Aubrey's Fairfax Adventure

Aubrey had an eye exam a few weeks ago. The doctor was quite concerned about some abnormal growth that he saw in the blood vessels in her eyes. If the abnormal growth isn't stopped it can detach her retinas and cause blindness. So we wanted to make sure to get it taken care of.

On April 27th she took a ride in an ambulance and went to a bigger hospital called Fairfax so she could have the surgery. Since she came from another hospital they put her in isolation to make sure she didn't bring any germs with her. So we got our own room for a couple of days and it was quite nice.

So she got her surgery. The doctor used a laser to treat the areas around the abnormal vessels and stop the growth. The surgery went very well and the doctor couldn't have been happier. While we were waiting for the doctor's report we ran into a woman whose son was Aubrey's neighbor at Alexandria hospital. We thought they had gone home, but it turned out they transferred to Fairfax for surgery as well.  

The doctor who did the surgery wanted to monitor her recovery so Aubrey stayed for about two weeks.  She made a lot of progress while she was there. She got out of her isolette and into an open crib. She got off of her oxygen support. And she did great work with a speech therapist working on her bottle feeding.

  

John and I got to give her a bath for the first time.

The pictures are red because we were working under a heat lamp. She's really got that pout down. We keep warning her that it's not going to work on us, but sometimes I doubt our ability to resist. 

On May 11th she transferred back to Alexandria hospital. It was really fun to come back after two weeks. Aubrey had made so much progress and changed so much. All the nurses were exclaiming over how big she is and how they didn't recognize her. She's doing very well. She just needs to get strong enough to get all her feedings by mouth. Slowly, but surely, she is getting there. We are very glad that she is back at Alexandria so we can be with her for more of her feedings. We're all practicing and learning together.