First Trip to the Doctor!

Age: 11 days

Weight: 12.5 oz

Today was Ava's first office visit to her Pediatrician. Ava's doctor is very nice and warm hearted so I can tell we are going to have a very positive experience with this practice. The doctor took her time with us as she caught up with Ava's chart that was fowarded from the hospital.

I glanced at the sheet of paper which I was given a copy of and it's a page long of medical jargon that explains Ava's first 11 days of life. It's a bit intimidating to look at and try to make sense of. It's crazy that everything we went through in the NICU can be summed up on one 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper. I, on the other hand, would need a book with a thousand pages to describe it!

Coming to the Peds office does feel a lot different and much better than having Ava in the NICU. We have made a lot of progress and I know I'll be hearing more positive news from the Peds whereas at the NICU I was constantly hearing the bad and when I would arrive I was always expecting to hear them say that she made a dramatic turn for the worse.

Ava's visit went very well and she didn't fuss at all. We have to take her in for a visit once a week for the first month so they can monitor her progress and development closely. They are also charting Ava's development by her "adjusted age" (i.e. the age she would be if she was a full term baby). Ava has an extra five week window to meet the typical developmental milestones.

Tonight is also my father's Retirement dinner since he officially retired in July. I really want to stay home with Ava but I know that it's really important for me to go tonight. I was supposed to give a speech to introduce him but that plan is regrettfully out the window since I never had the chance to write anything for him. I'm wearing heels too which I really shouldn't be doing since I still have stitches accross my stomach. But hey, I'm a heel girl so I just can't wear flats!