The life of Emma and Gretta: The big day!!

So today was the day we traveled down to Wake Forest to have Emma Kate evaluated by the pediatric ENT doctor. We got off to an early start to the day and even had time to let her play in her pool before we had to go! We stopped midway down at a county park to have lunch and let Emma play and had a nice time there. We finished off the trip with Emma falling asleep for her nap just in time to have a halfway decent amount of sleep! Got to the hospital with no problem and signed in. We did have to wait about 30 minutes after our appointment time, but once we got in, the doctor was very patient, thorough, and took his time with us. It was a really good experience, all things considered!

After getting a complete history on Emma and watching the two videos we had taken of her at her noisiest breathing times, Dr. Kirse examined the xrays we brought. He was quite happy with them (we had been led to believe that they supported the idea of a narrowed airway... hmmmm) and said that if he were presenting these images to his residents, he would say they were a good example of a normal airway! We decided to go ahead and allow him to examine her internally with the tiny scope like before, so he could see it with his own eyes and give his impressions. Certainly not pleasant, but again, Emma seemed to get over it within 5 or 10 mintues, and this time the scope was hooked up to a video monitor so we could see it, and it could be recorded for future reference. He felt like there was no significant evidence of subglottic stenosis, but did mention one area that looked "beefier" that it should look in a normal patient. Because of the limitations of the exam with Emma awake, this was about all we could get. He felt like there were 2 options for us at this point- either continue to monitor her and see if she grows out of it, or go ahead and pursue a more definitive diagnosis by anesthetizing her and examining her with the rigid scope to allow for better, more thorough identification. The latter is unlikely to do anything for us other than give us more information- he felt strongly that there's nothing there that would possibly require further attention like surgery, and really didn't push us in one direction or the other. This was all very reassuring! He feels that she does not have evidence of significant enough airway compromise that it could be affecting her growth, and we jointly decided to discontinue the Prevacid (yeah!!!!!), as it really hasn't changed anything.

After spending an hour with us, he assured us that we didn't have to make a decision right away, and that he would always be there if we were ever concerned about her and wanted to get her checked again or wanted to pursue further diagnostics. I was really impressed by his sincerity! We got home in time to get Emma a good bath and off to bed at a decent hour, which is a relief!

So anyhow, now fun stuff- Mommy and Emma Kate spent the weekend with Mimi and PopPop, as Mommy had a baby shower to go to back home. We had a nice, relaxing time, and a ton of fun at the shower! Emma got to play with Manning, a little boy just a couple months younger than her, and they did really well together! It was great to see her adjust to the environment so quickly. I left my camera behind, so I don't have much in the way of pictures yet, but hopefully will get more emailed to me soon! :) In the mean time, here are some recent pictures from home and the weekend:

Mommy and Emma Kate on Mimi's porch swing