Big Day Yesterday.
To be fair, we were kind of dreading yesterday. TinyE had a 6-month pediatrician appointment in the afternoon, and a few days before that we received a reminder call about her follow-up appointment with the hand surgeon -- scheduled for that same morning. At the same time, our Occupational Therapist had suggested that we use our next meeting with the hand surgeon to get TinyE fitted with a thumb splint.

In anticipation of a long day, I packed three bottles, a spare sleeper (for TinyE, not me), several toys and Squishy Turtle and Friends (the book). Here's a timetable roundup of the day:

Time we left the house: 9:40am.
Check-in at the children's hospital: 10:20 (exactly on time)
Height and weight check: 10:30 (so far, so good).
Called back to see the hand surgeon: 11:10am
Time when the hand surgeon came in: 12:00
Number of times it took to get a good xray of TinyE's right arm: 1 (hallelujah!!)
Check-in with rehab therapies for splinting: 1:00
Time we left the children's hospital: 2:00
Time we got to the pediatrician: 2:25 (right on time again!)
Time we got home: 3:30.

Plus:
Napping time for Ramona, all day: 20 minutes while in transit from the hospital to the pediatrician's office
Number of bottles we actually used: One
Diaper changes: Two
Outfit changes: None

Now, for the details that really matter.

Update from the hand surgeon
Dr. VH was clearly impressed with TinyE's development, especially the way she's moving and using her right arm and hand. The Xrays showed measurable bone growth along with some very obvious growth plates (the origin of present and future growth). Of course, we already knew this because her arm IS noticeably larger than when she was born. Summary: her right arm and hand will always be smaller, but they WILL grow. Very good news. Our next checkup is in November, after TinyE's first birthday.

About the splint
As stated earlier, the OT recommended a thumb splint that will only be worn at night... the objective is to stretch out that thumb, which is usually pretty tight next to the hand. We came home with two versions, one is a soft purple, the other is a more typical hard splint. The soft purple splint fits right over Tiny E's thumb, and the instant it was on TinyE popped her thumb in her mouth and started sucking.













It was great to see, because that's something she usually struggles with. Unable to extend her thumb, she ends up frantically sucking the side of her hand. But with the splint, she got that thumb right in her mouth. And she was clearly delighted by it.

Don't know how the splint will work out -- when I went in to get her last night at 1am, it had wriggled off and was no longer doing its job. We might have to try the hard splint for a while, or just try using it during the day during supervised play time.

Six-month stats
Height: 27-3/4". 95th percentile for height!
Weight: 16.7 pounds
Dr. G's comments:
"She's a lean machine."
"I think she'd be crawling if that right arm was longer. But she may end up doing an army crawl."

And in conclusion
What a wonderful baby. All the poking and prodding, all the new faces and places, and ALL day long without her typical napping, followed by three vaccinations at our last stop of the day.

What did she do when she got home?













She roared with laughter, burst into smiles and giggles, and rolled around the floor with sheer glee. She went to bed with some minor fussing and only woke up once during the night. Such innocence -- she clearly hasn't embraced the philosophy of "Hey! I had a long day, stay outta my way!"

No, she was simply happy to be home.