Cardio News

Yesterday Emma had a follow-up appointment with her cardiologist, Dr. O & he thought she looked really good. Her breathing was good, her heart rate was good & according t0 the echo her PA band is still in place & doing its job. He was a little disappointed with her weight 16 lbs, 2 oz which is the same response we got from her pedi Dr. K two weeks ago. Dr. O was really hoping she would weigh more than she does but he doesn't think her lack of gaining is heart related he thinks its just Emma rate of growth. We discussed how at this age babies growth starts to slow down & if we should consider doing Emma's next surgery soon or wait till spring. He is guessing that Emma will only weigh 19 lbs by April & wondering if its worth waiting until spring if she will only gain 3 more pounds at the most. He also mentioned there still is a lot of holes in her heart but he couldn't tell if any had closed on their own or not. So he is going to contact the surgeon Dr. B at MUSC Children's Hospital & discuss Emma's case with his partner to see what they think. If the surgery is going to be sooner it would hopefully be between now & November to avoid having Emma in the hospital during flu & RSV season. Chris & I are perfectly fine with doing the surgery sooner instead of later. We want Emma to be a healthy happy baby & for us to all move on with our lives without constantly wondering about her heart, her growth rate & her eating habits.

Short Trip

We took a quick trip to the beach over the weekend with my family & we all had a great time. I was really hoping Emma would learn to crawl while we were there but no such luck. Although Emma did learn to clap & it is jus precious. She claps when I get her up in the mornings, when I am changing her diaper, when she is eating & she clapped when Chris came in from work last night while made his day of course.

Emma is her swimsuit coverup waiting her turn to take a bath & playing with the table Nana brought. (Note the curls peeking out of the hood)

Playing in the sand

Chewing on one of her favorite beach toys, her boat.

Counsins playing in the sand

Visiting Granny Ruth (Chris' grandmother) who lives at the beach

9 months old

Yes, Emma turned 9 months old this past Friday & I am a little behind on my blogs. She had her check-up on Friday & she is now 16 lbs, 2 oz, we are so proud of our little girl. Dr. K wasn't 100% pleased with her growth but at least she is still gaining. She is still in the 10% but that is okay. She has gained 2 lbs in 2 months which is great for her. Dr. K is a little concerned that Emma may be behind in her motor skills & developmentally so she has referred Emma to be evaluated for therapy. She is slightly behind & thankfully the therapist will be the one to determine whether or not she actually needs therapy & not Dr. K. Dr. K also wants Emma to start taking vitamins & eating baby food meats. We have been putting the vitamins in her cereal which she eats just fine but the meat is another story. The first night I gave her baby food ham & she gaged & cried. The next night she actually threw up, bless her heart. Then the past 2 nights I have been mixing the ham with whatever veggie I am feeding her & that seems to be working.

Emma is still trying to scooting on her bottom but she isn't making it very far. She would be much happier if she move farther & faster but it will come with time. I sure wish we could teach her patience, she just gets so frustrated. We are going to the beach this weekend with my family & maybe she will pick up crawling by watching Morgan (who by the way is pulling up on everything & crawling everywhere, soon to be walking). If you remember the last time we were at the beach she learned to sit on her own so she just might learn to crawl.

We had Emma's 9 months old portraits made on Saturday & the new picture to the right is my favorite. She didn't do very well this time, she seemed to be scared of the photographer (fear of strangers has begun).

Sweet baby

This was this morning before I feed her breakfast & some how she ended up under the table. She has been trying for a long time to do this & she was quite proud of herself.

New Tricks

Emma is trying to figure out how to start moving around, but I wouldn't calling it crawling. She will sit with her legs spread out (like in a split position) & place her hands on the floor (we call it her yoga pose) & scoot along the floor on her bottom. Now she doesn't get very far while she scoots but she is moving. You can't even see her move that is how small of a movement it is. I just noticed on Thursday that when I would put her on the floor to play she would suddenly not be on the quilt anymore where I put her so I started watching her. I will have to post a picture of her so you can see her yoga/scooting pose.

She still hasn't gotten the hang of her cup yet. Most of the time she will either push it away telling us she doesn't want it or will quickly throw it on the floor. We are trying to teach her the word "NO" and "NOT IN YOUR MOUTH" and she understands but is putting up a little fight to obey. She has learned how to disagree with us which we are working on as well. Her little temper shows up from time to time which I remember seeing when she was a newborn & we were still in the hospital. Most of the time she is a sweet little girl with a smile on her face, right now she is just testing her bountries.