Joey had her first professional photo shoot done by Jay & Donna at Lasting Images while we were in Michigan. The pictures turned out absolutely beautiful (I knew they would, Jay's work is fantastic). We left Michigan on Friday, September 25th. Our Parents had a hard time saying goodbye to Joey. My Mom actually tried to hide out with Joey in her bathroom, like I wouldn't find them (it was pretty sweet actually). For the most part our visit to Michigan was a great one. The only blemish in the visit was the hit & run we were victims of. We went to go visit the Neshewat Family at their new home in Bloomfield Hills, and on our way back to my Mom's house we were sideswiped by a a girl who was texting on her cell phone. Once I realized that she hit us, I motioned for her to pull over (we were stopped at a light). Once the light changed, she drove off. Luckily, there were a few witnesses to the whole thing, one of whom was an off duty Police Officer. The hit & run happened in Detroit, so we ended up going to the Detroit Police Station to file the report the next day. What an adventure that was (not a good one either). But as I said before, apart from that incident our visit was a great one!
Monday the 28th Joey had her Barium Swallow and Air Flouro done. The Speech Pathologist overseeing the Swallow study said she could see how Joey was aspirating on thin liquids when she was agitated. Here came the dilemma; Breast Milk is thin so therefore higher chance of aspiration, yet it is most like amniotic fluid so her body can deal with it easier if she does aspirate on it. However; Rice cereal does not mix with breast milk and my milk supply was dwindling fast. So our next option was formula, higher chance of aspiration with complications with plain formula and adding cereal to the formula meant higher chance of constipation and or tummy upset. Seemed like 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other, so I decided to stop breast feeding (pumping) completely. I am happy to report that Joey seems to be thriving on the formula/cereal combo. Her appetite seems to have increased, she is definitely eating better, and only had tummy issues the first few days on the cereal.
There was nothing spectacular happening with Joey and then I got a call from Dr. Corn (her Pediatrician) on Wednesday October 7th. Apparently there was a miscommunication about the testing Dr. Corn wanted and what was actually ordered. Dr. Corn wanted a modified upper GI and what got ordered was a modified Barium Swallow. On a positive note, the Barium Swallow wasn't a complete waste, it showed how Joey was aspirating on thin liquids and that wouldn't be visible on an upper GI. So we have an upper GI scheduled for this Wednesday, October 13. Joey also goes back to the Cardiologist on Friday the 16th, the will repeat her echo and hopefully be able to have some answers about the upper GI.
Then only other thing that is going on with Joey is that she is becoming more and more social. She is cooing quite a bit, she smiles a lot, and my favorite thing is when I kiss her in the corner of her mouth she will give a huge smile. She is looking at us more and more as we talk to her. She seems to respond better to my voice than Bruce's (that's just my opinion).
That's about all for now, so until the next update....
