My plan was to get up at 5:30 and get myself showered and dressed before getting Carrie up. I overslept and didn’t get up until 6:05AM. I asked Kent to get Carrie up and start her breakfast while I got ready. She ate a banana, but would eat any yogurt or applesauce for her prevacid. When it was time to get dressed we discovered that she was having a BM during breakfast. That must have been why she wouldn’t eat. After we were both dressed I offered her just one bite of the applesauce with her Prevacid on it. She ate it. Then she ate some of my oatmeal. I got all her food for the day ready last night and put a cooler out to use for the trip to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. We left home at 6:50AM.

We arrived at CCH at 8:45AM, parked and found our way to Bldg C, 2nd Floor. Carrie’s mom was already there waiting. I registered for the appointment, giving the receptionist Carrie’s updated address and medical coverage information. Carrie saw her mom and went to greet her. She became quite fussy when I tried to keep her with me. I was a bit uncomfortable in this situation. Technically, her mom isn’t allowed any unsupervised contact. Trina wasn’t there yet. In order to keep her from screaming, I just let her go. In the end, all she wanted to do was go to the bookshelf and play area. Carmen talked to her using sign language.

A nurse/tech came out to take Carrie’s weight and measurements. She now weighs about 22.5 pounds. I had to take off her clothes to get naked weight. Her mom made several comments in a row about her (nonexistent) diaper rash. The interesting thing is that her mom didn’t address me or the nurse/tech. She spoke directly to Carrie. I pretended to ignore her. When the nurse/tech asked if we wanted to go to an exam room, I told her I preferred to stay in the waiting room until Trina arrived. Trina showed up about 20 minutes late.

We all four went to the exam room where a nurse questioned me about Carrie’s recent eating habits as well as her urination and bowel movements. Once the nurse left, Carrie’s mom asked about pediasure. I told her that I didn’t get any direct instructions to give Carrie pediasure. Carrie’s mom continued to talk about pediasure, making several seemingly sarcastic comments. I finally told her that I had some pediasure, but Carrie didn’t like to drink it. She prefers milk/water/juice and REAL food. Trina told Carrie’s mom that if she was going to cause trouble she would have to leave. She asked why. Trina mentioned her sarcastic comments. I told her to just chill out and lay off the pediasure.

As it turns out, Carrie has gained on average 11 grams per day since June 28. The expected average for a child her age is 5 grams per day. Dr. K was quite pleased with her progress. He even said “good job” to me. He didn’t need to observe her while eating. The next appointment is October 20 at 9:45AM.

Carrie visited her mom at CSB from 11:15AM to 1:15PM.