3 Months

Veronica is 3-months-old!  Well, not exactly....her adjusted age is 3 months.  Prior to her birth, I can't even remember if I knew there was such a term as a child's adjusted or corrected age.  But Veronica's adjusted age is the one we focus on and I am happy to report that she seems to be developing on track, at least for now.  She smiles, coos, lifts her head off the ground, recognizes us....all the things a 3-month-old should be doing.  Her growth, however, is tracked by her chronological age, which doesn't really make sense to me.  But given that fact, it will probably be a long while before she is even on the growth charts for her chronological age.  But if that ends up being the greatest of our worries, then I would say we are in pretty good shape.  

One thing we do worry about these days is RSV.  Any parent of a micro-preemie is all too familiar with the risks associated with RSV.  Since micro-preemies miss out on the valuable 3rd trimester antibodies passed through the placement, they are at greater risk of contracting RSV and becoming seriously ill as a result.  It is the leading cause of re-hospitalization for preemies and can even lead to death.  So it's certainly something we think about.  Some of the micro-preemie blogs I follow reference RSV isolation  or quarantine.  But given the fact that we have five other children, in addition to both Andrew and I working full time, it is just unrealistic to think we can keep Veronica home all of the time.  Instead, we try to avoid crowded areas (shopping malls, church) and we frequently wash our hands.  We have hand sanitizer in just about every room in our house.  Did I mention that we wash our hands, a lot?  Keeping Veronica at home all the time is not even a guarantee that she won't get sick.  Just this week Josephine was ill with some sort of virus - a fever and a horrible cough. We did our best to keep the two separated but trying to keep an active toddler isolated is next to impossible.  It was a little nerve wracking at times but we made it.  But how many more colds and viruses will we go through over the next few months?  Next week Veronica will get the first dose of five synagis shots to help protect her from RSV.  Synagis is an antibody used specifically to prevent RSV and, at $2700 a dose, is reserved for those babies at highest risk for contracting the virus.   Unfortunately, since its not a vaccine, there is no guarantee that she won't get the virus.  I'm thinking this is going to be a long winter.....please say some prayers for us!

Veronica's Halloween Outfit

A Pink Butterfly

Tummy Time