Stay at home mom

This week marked another major event in our lives. After much discussion, and surprisingly few arguments, Pam turned in her notice at McCurdy and as of Christmas will officially be a stay-at-home mom. She tried returning to work a few days a week at the beginning of December, while my Mom watched Riley, but it wasn't working out very well so we decided this was the best option. My Mom did great, but Riley still is having trouble feeding, and with all her doctor appointments and everything else it just seemed Pam would not be able to fully concentrate on work and return full time for quite awhile. She is looking forward to being at home to attend to Riley's every need, but will definitely miss all the great people at McCurdy she has worked with over the past 2 1/2 years.

No major appointments this past week, but coming up on Tuesday is the one we've been looking forward to for awhile - Dr. Riva, the pulmonary specialist. We are hoping that she will tell us we are done with the oxygen and the saturation monitor. It is likely we will still need it part of the time, probably during the night and maybe feedings as well, but we'll find out for sure in a few days. On Wednesday, she has a follow-up with Dr. Whitfil, the eye doctor. Because she has been on oxygen so long, there is still the posibility of retinal damage, but unlikely because of the low levels she has been on - plus throughout her NICU stay she had several tests and always passed with flying colors, so we are expecting positive results there as well.

Riley's been getting out and seeing more of the world these past few weeks. We've taken her shopping a few times, but have done our best to keep her from being exposed to too much. She has also been to a few more of my basketball games, and really seems to enjoy all the lights, sounds, and action.

I'll try to post again later this week after the appointments, with hopefully some very good news. In the meantime, here's this month's "Riley and Baxter" photo...she hasn't gained much weight, but is definitely getting longer!