Ava Update

Ava went to the doctor last week and is now up to 12 pounds 7.5 ounces. She's still growing like a weed and we're excited about that. She hasn't had any breathing spells since New Year's Eve and since then was started on a second medication for reflux, Prevacid, along with her Zantac to control it better. We no longer go to the eye doctor every month as she has been cleared until August for her retinopathy issues. We're also hopefully done seeing the kidney doctor for awhile. She saw him last week and he wanted to do an echocardiogram (which we had done today) before he stopped her amlodipine (blood pressure medication). We're hoping we're done with that as it will be one less medicine to give her everyday and taking her blood pressure in the evenings has become more difficult as she's gotten older. The ENT doc also didn't want to see her again til this summer which is nice since all these "specialists" cost us $45 a pop each time we go. Medicaid (which she was on in the hospital because she was low birth weight and up til February 1st) picked up the copays up til now.

Ava is smiling up a storm these days, although it's hard to tell from some of the pictures because she usually blinks or stops smiling when I try to take pictures. She's also starting to make more noises and cooing on her own and in response to us. Last week she started noticing when we would leave the room and start to fuss a little, as if she were saying, "why did you leave me in here by myself?? Where'd you go mom?" She's beginning to grab at objects and bat at toys on her playmat more. She's also found her hands and puts them in her mouth every chance she gets. It's amazing to see how far she has come and everyday and week seems to bring a new milestone for her.