The Great Outdoors...and 5 Month Shots

Yep, I am one of those mom's who documents everything I possibly can with a camera. Exhibit A: Kinsley's first time touching grass.

I had heard that you never know if grass will bring on an allergic reaction, so I held off for a while - well, that, and the fact that this has only been the hottest summer ever. But the other night, Philip had just cut the grass and it was a bit cooler outside (ok, so "cooler" meant it was 85 degrees outside instead of 90), and he, Kinsley & Hunter all sat out in the front yard to play. She seemed to like the feel of daddy's freshly-cut lawn between her toes! We have thought that with her strong legs (I got my first taste of just how strong they were at about 28 weeks pregnant), she could be a soccer player like her mama was. Either way, I have a feeling we are sure to have some "grass-stained" clothing in our future as she gets older!

And speaking of allergic reactions, we had a kinda big one this past week. Because of Kinsley being a preemie, and her low weight the first few months, she has been on a delayed immunization schedule...instead of 2-4-6 month shots, we are on a 3-5-7 mo schedule. And it was at her 5 mo shot visit last week that we experienced a bit of a scare. Within seconds of her round of vaccines, her poor little face, neck, and head (under that thin layer of blonde peach fuzz) began breaking out into red splotches and welts. Needless to say, all I had to do was go out into the hallway and say the words "I think that we are having an allergic reaction," and within seconds, 2 nurses and a doctor were in our room checking her out. The good news: no respiratory reaction - which is typically the worst kind to have. And then 30 minutes & a good dose of Benedryl later, we finally left to head home. Here is a photo I took of her on my phone (kinda poor quality) once the Benedryl had kicked in (...and my heart rate came down from what I am sure was in the 150's at some point as I watched her reaction worsen), and the red blotches and welts were fading to more of a pink color...what a trooper.

With a preemie, there are lots of unknowns and scary moments that you experience in the first couple of months. This was just another one we have added to our list of experiences. And now I am not sure what we are going to do about her 7 mo shots. I mean, don't allergic reactions typically get worse each time? Do we skip the last round of shots all together? Regardless, I believe that we might be adding "allergist" to our growing list of specialist doctors that we have seen or will see, including her neonatologist (from NICU - but those days are luckily behind us), her cardiologist (her heart condition), her gastroenterologist (her acid reflux)...just to name a few. But I still stand firm that God made her absolutely p-e-r-f-e-c-t...I would not change one thing. And on a more positive note from her doctor visit: Kinsley is "catching up" with her fellow term-baby friends...her weight was 13 lbs 11 oz and they marked her around the 30th-40th percentile! We'll get the official word on where she ranks at her 6 month visit in September, but this was great news - and ask any parent of a preemie: every single ounce counts, and every growing lb is a victory!!!