Garrett and I bought a crib mobile with a Baby's 'R' Us gift card (thank you!) and Naomi loves it. She's just now starting to smile in response to us and her environment rather than those gassy smiles. She's wearing a darling little dress given to her by great-grandma Nana and great-grandpa Papa.
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| From Naomi's crib ... |
Naomi had minor surgery on Tuesday - laser incision of her left ureterocele. She was put under general anesthesia and they pierced the ureterocele in her bladder that was blocking drainage from her left kidney. As part of her duplex collecting system, both ureters were partially blocked and we don't know whether or not there was any reflux but the debris that wasn't draining caused the infection and subsequently, the abscess. The hope is that without the ureterocele causing blockage, her kidney will get more drainage and with antibiotics, the abscess will go away. The surgery lasted one hour and went really well. She came back to us in great condition; she was so alert, just looking around at all of us and not acting tired at all. After they took out her catheter yesterday it's been clear that it hurts her when she urinates, which is something they said might happen. She did so well overnight that they decided it was time for us to take her home and resume care with IV antibiotics. I took her to an infusion nurse yesterday afternoon after we were discharged and she taught me how to give Naomi her daily antibiotics through her IV and I'll be doing this for 4 - 6 weeks, until her abscess is gone. 
So Naomi is 1 month old today! She's doing great, sleeping a lot, and eating more than ever. Here is a picture of her on Tuesday, with her Grandpa Tom right after surgery.
This is our baby girl later that evening, doing wonderfully.
Thank you to all of our families for your thoughts and prayers and we are confident that Naomi is going to be 100% healthy in a few short months.
Love,
Tanya
Technically, that was yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to get online to post this adorable picture of Naomi resting on her daddy's shoulder. It's 1:54am and we're at Seattle Children's Hospital - we've been here since Tuesday of last week. Naomi was running a high fever, so we went into Children's ER, and they admitted her immediately. They took blood, urine and spinal fluid in to be cultured because they knew she was dealing with an infection. This was especially concerning to me because I contracted MRSA at Group Health when I got my c-section, and we've been terrified of her becoming sick from it in any way. She's been on IV antibiotics to treat what turned out to be a pretty bad UTI and kidney infection (she is also colonized with MRSA). Naomi had a renal ultrasound that showed us that she has a birth defect of the left kidney called a duplex collecting system. Her left kidney has two ureters going into the bladder, rather than one, and neither work correctly, so she's grown a large abscess. She will eventually require corrective surgery once she's a little older, but for now she'll stay on daily antibiotics and a minor surgery may be needed to help drain the abscess before we leave the hospital.
Naomi has been receiving such wonderful care here at Children's. I am so grateful that they caught this problem so quickly, and have allowed Garrett and I to be involved in the decision-making with her care. We'll find out later this morning after her follow-up ultrasound and consultation with a pediatric Infection Disease doc whether she'll need surgery now, continuing care at home with IV antibiotics, and/or an extended hospital stay. I'll keep you posted.
Love,
Tanya
Just like mom! Naomi saw her doctor today for another well-child visit. It turns out our precious little angel is 22 inches long - they measured twice! She's in the 96th percentile for her height. This means she was probably just scrunched up a little too much at birth to get an accurate reading OR she grew two inches in twelve days. She was weighing in at 8 pounds 13 ounces, and that might be because she's been formula fed. I've seen a lactation consultant and been on a strict routine of breastfeeding followed by pumping with a hospital rental every 2 - 3 hours for 40 minute intervals, but unfortunately my milk never came in and at this point, it won't. This has been difficult for me, but I'm just happy that she's healthy and seems mostly content with formula.
So... Naomi just started crying with real tears, and she's learned to grasp things with her hands - like my hair or the bottle or our fingers. She's focusing in on our faces and I swear she smiles! She's gassy, like her dad, and likes to nap a lot, like her dad. She's got the cutest little ears that fold down on top, and the midwife today said she looked just like a little pink elf.
