We had an appointment with Dr. Barr today. Everything is ok. He looked at Alison's MRI and her ventricles are bigger, but they are proportional to the CT scan. We just need to keep on an eye on her head size. Everyone have a wonderful New Year.

Alison had a visit with her pedatrician for a check-up and to get shots. Dr. Mauch was real happy with her growth and weight gain. Alison is now in the 10th percentile for each category. The only problem was the growth of her head. According to the charts, her head measurement puts her in the 95th percentile. That is kind of big for her age. Hopefully the head growth will level off.

We called Dr. Schell's office to find out why we had not heard anything about Alison's MRI. Dr. Schell will not be back in the office until Thursday, 12/19/02, so we won't know the whole story about the MRI until he returns. However, we were told that if there had been anything to worry about, we would have been called immediately, so it appears that Alison's MRI turned out ok.

Alison had her baseline urological tests at U of M today. Her bladder is slightly thickened, but other than that she passed all the tests with flying colors. She was seriously pissed during the VCUG, but who wouldn't be when you're not quite 4 months old and are strapped to a rotating board with your hands strapped back by your ears? Kevin could hear her screaming clear across the hall. We do not have to go back for a whole year unless complications arise before then. Yahoo!!

Alison had an MRI done today. We had it done in Saginaw, and she had to be sedated for it, so she needed to not sleep on the way to the hospital. Keeping a tired infant from falling asleep during a 30 minute car ride is no easy task. She went to sleep shortly after receiving the meds to sedate her and easily slept through the almost the whole scan. She did start waking up just in the last few seconds of the last scan. The results should be back in about 3-4 days.

Alison went in for a weight check again today. She gained 1 lb in 4 days!!! Obviously there is a supply issue here. There is definitely no lack of appetite on Alison's part, that's for sure. Instead of the 25 ounces a day she should have been taking in, she was taking in between 34 and 36 ounces!

Alison went in for a weight check today. She didn't gain an ounce. They are doing some blood work to rule out anything else, and we have to collect a stool sample. Debbie now has to pump and then feed Alison from a bottle so we know exactly how much she is eating. She should be taking at least 25 ounces a day. She goes back on the 6th for another weight check. The doctor called the Spina Bifida clinic today because Alison's head circumference is a little bigger than expected, and he was concerned that the lack of weight gain is caused by her hydrocephalus worsening. More to come on the 6th.