The Doctor

Ok, here are some pictures from a little time outside. Justin is happy to go for brief rides on his bike, it has been a while. That is Heidi in a dress-up cheerleading costume and one of the few times she allows a ponytail to be put in. That would be Anna pouting on the bottom. And Emily enjoys eating the hockey stick and puck, just like Luke (well not now, but when he was younger :), these days he actually plays hockey).

Ok we saw the pediatric rehab doctor this morning. She thinks that Emily's eating issues are at least partially due to her recessed chin, so we will be visiting the cranial/facial doctor in the near future for his opinion on surgery to move her jaw. This doctor feels that Emily should be able to eat pureed food without a possibility of the food going into her airways. That is important because we obviously do not live on a liquid diet, it just is the most caloric right now (Emily weighed 15 lb 14 oz at yesterday's weight check, she is growing like a weed). The doctor also said that most likely something didn't develop quite right in utero (or developed slowly--something about bronchial arches). I guess the bottom line is that this will not last forever, age and a possible surgery to move her jaw will fix the problems with the liquids. In the meantime she will have feeding/speech therapy and probably some occupational therapy as a precaution.

Now the concern is with her surgery and anesthesia, because of the position of her tongue and chin they may have difficulty getting a breathing tube in, so we have to consult a pediatric anesthesiologist. Unfortunately surgery may have to get rescheduled to Children's Memorial. At this point I just want to get the thing done. Every day is a new story, I will keep you posted.

Well, thank goodness for this nice weather, we sure needed a break.