Emma started The Little Gym classes this past Tuesday with her friend Parker (our friend Meredith's daughter, who is 7 months old). She loved it! She was very comfortable going right to the teacher to do some somersaults on the foam roll, it was great. There were lots of other kids there, ages 4 months to 19 months, so it was good for her to be around some of the older kids. I think going to daycare has really helped Emma be more comfortable being around new people. There are some benefits to daycare, but definitely some negative things, too.
Speaking of negative daycare things-- Emma just got over her very first ear infection and baaaad cold. The doctor was afraid it was going to turn into RSV (as it was going around the school), but it ended up just being a bad combo of the ear infection and cold. To add insult to injury, the Babo (Emma's nickname) ended up with a pretty horrific diaper rash from the antibiotics. A little Lotrimin and Desitin, and her bumcakes are on the mend. :)
We also went to Emma's pediatric dermatology appointment a few weeks ago. The doctor gave us three choices:
1. Leave the hemangioma alone. If we do this, it will double, possibly triple, in size. It will eventually involude, but she will be left with a fairly large bald spot on her scalp. The tissue would eventually need to be removed by a pediatric plastic surgeon in order to give her a normal hairline.
2. Laser treatment. Usually done over the course of a few months, up to 12 sessions. Pro: It slows the growth. Cons: She has to be awake. It feels like a rubber band repeatedly snapping in the same spot for 15-20 seconds. It doesn't STOP the growth or get rid of the hemangioma, just slows it. So we'd have to go to the peds plastic surgeon anyway when she's older to get the tissue removed.
3. Go see a pediatric plastic surgeon at UNC Chapel Hill and see if the hemagioma can just be removed now, while it's still (sort of) small.
Needless to say, we decided to go ahead with the referral to the plastic surgeon. If they can remove it, and it's not high risk, we'll just do that. If it were in a place that weren't so at risk for scratches, bumping, etc, then we'd just leave it. But now that she's on the move, it's a little risky. Plus, it's STILL GROWING. It looks bigger to me this week than it did last week. At the rate it's growing, it will be large and has the potential to rupture...which, per the pediatric dermatologist, is EXTREMELY painful. Our appointment is set up at UNC for Februrary 3rd. We'll let you know what happens.
In other news, Emma is an eating MACHINE! She's loving all of her 1st stage foods: apples, pears, peaches, peas, greenbeans, carrots, prunes, etc. She's liked almost everything we've given her. Grean beans are not her favorite, but mix them with some apples and she's a happy camper. We'll be moving to stage 2 soon!
Here are a few recent pictures of the kiddo. There are a few naked bum pictures because we had her "airing out" from her rash. Hey, they're cute bumcakes, we couldn't resist! She turns 6 months in a week.... crazy!!!
