1st Follow-up Trip to Duke

Since both Harding and Shelby are sleeping at the same time right now, I thought I'd better jump on this opportunity to update the blog while I have it. Yesterday, Shelby had a couple appointments at Duke.

First, we went to see Dr. Grant to have her sutures removed. He said that everything looks good and the shunt appears to be working perfectly. Shelby's head size continues to go down. I had a couple questions about the signs of shunt malfunction. They are things like fussiness, fever, loss of appetite, and vomiting. These are all issues that typical babies have from time to time. In fact, Shelby had thrown up (or spit-up a whole lot) twice the day before. I had a feeling it was because she had eaten too much, but was still slightly paranoid that her shunt wasn't working. I don't want to worry about that every time she throws up or has a fever. Dr. Grant showed me how to feel the soft spot on her head. If it is still soft, and not bulging, then she is probably fine. He also said to listen for a high pitched cry, which could be a sign of head pain. I feel much better now that we have something else to look out for besides the normal signs of sickness.

After seeing Dr. Grant, we headed to Dr. Patel's office (a pediatric orthopedist). Shelby had some hip clicks that we needed to get checked out and they had done an ultrasound on her hips when she was a patient in the hospital the previous week. Anyway, I was relieved to find out that Shelby does not have hip dysplasia and won't need to wear a hip brace. Yes! One less thing to worry about!

We go back to Duke for Shelby's first CT scan on July 28th. Dr. Grant will review those results with us that afternoon. We're hoping the scan will show that some of Shelby's brain tissue has rebounded.

Meanwhile, we're getting settled into life at home with two kids. I'm hoping to establish some sort of routine in the next couple weeks. Harding has (so far) been very sweet to Shelby and patient about the fact that she requires a lot of our time. Shelby continues to act like a very normal baby. She loves to be held and snuggled. We are so happy to have her in our lives!