Sorry to disappoint

I'm afraid that no one won the guess-Blaise's-weight game. The rules were closest without going over and everyone went over. No one went with the classic Price is Right strategy of guessing 1 dollar. We're glad you think she's such a rockstar, though! Blaise weighed in at 14 lbs. 7 oz. (6.57 kg) on Thursday. She might be bigger since then; she's eating really well.

Our weekend was spent dressing a bewildered Blaise in her pirate outfit, eating delicious food with friends (Merry Thanksaween!) and packing up our house. It turns out that Cambridge requires all apartments rented to families with children under 6 to be certified lead-free. Let's just say that our 100+ year old apartment was very much not lead-free. Blaise's lead levels are totally fine. It not like she's chewing on the windowsills, but the law is the law. So we're moving out on Sunday for a couple of weeks while our house is deleaded. It's a big pain, but the upside is that we'll come home to fresh paint, new windows and a professional cleaning job. Our temporary apartment is just around the corner from some good friends and only down the (really big) hill from some others, so we'll at least be in good company.

YARRRRR!

Happy Halloween from Cap'n Blaise!

Pop quiz

Last time we went to clinic, Blaise weighed in at 13 lbs. 10 oz. (6.18 kg). That was three weeks ago. How much did she weigh today?

Rules: Price-is-Right style. Whoever comes closest without going over wins. Answers may be in either pounds and ounces (US) or kilograms. Answers in other units will be accepted, but not converted. Grandparents who have already been told are excluded from competition.
Prize: Honor and glory among the readers of this blog.

For a full clinic recap, see below.

Clinic and back

Blaise's stool is completely blood free, even at a microscopic level. She is now off Flagyl and off sulfasalazine. We're down from 14 doses of various meds and supplements daily to 5. We had a good conversation with the fellow about why what we thought was an allergic colitis would respond to antibiotics. We only care so deeply because, well, it worked, but we still like to know and understand these things. We're good to keep introducing new foods with the 5 day rule in place. We've also begun the process of weaning the overnight tube feeds. Tonight Blaise will be on the tube for 10 hours instead of 12 and in a couple of weeks, we'll go down to 8.

We saw several friends who were also in for clinic today. One of our old roomies just turned one a week or so ago and is doing great. Another, unfortunately, was getting readmitted. Such is the short gut life. We also met a new friend: a mom whose 4 month old son also has short gut due to a volvulus. She had seen our blog and said "Oh, this is Blaise?!" when we were introduced. I hope that seeing our big girl is encouraging to parents just starting down the short gut path. We drew (and continue to draw) a lot of support from reading blogs about other kids and it's nice be able to pay that forward.

Finally, tonight marks a big milestone for Blaise. As of tonight, she has spent as many nights in her own crib at home as she has in the hospital. We were told a long time ago that Blaise might spend most of her life inpatient. It's a good feeling to break even.

The more things change

While poking around the internet for information on how much and when "normal" babies eat (because the doctors are still telling us to feed Blaise "like a normal baby" and we have no idea how such babies eat), I found this baby feeding pamphlet from 1938, published by the Libby's company. When we started Blaise with rice cereal, my grandmother emailed to say that she remembered rice cereal being her kids' first solid food, too. I suspect, however, that the pediatrician isn't going to recommend some of these recipes anymore. Like the one involving raw egg. Of course, then I read a similar pamphlet that is currently distributed by the Beechnut company and wondered how much of it Blaise's kids will laugh at.

We had swim class again today and Blaise's enthusiasm was so great that she kind of scared some of the other kids with her splashing. The instructor said "Well, she's got the kicking and splashing thing down." Unfortunately, she has no interest in the other aspects of swim class: blowing bubbles in the water, floating or holding the side of the pool. She just wants to chase the rubber ducks around the pool. I'm not saying I blame her. Ben took some videos, which we'll try to get posted soon.

We've ruled sweet potatoes okay on the allergy front. On to pears! (Yeah, that alphabetical thing has gone completely out the window.)

Uh-oh

Blaise hit another milestone. It's a dangerous one. She isn't crawling yet, but she did work out how to get from sitting to lying down. Once she's lying down, she rolls. So no more sitting her on the floor for a few minutes and stepping out of the room. We have independent mobility. I didn't actually see this happen. I just left her sitting and came back to her stuck halfway under the changing table.

The Flagyl stopped two days ago and so far so good. Sweet potatoes are still a hit, although more as an artistic medium than as a food. As long as some of them end up in her, that counts, right? See the photo site for new pictures. It's fun to think about Blaise being able to experience a lot of different foods. The idea of an Elecare-themed Thanksgiving was depressing.

Blaise has been eating like crazy and pooping a lot less. (Blood in the bowel triggers movement.) I have my fingers crossed for her weigh-in at clinic on Thursday. She's finally started to outgrow the three-to-six month sizes and nine month clothes aren't ridiculously big on her anymore. So she at least seems bigger.

Age is just a number

Blaise turned 8 months "corrected" on Tuesday (eight months from her due date). It's still strange sometimes to have a baby whose development is spread out over a big span of time. In some ways, she's definitely about 8 months. In other ways, she's more like her birth age. In still other ways, she's ahead of both and in a few more ways, she's behind. I gave up completely on the baby books a long time ago. Blaise is Blaise and we have to trust her therapist, her doctors and our own instincts to tell us whether she's on the right track for her.

The big developmental change lately has been increasing focus on goals. If she gets in her head that she wants to roll onto her belly and look at a label on her changing table, she'll do it, even when she's partway through a diaper change. Of course, we can't get her to stay on her belly any other time. Her tube is an endless source of fascination and she actively searches for it when we hide it from her. We try reasoning with her. It doesn't work, so she just drives us crazy. Another of those things that's good in the big picture (who doesn't want a goal-oriented kid?) and trying in the moment. She's also developing an interest in other babies. She gets very excited about the photos of friends' babies on our fridge and had a good time playing with the other kids last night at our parent group.

Otherwise, things are good. Today is Blaise's last day on Flagyl and we're going to check in about the plan to discontinue the sulfasalazine. You all take me way too seriously, as I've heard a number of speculations about what "D" food we would try next. "A" was apples and avocados. "B" was banana. "C" was carrots. "D" was sweet potatoes. They're a hit.