Bella's 1 year check-up and eye doctor visit

Bella had her 1 year check-up and shots today. She was just getting over a 4 day fever, but we decided to go ahead with the shots anyway since she was on the mend. She has been anemic in the past, but I am happy to report that her hemoglobin was at 12, which is PERFECT! :) YEAH!! The check-up was pretty good overall. Of course, we talked about her communication understanding and expression, and agreed that Early Intervention would work with her in this area. The other main area of concern was her head size. It is now off the charts, and I mean on the HIGH/LARGE end! Not only is it a bit concerning that a 28 week preemie went from having such a tiny head that was not on the charts, to a huge head that is off the charts in the other direction, but it isn't really following a curve anymore. By this I mean her own growth curve isn't really a curve anymore. Her "curve" has shot practically straight up in a line over the last several months. She said it could be a cause for concern if there is fluid building up (in her ventricles) in the brain. We will be going back in July for another head size measurement. The doctor will determine form there what to do. I have to be honest, it makes me more than a bit nervous considering all the "issues" we have had with this jerking/head movements. Todd said tonight, "maybe she has a headache." Poor kid.

After the one year check we drove across the city to the ped ophthalmologist. Of course, Bella's eye didn't turn in once the whole time she was being examined:0 Talk about frustrating. At that point he thought maybe it was psuedostrabismus, where a child looks cross eyed, but really the pupils are aligning straight. So he decided to dilate her eyes and check her refraction error. Sometimes farsightedness can be a cause for an eye turn. Turns out she is farsighted (+3 I think for all you eye buffs), but kids her age tend to be farsighted, and he didn't think she was quite farsighted enough to be causing the eye turn (although in an adult this would be pretty farsighted). SOOO, he said in most kids it is pretty obvious whether or not they have strabismus, but he said it could go either way, so we will go back in about 4 months for a recheck unless things get significantly worse before then. Good grief.

Bella was just exhausted after all her appointments, poking and prodding. We finally arrived home 6 hours later. Of course, she had a fever back, so hopefully it is just from the shots. Bella has a big birthday party to go to this weekend. Her friend Ashlyn, from the NICU, will be celebrating her 1st birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLYN!

I still haven't gotten pictures up from my Bella's birthday, but I promise to soon!