Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sleeping all night























Hello,


Well, the big news of the week is that we finally got the OK from Willow's doctor to let her sleep through the night!!

She had her doctor appointment on Wednesday, and she gained 12 ounces in the last month - she's now up to 12 pounds, 2 ounces. Let me tell you, we fought for every ounce! I was relieved. With how she's been eating lately, I was worried she was going to lose weight! So I think the doctor heard the pleading in my voice when I asked if we could let her sleep. She said yes. That night we fed Willow right before bed then put her down. I was sort of half-awake all night, expecting her to wake up hungry, but she never did. She slept 7.5 hours and we finally woke her up when we got up for work. It's been going pretty well since then. I am a little nervous that she's not getting enough calories, because I don't think her daytime feeds have increased enough to make up for not eating at night, but I'm trying to relax. Babies sleep through the night all the time and they survive. Willow is tiny though, only in the 15th percentile for her adjusted age.

The other good news from her doctor appointment is that her blood pressure was good at 82. Willow got her first flu shot in early October, and is getting her first synagis shot on Wednesday. That's a special injection to help protect against RSV, which is a bug you never hear about until you have a preemie. it is common, and just causes colds in most people, but for a baby like Willow it could be very bad. We've had extreme frustration trying to get our insurance to cover it. I think they're going to now, but grrr, it makes me mad. I'm going to rant a little now.

As you can imagine, we've had our share of medical bills with Willow. I've worked in benefits before and think I understand health insurance more than the average person. I've always been one to scrutinize every medical bill and match it up with the EOB and make sure everything is square. With the barrage of bills from Willow, I was at first tempted to just be trusting, pay the bills and not stress about whether they were correct or we had an EOB that matched it. Well, let me tell you - I am so glad I didn't go that route because if I had, I'd have been ripped off again and again and again. There have been several occasions where Blue Cross didn't cover something they were supposed to cover, or this company or that company overcharged me, or charged me twice, or said they were going to reimburse my credit card and didn't, etc. etc. I swear I almost think it's deliberate, given that they never seem to err in my favor, only theirs. OK, I'm done. The moral of the story is, always analyze your medical bills!

Our good friends Seth and Beth departed on Thursday to move to Boise. We were very sad to see them go. :(

















Hanging with Emily:
















Tomorrow's Willow's 8-month birthday!

3 comments:

Rebecca said...

oh you guys are amazing! I can't believe you have been getting up to feed her in the middle of the night all this time. Jaleah has slept through the night for some time now - I was a zombie until she started doing that. I am sure Willow will do great - once Jaleah started sleeping through the night, her daytime feeds slowly increased, so it won't happen right away but it WILL. Jaleah is in the 5th percentile for adjusted age, and still her pediatrician (who was my ped. when I was a kid) is not worried as long as she's gaining. Try not to stress too much. I read somewhere that if a baby doesn't get enough food during the day, they will wake up at night. So if she doesn't wake up at night, I would take that as a sign she's getting enough for her! Happy sleeping to you! :)

Ruth said...

I love the tongue shot! What a cutie!

nefrantt said...

She looks like such a happy baby! Glad she is doing well and that you can sleep at night now!