your patients!