Kaitlyn Ryan

Hello again everyone! I apologize for our lack of posts to Kaitlyn’s site. I plan on getting better, especially now that Sean is upgrading the site. I’ll finally be able to upload pictures again too!

Kaitlyn had her final Synagis shot for this season this morning. Papito just called me to give me an update on her weight, and our little baby girl now weighs… 13lbs 7oz!

A quick update for everyone… Sean’s last post mentioned our appointment with a plastic surgeon about Kaitlyn’s hemangioma. The Dr. said it should not interfere with her feedings at all and gave us our options for removing it. We go back in May for a follow up, and to discuss our options further. The visit to MUSC’s High Risk Clinic went well too. Kaitlyn is doing a great job keeping up with fellow 3, almost 4, month olds (they still go by her adjusted age). We’ve started Kaitlyn on cereal, and this was definitely an experience for all of us. Kaitlyn is not a fan of rice cereal at the moment. We are continuing to try on a daily basis and it is getting better, but sometimes she just lets out this loud squeal telling us she just wants her bottle. We know it will get better though, as with everything she does we just have to let her do it when she’s ready. I’ll post again later this week with some updated pictures. She is getting so big!

Kaitlyn has gotten huge. As I was working on the Disney post, some of the pictures from when she was a preemie were showing up in the sort of working photo gallery sidebar. I had forgotten how incredibly tiny she was, and how incredibly lucky we are that she is here with us now, doing so well.

How well, you ask? Well, if you look back a few posts, you will see that on Valentine’s day, she came in at 9lbs 4oz. On Friday, she got weighed again, and she came in at….

11lbs 6oz!

So in two weeks, she put on 2lbs. Some of the gain was clothes, as they make her go nude at the doctor’s office, but not when she is getting her shot.

Needless to say, we all were very surprised. She definitely has the Buddha belly going on. Everyone says she looks like me in that aspect.

And as many of you know, she has hemangioma on her lip. Normally, it isn’t anything to worry about. However, the doctor is referring us to a plastic surgeon to ensure that it is nothing to worry about. We are on the verge of starting her on something other than formula, and she wants to be sure that her strawberry won’t interfere with that.

Her mother and I are of mixed opinions on this one. Part of me would like to be rid of it, but at the same time we don’t actively want anything to be wrong. I hate the thought of having to do whatever magic they have to do to remove it, but I also don’t want it to be interfering with her development. So we are hoping for whatever will be best for Kaitlyn. Supposedly the doctor we are going to see is a specialist in these sort of things on infants, so at least we are in good hands.

This appointment is next week, along with a trip back to the High Risk Clinic at MUSC. So there will be a full update then. And if any of our nurses are still reading this, we will be in the building around 9:30a on Monday, so feel free to hunt us down. And we might even try to find you guys. We don’t miss being there, but we do miss you.

The first trip to Disney World with Kaitlyn is completely, and we all had a very good time. Of course, Kaitlyn isn’t going to remember any of it other than the pictures and video we have, but that will be enough.

She was awake pretty much the entire time. But not just awake, but very quiet, always looking around, checking things out (at least as much as you can when you are laying on your back in a stroller). She didn’t get to ride any rides, but I think she enjoyed herself.

For those who are interested we took a tour of Minny’s house (her favorite character…or at least what we are going to make her favorite for now), took some pictures with Donald, Goofy, and Pluto, watched the pirates and princess parade, went shopping, and got numerous compliments from complete strangers about how adorable our baby girl is (duh).

Outside the compliments, shopping was my favorite part, as each of us got something to remember the trip with. Kaitlyn ended up with a nice onesie (onesy?) with Minny Mouse on it and the words “Princess in training.”

I am sure we will end up back there, but one day when she is a little older and can remember a little more, we are going to go back and do the whole experience. But for now, this preview will at least give Tori and I something to look back on fondly.