Superheros and a Sweetie

We had two days of doctor appointments. Tuesday we took Sean and Ella to the pediatric opthomologist. After an excruciating 2 hr wait, Sean fell asleep during his exam. The doctor was able to determine that his vision has gotten bad enough to require glasses, so we managed to wake him up enough to try on a few pairs and picked one. The good news is that the Dr does not think Ella's hemangioma is causing vision problems and said it looks very superficial. He did see that she is already showing signs of being near sighted, so he thinks she will need glasses by Preschool age. She goes back to see him in 6 months and Sean goes back in 3 months to see how the glasses are working out.

Today the whole family went to the dentist. It was Sean's first time going to the dentist and he did terrific! He sat well in the chair and opened up without resistance. They polished his teeth and checked them. No cavities! The dentist confirmed that Sean is missing one of his teeth, but said it wasn't a problem. He thinks that Sean's teeth color (kinda splotchy gray in places) is probably due to a medication he was on. I mentioned that Sean had reflux and took Prevacid for 2 yrs and he said that might of been the cause. Hopefully his adult teeth will not be affected. Sean goes back to see the dentist in a year.

Aidan did wonderfully too. He even sat thru several sets of xrays. His teeth were polished and had fluoride applied. The found 2 cavities that we need to bring him back in to get fixed on Dec 31. I am so glad that the boys behaved nicely for the exams! I was really stressing over it.

Doug also had his teeth checked because he thought he had a cavity. They found some work that he needs done, so he'll be back next month. I didn't get looked at, I just came along to help manage the kiddos. Pregnancy is always rough on my teeth, so I venture to guess that I probably need some work done too. I'll let the boys get taken care of first then we can work me in there!

Eleanor's 2 Month Check Up

Just a quick update on baby E. Yesterday I took her to the doctor for her well-child visit. My chunka monkey is 12 lbs 4 oz and 23 1/4" long. She is just growing too fast! Our doctor said that she is doing great. I brought up the red mark on her eye and the doctor said it appears to be a Capillary Hemangioma. She said usually they are harmless birthmarks, but because of the location on Ella, we will need to watch it's growth to make sure it doesn't obstruct her vision. The usual treatment for this type of birthmark is to do nothing, they grow the first 10 months of life, then begin to shrink and eventually disappear. However, if it becomes a problem, there is oral steroid treatment to shrink it or when she is older it might be able to be removed with laser therapy. Steroid treatment causes irratibility and sleeplessness, laser therapy is painful. If it becomes a problem, we would have to see a pediatric dermatologist at Children's hospital in KC.

Of course, when I got home I looked up info online to learn more about it. One of the things I read is that while it may not cause physical damage to her, it may cause psychosocial issues. Feelings of insecurity about her appearance and self-consciousness. I can already see how this is possible because in the past 6 weeks that it has been visible, it is rare that a day goes by without someone commenting on it. Children at Sean's preschool are always saying "Your baby scratched her eye! Her eye is bleeding!" I'm sure it won't bother her as a baby, but if it is prominent as a toddler I imagine she will understand questions and comments about it.

If you have had a child with a similar birthmark or had one yourself, can you tell me about your experience?

Work that Bubble Butt!

So stinkin cute! She's 7 weeks old today!

BTW, the red mark on her eyelid is not a scratch and is not bleeding. It showed up when she was 2 weeks old and hasn't disappeared. Might be a birth mark? I dunno. I plan on asking her Ped about it at our next appt.