Katharina is doing so well! She weighs 13lbs and has lots of chunky rolls, smiles and chitter-chatters all the time, sleeps at least 7-8 hours every night, enjoys her Mommy’s singing, and loves her Daddy more than anyone else in the whole wide world.
This coming Monday at 1:30pm, Katharina will be having surgery to insert a G-tube. She has been fully dependent on her NG (nasogastric) tube since late October for her feeds as she is orally averted (won’t take anything by mouth) and it’s time to get something more long-term. Corey or I have needed to re-insert her NG at least once every day as she becomes stronger, more “grabby” and pulls it out. We are looking forward to not only having something secure but also finally seeing her adorable face again with no tube or tapes! We expect her to stay in the hospital for 3-4 nights following her surgery.
Please pray for Katharina! We are familiar with hospital life and surgeries, having been through so much with Calvin, but even though we have been told it is a quick procedure, it is still a big thing for our little lady. It is her first surgery! Also, she has quite severe vomiting episodes multiple times a day, likely due to reflux. They are hoping the G-tube will decrease these vomits and we are praying for that too!
Her ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) has resolved, but the scar tissue has resulted in a “lazy” right eye. At her December appointment, her ophthalmologist said her vision is quite bad in her right eye so she will very likely need glasses. Our next appointment is in February and we should find out then if that’s still the case. Bad vision is a common thing for preemies – from being on a ventilator and requiring so much oxygen – so we knew from early on that this could happen.
She had an appointment at the Developmental Follow-Up Clinic this week for being four months corrected. “Corrected” refers to the time from her original due date (not the date she was born). We met with a physiotherapist, nurse and physician who ask questions, do a physical examination and some physio exercises, check her weight and measurements, and more. They compare all of this to what regular four month old full-term babies should be doing, weighing, etc. and Katharina is right on par with almost everything so far. Excellent!
Thank you for your continued prayers for our family! The twins are now almost eight months old and we are amazed at how far they have come in their individual ways.
The Hughes Family 