Our lucky little leprechaun

Claire had her SICC appointment yesterday on St. Patrick's Day.  We were concerned that it was going to be a really long day for Claire since we had to leave home around 6 am to be at Duke by her 10 am appointment.  But the ride up to Duke was great and she slept the whole time.  We even stopped off for a pit stop at Aunt Julie and Uncle James' house as usual and got to visit with Aunt Julie and their animals. 

Once we got to Duke, we met up with our 2 favorite nurses!  Claire had on her outfit from Uncle Phillip and Aunt Brandy with a little bit of green on it in one of the flowers.  But nurse Marie didn't think that was enough so she had the perfect little St. Patrick's Day outfit for Claire ready and waiting.  Nurse Susannah brought Claire her blanket back that we accidentally left when we were discharged from the NICU back in January.  Thank God we had Susannah who recognized the special blanket and took it home for safe keeping .

As you can see, Claire was totally excited to see her favorite nurses!  Only thing missing was Dr. Rachel!  Even Aunt Amanda joined in on the fun yesterday!  Any chance she gets to see her Claire, she will find us!

Our favorite nurses!

Claire weighed approximately 11 lbs 8 oz yesterday and was 21.7" long.  She met with the neonatologists and they were impressed at how well Claire was doing since leaving the NICU and after her heart surgery.  They were a little concerned about the small hernias that Claire has in her bowels, so they plan to add on an ultrasound of them when she goes back for her liver ultrasound at the end of the month.   The fellow thought she felt them but the attending didn't think he felt the hernias.  So we will see. 

Claire then met with the physical therapist.  Claire really likes her!  They did some exercises and Claire did really well!  The PT showed us several different activities and exercises to do to work with Claire's muscles.  In most preemies, their muscles on the back of their bodies are stronger than the muscles on the front of their bodies.  This is caused by several factors - 1.  preemies do not get the extra weeks to stay balled up and curled up in their momma's belly.  So their curling muscles don't get much work before they are born.  2.  When preemies are born, they are kept in the hospital for so long and mainly lay flat on their backs.  This strengthens those back muscles more since they are flat on their backs and not curled in a fetal position.  3.  Claire has had 2 surgeries that affect the front of her body.  So she has not been able to practice tummy time as much as she should.  So we need to work with Claire's front muscles to help her further down the road with motor skills and sitting.  But we don't have to have any in-home therapies at this point!  We can just work with Claire at home ourselves.  They will do a more in depth exam when we go back in 3 months to as this will be the time they can see if Claire has any delays developing. 

Doing patty cake for part of PT.

Practicing tummy time on Momma.  Great head control!

Ok, I just couldn't choose which picture below I liked best, so you get both! 

We were done by around noon so we headed to the Duke bookstore so Aunt Amanda could get some things before she starts her new job at Duke in a few weeks.  Claire saw lots of neat Duke things she wanted, but they are all still too big for her.  We then headed over to the Chick-fil-A that's in the Duke Clinics for some lunch.  I was very nervous to take Claire in there because it's kind of like a cafeteria area.  But we found a little corner off to ourselves and I covered Claire up with her car seat shades while she napped. 

Then came the dreaded ride home.  I was so nervous since Claire had only had 1 morning nap and a very short 20 minute nap at lunch.  We made it to Julie's ok but once we got there, she started screaming.  I figured she was just so overtired.  So we got back in the car figuring she would totally fall asleep in a minute once the car started going.  But she didn't.  So Granny suggested I pull out the DVD player from Great Grandpa and Great Mimi with the Barney disk. 

I had seen Claire watch Barney on TV once and she seemed to like it.  About 30 minutes into the movie, she was still watching it intently.  Not a sleepy eye anywhere.  Claire ended up watching the entire 1 hour video!  And LOVED it!  So that got us to Kinston.  Yes, where the ABC Store is located (my mom now calls it the All 'Bout Claire Store).  But we passed it and kept going.  I started feeding her while she was riding in her seat thinking she'd get a little milk then pass out, but she didn't.  She kept eating and did really well!  She started getting a little antsy when we got to Tuscarora, but that was it.  We made it home without incident!!!!

Watching my Barney DVD!

Home Sweet Home

Claire did great!  It must have either been the lucky 4 leaf clover outfit with leprechaun socks, or the fact that she got her special blanket back yesterday, or that Aunt Amanda may have whispered in her ear to be good.  Not sure - but we won't question it!  She slept from 7:30 pm to 3:30 am, ate and then went back to sleep until I had to wake her at 7 am this morning to go to work.  She is talking a lot now and making lots of sounds.  When she was talking to Trent the other day, we swore she said "da da" once!  She says something that sounds like "hey" a lot.  I wouldn't doubt if that's her first word since we say hey to her all the time.  She's also chewing her hands and fingers all the time and drooling a lot.  Wonder if there are some teeth coming soon???

We have a 2 week vacation from any Duke appointments so we are thankful.  We are looking forward to the great weather this weekend and hope we can go for a stroll or two.  Thanks for all the prayers for a good day yesterday!  They worked as always!!!!

Love,

The Scott Family