Jenna's Genetics Appointment

Thursday, Jenna had a 3-hour genetics appointment with Dr. Palmer. About an hour or so was spent doing vitals and a family, medical tree. Had I known they would need so much medical information, I would've contacted many of you to get more information! They said what I knew was adequate. You're probably wondering why Jenna had to see a Geneticist in the first place. Well, her Endocrine doctor, Dr. Copeland, felt it was a good idea due to her multiple problems just so they can rule-out different types of syndromes. Dr. Palmer has been studying Jenna's medical file since she was in the NICU. Talk about thorough!

Dr. Palmer voiced her concerns about the scar tissue from a blood clot found in her liver back when she was in the NICU. The neonatologists said it was most likely due to a UVC (central-line) in her belly button which she had when she was at the other hospital. They left it at that and do no further investigating. Well, Dr. Palmer was pretty furious about this. She wanted to send us to a Hematologist, but she was worried they wouldn't get us in quickly enough to do blood work and testing before her surgery. So, they took 3mls from Jenna to be tested STAT. We have another appointment with Dr. Palmer on the 15th to discuss the results and the possibility of Jenna not being ready for surgery (due to a possible clotting disorder and her hypoglycemia).

Dr. Palmer's other concerns about Jenna...not being able to hold her head-up when lifted by her hands from a horizontal position. She said her muscle tone isn't quite where it needs to be. Also, the fact that Jenna has a tendency to favor her right side when being held in a seated position. There are numerous possibilities as to the reasons for these things. It could just be do to the fact that she was in the NICU for such a long period of time and just needs more time to catch-up to where a normal baby would be. Thankfully, we have Sooner Start working with us :-)

Side note about her cleft...

I asked her if gaps in the two front teeth can be a sign of cleft. Dr. Palmer said, "yes." I actually use to have a large gap between my two front teeth until my parents graciously conceded to fixing it for me :-) My dad has one and my sister use to have one until she fixed hers as well. Interesting thought.

Another note...

If Nick and I were to have another baby, there would be at least a 25% chance of having another child with clefting. Wow! Totally an eye-opener considering Jenna's cleft surgeon said there would be a 11-14% chance. God totally led us to Dr. Palmer. I'm so grateful! She's also the doctor to my friend's sick little boy and was the doctor for one of friends whose son lost his life early this year at the age of one due to problems with his DNA and metabolise.

Well, I'm sure I'll probably think of something I forgot to mention and post it later. Nick's barkin' at me to get my butt in bed, so I better concede. We're taking Joshua to see Thomas the Train in the morning, so be looking forward to some super cute pictures!!!