Happy due date, Charlotte!

We have officially reached Charlotte's due date which was around May 4. She is "full term" now, and so she will start going by her adjusted age until she is 2 years old. So, even though she is 3 months old, she is really acting like a newborn, because she would still have been growing in Laura's belly until now. Charlotte had her developmental assessment now that she has reached her due date, and she passed it with flying colors! This assessment determined if Charlotte would need therapy at home. She is doing everything she should be doing for a newborn baby. The doctor "did not recommend any home therapy at this time." It must have been the UNC onesie! We give Charlotte sponge baths regularly now, and she loves to sit in the basin of water to rinse off. Charlotte is now wearing "newborn" sized clothing and diapers instead of "preemie" size. So, we brought in all of the wonderful gifts from our amazing friends and family! Everyone keeps commenting about all of the outfits and pictures we have hanging saying, "she is one loved little girl." It's true. The constant reminders of how blessed we are with a loving support system are all around Charlotte's room. Charlotte is part of a pilot research study which is looking at her entire genetic code to determine why she has the medical conditions with her heart, adrenal glands, and platelets. The study was hoping to find one cause for all of it, and help the doctors manage her medical conditions better. However, the test did not find any genetic causes for Charlotte's conditions. So, next week the hematologist is going to do a bone marrow aspiration to draw out part of Charlotte's bone marrow and look at it under a microscope to see if her bone marrow is making any platelets. Hopefully, this will give us some answers. Charlotte continues to work with OT to drink from a bottle with thickened milk. The thickened milk is to ensure that none of the milk goes into Charlotte's lungs. They are hoping to do a swallow study soon to determine how she swallows, and give her the right consistency of milk. However, Charlotte still needs "vapotherm" which is a machine that gives a high flow of oxygen and that makes it difficult to get her down to the swallow study room. The Occupational Therapist is working on a plan to get the study done, because when they see how Charlotte swallows, they can give her more milk. The physical therapists showed us massage techniques to help Charlotte relax and stretch. She loves to have her arms and legs massaged! Everyday is a new adventure, but we are so thankful for the exceptional medical care that Charlotte is getting! The University of Maryland staff have been such a blessing.