Maddie had a good appointment with Dr. Lung on Friday, despite the fact that the doctor was running a hour and 40 minutes late. You can just imagine what kind of mood I was in by the time the doctor showed her face. The good news is that Maddie’s lungs sounded good, and she is now eligible for an overnight oxygen study. That means we’ll have to check out a pulse oxygen meter from the hospital and connect it to Maddie for at least eight hours while she breathes room air. If she “passes,” that means we can get rid of the oxygen rocket!! WOO! I can’t tell you how much of a relief that will be. She tosses and turns at night to the point that we’re afraid to tape a tube to her, knowing it will be wrapped around her body in the morning. I have nightmares about her tube wrapping around her neck.

99.9% of the time, though, she pulls the cannula right off her face, so it’s pretty much a non-issue.

Dr. Lung was pretty terrified when she walked into the exam room and saw me, without Mike. She is completely frightened of me. And, since she was running SO late, I might have made a bit of a stink about waiting so freaking long. She treats Mike and I completely differently. With Mike, she is all business. With me, she kisses ass. Whatever lady. I already lodged my complaint with the medical board, I’m not taking back. I almost laugh at how syrupy she is with me since Mike says she is COMPLETELY different. On Friday, she wanted to hold Maddie, she complimented her hair, wished her a happy birthday and kept saying how pretty Maddie was. I don’t need your compliments, woman! Just examine her!

I was not pleased to discover that Maddie has only gained one ounce since her birthday weigh in almost two weeks ago. When I talked to Dr. Lung about it, she actually wasn’t that concerned. She said that now that Maddie is so active, we shouldn’t expect rapid weight gain. It makes sense…but we’ll see what the nutritionist says when we see her next.

There IS one thing I forgot to ask Dr. Lung that maybe one of you out there will know. If Maddie laughs hard, or laughs for more than 15 seconds, she gets major body-shaking hiccups. Anyone else experienced that?

To be fair, Dr. Lung was completely blown away by Maddie’s development. She watched Maddie sit, pull to stand, wave, babble, etc. She said that she’s never seen a child as little as Maddie do all those things. I hear that a lot. I love to put Maddie in grocery carts or facing forward in her stroller. She can do all those things without breaking a sweat, but it completely freaks people out. She’s the size of a 3-4 month old, but is right on track with her adjusted age of 10 months. It’s pretty awesome.

There once was a time when I’d be asked how old Maddie was, and I’d lie and say a younger age just because I didn’t want to go into the whole prematurity thing. Now I love to say that she’s a year, even though I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have a one year old. ONE YEAR OLD. I’ve been a mom for ONE YEAR. So hard to believe.

Being home with her has been great. We’ve been playing lots of games, and I’ve been helping her interact with her toys. I’m sure every parent has the moments where you see your kid “get it,” but it never gets old.

riding the train
Hey, if I sit on this train, Mommy will push me!

curls
My curls make grown women weep.

riding into the sunset
See you fools later.