When you live the life of Peanut, any day that calls for “cute girly outfits” instead of sleepers are big days – and few and far between. Wednesday was just that – it was Peanut’s first check-up at the UIHC in 3 weeks. A lot had changed in that time – the introduction of green beans, as well as her copper supplement, and the stopping of her IV fluids. The day included a check-up with her surgery team, a check-up with her GI physician, and blood work. Fortunately, Peanut enjoys sleeping in the car and was well rested for all of the poking and prodding.

The general consensus from the doctors was that Peanut is doing good. Her growth has gotten back on track with the introduction of the green beans and she now weighs just over 12 lbs 10 oz. The stoppage of replacement fluids hasn’t seemed to affect her. And though not all of her blood test results are ideal, she is showing steady improvement in most areas of concern.

All this good news means that Peanut will have to wait even longer for her next day out as the doctors don’t feel the need to see her again for another five weeks (they will continue to monitor her progress by scheduled blood work and weekly data we email, though). In the meantime, we will slowly increase Peanut’s green bean intake from 3 oz to 4oz and then 5 oz a day and, depending on how that goes, her total milk intake from 640 cc to 680 cc per day. As a precaution against clots and infection, we will continue to use heparin and/or ethanol in her central line on a daily basis even though she will not be any IV fluids threw the line. If she doesn’t need the line for replacement fluids between now and the next check-up, the doctors will likely discuss having it removed – one of the two surgeries we know that Peanut will need in the near future. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves… we still have a lot of green beans to tackle the next five weeks before we worry about that.