Happy Halloween

My little Pumpkins
At her 6 month old check up...such a big girl!
Doing PT at Dr. Trainers
All smiles at the eye doctor

My pirate and zebra...so cute and so sweet!

Happy Halloween, a little late! Hope you all had a fun Halloween. We had a great one. Harper had physical therapy on Halloween, her first visit since her discharge from the hospital. Dr. Trainer taught us lots of "exercises" to do with her. It's mostly just playing and getting her to bring her arms in to mid-line. God has an amazing plan, always. Babies that are term are all squished and crowded in the womb at the end of the pregnancy so they naturally have their arms and shoulders brought to the front of their bodies so that eventually they are able to grasp items and stick them in their mouth - important skill for feeding themselves. Preemies are never crowded so their arms splay out to their sides and unless you work with them to get their arms in front of them, they are not able to self-sooth or grasp items, which would cause them to be delayed. So now we work with Harper three times a day plus during feedings to bring her shoulders in and to the front of her body, and her hands to the middle, too.
We also got to see a former NICU-mate (totally made that term up, but I like it!), Milly and her mommy, Jenny. They were also having their first appointment with Dr. Trainer. It was so good to see them, if only for a few minutes. You really bond with the families that are going through similar situations as you are in the NICU. I have missed Jenny and Milly so much. I even got to hold Milly for a few minutes! She is just adorable. She is like the polar opposite of Harper, it is so funny! She is as blonde as can be and has the prettiest blonde complexion ever! Jenny teased that Harper will be getting a tan while Milly will be sitting under the biggest shade tree ever as they get bigger! And she is so big, over 11 pounds now! It's amazing the difference a few pounds makes in a baby. It was so good to see them.
After we got home, I took Billie to Aunt Lique's to trick-or-treat with Mallory while Matt stayed behind with Harper and handed candy out to our trick-or-treaters. Billie had a good time, even if she didn't get a lot of candy. She got enough, though. We have a rule in our house, after two weeks, the candy left over from Halloween is trashed to make room for Thanksgiving and Christmas treats. There is still no way she will finish her bag before the two week deadline, even if she got about 1/4 of the candy she usually gets. Angelique had lots of food and treats for us all to enjoy and it was nice to just sit and visit with our family for a while. Meanwhile, poor Matt was dealing with a screaming baby pretty much the whole time we were gone. She doesn't get fussy every single day, but if she does you can pretty much bet it will be between the hours of 5 and 9 pm. Usually the only thing that finally calms her down is to nurse her, something Matt can do nothing about! By the time we got back, she had cried so hard she was passed out in his arms.
All of her appointments have gone good the last two weeks. She is up to 8 pounds 7.5 ounces, and 20.5 inches long. She got her flu shot and her next round of boosters. Her eyes look good as far as the ROP, and she also saw Dr. Gitchlag to check her vision and he said her eyes look like a term baby of 2 months, which is her corrected age. Dr. Trainer, the PT, was pleased with her progress, too. She made me feel a lot better. I was concerned with the way Harper holds her arms and hands, but Dr. Trainer said she is just premature and her movements are just in relation to that. As far as her holding her thumbs in her fists all of the time, Dr. Trainer also thinks that will improve in the coming months and is not CP, which is what I was worried about. Only time will tell, but all in all, she is doing fantastic! I hate to end this so abruptly, but it is time to get Billie up for school. Hope you all have a great day and I will try to update again soon. Thanks for the love, support, and prayers!