Month 16-18
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| Month 18 | January 4, 2005 to February 3, 2005 |
| Week 79 Jan 31- Feb 3 |
Rachel started to wake up in the middle of night...around 2-3am...and stayed up for 2-3 hours. She was relatively quiet in her space between Mommy & Daddy while Mommy dozed in and out of sleep. Rachel had a great PT session this week. She was showing off some reaching...without any assitance...which made the therapist very happy. Mommy had noticed that she's been touching and feeling Mommy's face more frequently lately, but didn't make to association until the therapist pointed it out. |
| Week 78 Jan 24- Jan 30 |
Rachel was good until the middle of week. She started to stay up later and later. Mommy had no clue what brought on the change. She really didn't sleep too much during the day; it wasn't teething; nothing else was bothering her; guess it's just her pattern. Other than that, Rachel was generally very happy. She was exceptionally good on Sat when all the family went to a lunch buffet to celebrate the late Jan & early Feb birthdays. They all came by to spend some time with Rachel afterwards...giving her lots of attention which she loved. She was very well behaved all day. PT was cancelled this week b/c of the snow :-( The speech therapist came by. Rachel did very well with her...ate all the cereal...about 5cc...very contend and no fuss. Daddy had been giving Rachel all sorts of sweet stuff to taste...lollipop, ice cream, fruit syrup, etc...she loves them and Daddy enjoys watching her reactions. Rachel's 12lbs 0oz...gained 5oz from last week. Yeah...can this be right?! |
| Week 77 Jan 17- Jan 23 |
Rachel was a bit clingy for the beginning of week...wouldn't let Mommy put her down for more than 5 minutes. She didn't sleep much during the day on Mon and slept all night instead...one of her better nights. On Tues, she tired herself out so much during the day that she had to take a nap between 8-11pm. Thankfully, she was out again by 1:30am until...nobody knew when...she was awake in the crib when Mommy got up at 7am. Rachel was an excellent baby for the rest of the week...sleeping from 1-2am till morning. She was exceptional during weekend...maybe she likes the blizzard conditions ;-)...sleeping from 10:30pm till 8am. With Rachel being so good and blizzard conditions outside, Mommy had no choise but to take care of some much neglected house work...ugh, anything but houseworks! Mommy and Daddy received some very good news this week...Rachel's going to have a baby brother! :-D He's due to arrive at the end of June...amnio results indicates his chromosomes are absolutely normal...relief! Rachel had only half a therapy session this week (holiday). The therapist use the other half hour to measure her little feeties for foot splints. These will help keep her feeties flat so she can work on standing. There's still trouble getting Rachel measure for the porta-stand. There person who usually does it passed away recently and they have trouble finding a replacement :-(. For now, Rachel's working very hard on her sitting...and doing pretty good, too...Mommy's very proud of her! :-D Rachel's 11lbs 11oz...gained 1oz from last week |
| Week 76 Jan 10- Jan 16 |
Rachel continue to have temperature spikes on Mon & Tue. She went in for her second RSV shot on Mon. The doctor checked her and said she was not suffering from anything other than a possible cold...strange tho there were no other cold symptoms. Needless to day, Mommy let her sleep all day...it's not going to a fun week :-( Rachel's temp was back to normal by Wed. Tho strangely enough she's sweating quite a bit when she sleeps now...she had done that in the summer, but this is the middle winter! Although she's not sleeping thru the night (preferring to sleep during the day), Rachel wasn't too bad. Most nights, she'd lay quietly (maybe with some noise) in her little space between Mommy & Daddy when she woke in the middle of the night. Mommy, however, can hear any little sound she makes and thus can't really sleep soundly with Rachel awake. Rachel has taken to biting her clothes lately...anything she can reach...sleaves, collars, bibs...all wet. Mommy has started to increase Rachel's food intake since there's no spit up for a couple weeks. She now takes 20-22oz/day...a good thing since she hasn't gain much weight lately. Hopefully this will help. A new tooth finally surfaced...yeah! Cancelled therapy this week due to the rise in temperature. Rachel's 11lbs 10oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 20-22 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
| Week 75 Jan 3- Jan 9 |
Rachel turned 17 months this week...such a wonderful amazing little girl. She had a physical with the pediatrician...11lbs 12oz and 27in. She also had two vaccincations...MMR and Hib...Rachel didn't like these. She was a little cranky that night and hence started the night parties again...staying up later and later...2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, 6am. For only the third time in Rachel's short life, she was left alone with someone other than Mommy or Daddy for an extended period one day this week while Mommy & Daddy had to take care of something important. Her uncle came down from MA to babysit...she was extremely kind to him...sleeping the whole time while Mommy & Daddy were gone. Maybe it's her trick to lure him back again...hehehehe! Other than the night parties, Rachel has been very happy lately...the teething pain had subside; tho no tooth to show for it...she's all smiles and giggles until Sun morning. She had been up all night, not fussy just wouldn't go to sleep...by 8ish, she was cranky...Daddy thought she was a bit warm and took her temp. It was 99.8...a low grade fever...enough to cause some discomfort. She settled down to sleep after a dose of tylenol. The temperature would return later that night...again she was fine after some tylenol. Rachel had a good therapy session this week. She was showing off how well she can sit when wanted to. The therapist only need to support below her waste now. Rachel's 11lbs 9oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
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| Month 17 | December 4, 2004 to January 3, 2005 |
| Week 74 Dec 27- Jan 2 |
Rachel started the week on the right track...sleeping most of the nights with one or two cries that can be calmed easily. She has been in a very good mood in the morning...so happy and playful that Daddy didn't want to leave for work and ended up being late :-O. Rachel continued to do well for the rest of week. After a very good night sleep, she was especially happy on New Year Eve...she was wide awake till about 11:30pm...Mommy played with her a bit; by 11:45pm, she was not interested in play; Daddy took over and successfully kept her up for another 15min :-). Rachel quickly fell asleep after they ring in the New Year together. HAPPY NEW YEAR! PT was cut short b/c Rachel got very fussy...teething pain...the poor girl. The speech therapist showed up late and Rachel couldn't stay awake for her. Maybe she thinks she should have a vacation from therapy during the holidays :-b. Rachel had another PT session that turned out to be great...she was in a good mood that day. From now until April Rachel will have therapy 2x/wk every other wk and 1x/wk on the other week...the pregnancy's making the therapy to tire to work a 12hr day...this way Rachel keeps the same therapist for as long as possible...she's been with Rachel since her 2nd month...Rachel's going to miss her. |
| Week 73 Dec 22- Dec 26 |
No sign of any teeth yet, but Rachel continued to drool; placed her hands in her mouth; required orajel sometimes, especially before bedtime. Her sleeping pattern shifted slowly. It took a few long, long night for her to get back on track. On Wed night, she was up from 2am to 10am; slept from 10am to noon, then 1pm to 10pm; up till 4am for the next couple of nights. She was able to sleep most of the nights following that...wakes a couple of times during the night, but able to sleep again soon after Mommy picks her up...bad dreams??? Rachel 2nd Christmas! All her family came over; they prepared all the food, too! Mommy really appreciated that. Rachel had a wonderful time...loved all the attention from the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. She did not even want to go down for her nap when tired, but Mommy knew if she goes too long she'll be excessively crankly...she had to be separated from the party and went to sleep in the bedroom. Rachel was exhausted and slept soundly...Mommy tried to wake her after 3 hrs, but failed...Mommy gave her another hour and tried again...this time succeeded after bothering her constantly for 20 minutes with the help of her Cousin C. A little accident occurred just before present time...Cousin Mel and Cousin Mike collided...Cousin Mel's nose was badly swollen...Daddy took Cousin Mel and her parent's to the ER...x-ray shown her nose was broken :-(; the doctor said it'll heal itself; she did got a toy from the hospital. :-) Everybody waited for Cousin Mel to open gifts...there were lots and lots of toys for the kids. They were very excited. Rachel received a whole new wardrobe...a dozen outfits!...plus a special hand knit sweater vest from Grandma. She also received a big exercise ball that can be use for her therapies; a very cute tigger activity center; a cool memory box for Mommy to keep Rachel's little treasures; a chillow...to cool down her head in the car seat...not sure it it'll work tho...have to try it out; and lastly a couple for stroller bar toys for her amusement when out. It was a fun day! Rachel had speech therapy this week. She was very well behaved and took the cereal very nicely. She loved have her gums rubbed. Physical therapy did not went too well; Rachel was yelling at the therapist the whole time. Rachel's 11lbs 8oz...gained 2oz from last week |
| Week 72 Dec 15- Dec 21 |
Rachel must be working on another tooth this week. She needed tylenol (after orajel failed) to settle down and sleep at the beginning of the week. Rachel had a terrible Tues. She went to a doctor's appointment with Mommy and Daddy...the toothache, plus the heat at the waiting area (must have been 90 degrees there) irritated her. The hour wait didn't help either. She was quite cranky by the time they were ready to go home. Mommy had given her orajel and tylenol in hope she'd be ok for the ride home, but nope...she cried all the way home...and then some...total 3 hours of constant crying...it must be a record. Nothing calmed her...no amount of rocking, singing, bouncing, dancing...nothing worked...spit up in the middle of all that as well. She finally tired out and fell asleep for 3 hours; woke up all happy like nothing happened. She didn't fall asleep again till 3am with the help the tylenol and was extremely tire the next day; Mommy let her sleep all day...going to regret it, but had not the heart to wake the tired little piggie. Rachel continued to party at nights for the rest of week. Her teeth still bothered her, but can be calm by orajel...Mommy thinks there's a possibility of 4 teeth; 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. Rachel was giving the therapist a hard time this week. She'd be just fine when not doing any work, like laying on her back or when the therapist supported her; but as soon as she's put in a position where there's work involve, like on the belly or sitting...oh, the complaints. What a lazy little piggie! Rachel's 11lbs 6oz...no gain from last week |
| Week 71 Dec 6- Dec 14 |
Rachel had an okay week. She had stayed up late (2-3am) a couple of times...woke up in the middle of the night a couple of times. However, she was very good during those times while awake...relatively quiet in her snuggle rest between Mommy and Daddy while Mommy slept with one eye open. Rachel finally got the insurance approval for the RSV vaccines! She went for the first of her shots on Thurs. She's handling these shots like a pro...just a loud yell when the needle came out. Absolutely no reaction from the shot. She will need to get one each month until March...ouch! It's almost time for the holidays, Mommy and Daddy had to do some shopping over the weekend. Rachel enjoyed the mall quite a bit...just like a typical girl, love to shop ;-)...she was wide eye with amazement at all the lights. There must have been too much excitement as she woke up SCREAMING at midnight. It took Mommy and Daddy quite a long time (over an hour) to calm her. She had trouble getting back to sleep. It was past 3am when she finally settled down for sleep. Therapy was uneventful. Rachel's 11lbs 6oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
| Week 70 Dec 4- Dec 5 |
Another month passed...16 months!...amazing girl. Rachel had an excellent weekend. Daddy ended working all weekend (from home), so Rachel stuck to her normal routine. |
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| Month 16 | November 4, 2004 to December 3, 2004 |
| Week 70 Nov 29- Dec 3 |
Rachel started the week with a much better schedule...sleeping more at night than during the day. Mommy noticed she does really well at night if she gets no more than 4 hours total naptime during the day. So it was Mommy's mission all week to limit Rachel's naptime and keeping her awake till at least 10PM. Of course, sometimes it was impossible to wake the little piggie or keep her awake, but in general Rachel was very co-operative. By the end of the week, she was sleeping 8-10hours straight at night...yeah! She's such a happy baby when she's gets a good night sleep. Life would be wonderful indeed if only Mommy can sleep as well...sigh! Therapy was good as usual. Rachel saw her speech therapist for the first (and last) time this month. Rachel still shows receptance to oral feed. Mommy hasn't been oral feeding Rachel for awhile b/c Mommy has been too busy trying to catch up on sleep and Rachel was always napping during the day. Mommy got back on track this week; Rachel's been taking about 1tsp cereal & 5-7cc formula mix once or twice a day. Rachel's 11lbs 5oz...gained 3oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
| Week 69 Nov 22- Nov 28 |
Rachel continued her night parties this week. Mommy was real glad it was a short week and had Daddy's help for 4 straight days...it was great, but all ended too soon :-(. Rachel had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. Everybody decided it was best to visit Rachel as they knew how much she dislikes traveling. Everyone brought food so Mommy and Daddy didn't have do any cooking. It turned out beautifully. Rachel was glad to see all her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandpa...enjoyed all the attention. It was also time to celebrate counsin Mel's birthday, so there were cake and presents, too. No therapy this week. Rachel had her second dose of the flu shot the day before Thanksgiving. She did amazing well...only a yell when the needle came out...no tears, no crying...what a good piggie! No adverse effect from the shot. Rachel's 11lbs 2oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
| Week 68 Nov 15- Nov 21 |
Rachel's "good" schedule lasted for about a week; by the end of week, she was sleeping more during the day than the night; back the night parties by the weekend :-( Rachel had great therapy sessions this week as she was still on her good cycle. Daddy likes to practice sitting with Rachel. He had her sitting with her own support for a couple of minutes; of course both Mommy and Daddy were too amazed to get the camera or video. Rachel's 11lbs 1oz...no gainedfrom last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. | Week 67 Nov 8- Nov 14 |
Rachel started the week as usual, then suddenly on Wed night she slept from 8pm to 6am! She continued to sleep thru the night over the weekend; staying up most of the day. Woohoooooo...mommy was estatic! Hope the trend continues. Mommy had trouble sleeping herself tho. It took a few nights before she could actually sleep more than 2-3 hours without waking. Therapy was uneventful. Rachel was very giggly on the big ball with the therapy on one day. On the other day, she was just mellow...going thru the motions without much expression...moody!!?? Rachel had her first abdominal ultrasound to scan for Wilm's tumor (kidney cancer) and heptablastoma (liver cancer)...some believed there's a high occurrence of these two diseases among long terms trisomy survivors...the results came back normal...yipee! Rachel endured her therapies fine...even when Mommy had to wake her up. She used to fussed and refused to do work; now she'll go thru the motions and let the therapist do most things protesting only when it's too much. Rachel's 11lbs 1oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |
| Week 66 Nov 4- Nov 7 |
Rachel turned 15 months! She's just chugging along on her own pace...in her own little world. Rachel's still partying at least half the night. Daddy took over most Rachel & Mommy duties on the weekend again. Poor Daddy...had to work...take care of Rachel and Mommy...gotta do more work from home...he's all stressed out, both at work and at home. Rachel went to vote for the first time this week. She got in the booth with Daddy...may even have influence his decision ;-)...they wouldn't tell Mommy who they voted for tho. Rachel's finally 11lbs 0oz...gained 1oz from last week Rachel gets 19-20 oz/day with 1 tbs fruit/veggie/meat at each meal, 1/2-1oz juice/day, 4mg Furosemide (Lasix)/twice daily, 25mcg Lanoxin (Digoxin)/twice daily, 1cc Zantac/twice daily, and Mylicon as needed. |