One week down, one to go!

One week down on weaning from the steriods....only one week to go! We are so excited! We have seen no change in the hemangioma, so it's looking promising that she will actually be able to be off the steroids for good! Already, we've noticed some differences in terms of side effects. Her little cheeks seem to be getting smaller (the "moon shape" appearance of her face is due to the steroids), and over the past few days she has not spit up hardly at all. The latter gives me hope that the tummy issues are due to the steroids. Caroline had her 4 month check up last week (Mommy was slack so it was closer to a five month check up, but oh well). She weighs 11 lbs, 12 ounces. We were really surprised she wasn't a 12 pounder! She's still very petite for her age - she continues to be in the 10th percentile for height and weight, but she's growing and proportionate so the pediatrician isn't worried. He was very surprised that Caroline couldn't tolerate rice cereal, as this usually isn't the case for babies. After the steroids are stopped, I will try again as well as trying formula. Dr. Burbridge basically said it could be steroid irritation or something else, like allergies. If she still has trouble after a few weeks off the steroid, we'll have to go back to Duke GI. Please pray that the stomach issues are not due to allergies, as this will make things much more complicated! Caroline is a pro at rolling now. She can roll from tummy to back and back to tummy with no problem. She has also discovered that tummy sleeping is kind of nice. A few times she's been on her tummy asleep in the crib when I've checked on her at night or during a nap. I tried taking out her bumper pads because of this (I don't want her to get caught face down on the side of the crib). Well, last night she woke up screaming 2 times during the night because she got her legs caught in the slats of the crib and couldn't move. At 3:30am, Mommy put the bumpers back! I just said a silent prayer that she would be protected.... I never knew what worry was until I became a Mommy! Today we're taking Caroline on a special trip to visit Santa! Hope we get some good pics.... stay tuned! Here are some more recent pictures of Caroline....most of them are of her doing what she does best right now...rolling over! This is me playing with my Papa and Uncle Todd at Thanksgiving... we had lots of fun!