10 months old

Yesterday Emma turned 10 months old & we celebrated by taking her to the park for the first. Unfortunately she is still too small for the baby swings but I got in one of the regular swings so she could at least have a chance to play. She seemed to really like it & jumped up & down on my lap when the swing would stop. It was as if she was trying to make it swing again. We took her to the slide & held her while she went down & she seemed to like it too. One of her favorite parts was this tunnel she could look through the window holes on the side & peek at us.

Emma is getting really close to crawling & is babbling a lot these days. She is finally getting the hang of self feeding but isn't crazy about table food just yet. She is also doing much better with her sippy cup. She had her second session with the physical therapist today (although she cried most of the time) & Leslie could already tell an improvement from last week. She seems to think Emma will be crawling within the next week or two but I am not quite sure. Dr. K (pediatrician) wanted Emma tested to see if she needed therapy & the therapist says she is only slightly behind. Emma will be going to therapy once a week until her heart surgery in Oct & she will start going back to therapy soon after the surgery.

I started putting bows in her hair over the weekend, doesn't make her look so much older.

Sweet serious look with those big blue eyes.

Emma napping Sunday afternoon & cuddling with her bear blanket, she was too cute I had to take a picture.

I think she is watching Spencer or some other children off in the distance.

Here she is waving at her Daddy right before I help her go down the slide.

Look at that sweet face.

See how tiny she looks in the baby swing. It almost came up to her chin. You could have fit 2 or 3 of her in that swing.

Peeking at Daddy


She looks so big here all by herself

Daddy & his little girl

Surgery Scheduled

I got a call from Dr. B's (Emma's heart surgeon) office on Friday morning & they have scheduled her for Oct. 28. Yes, we will be going back to Charleston for this surgery & man am I nervous. After I got off the phone with his secretary I cried. Now I know the surgery is totally necessary but I also know its very invasive & a long surgery. The up side is we are familiar with the process, the hospital, the staff & this should be the final surgery.

We really don't know what the surgeon will do to repair Emma's VSD's & Dr. O (Emma's cardiologist) said Dr. B may not decide until Emma is actually in the OR. The main goal is to patch the large hole in the apex of her heart & to hopefully patch most of the little holes. There is a possiblity that some of the smaller holes will not be patched but Dr. O said that should not cause Emma any problems + he will be monitoring Emma after we get home Charleston.

One of your goals before we go to Charleston is to get Emma a flu shot. Dr. K (her pediatrician) had suggested at her 9 month check-up that she wanted Emma to get one & Dr. O agreed. Dr. O was also hoping to get Emma's surgery done before flu season but she will be in the hospital at the beginning of it so its even more important that she gets the shot. Now I just hope the pediatrician gets them in soon enough.

So we would like to ask you to keep us, Emma and the staff at MUSC Children's Hospital in your prayers as we take this journey one more time.

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.

Family Fun

We got back from the beach early Thursday morning & we all had a great time. Emma & Morgan spent a lot of time playing in the floor & on the beach with their big cousins. Kaylee & Caroline really had a great time with the babies & were a great help in entertaining them so we could take showers, fix meals or whatever.

While we were at the beach Emma turned 8 months old & she can now sit up on her own & sort small obects. She is such a busy little baby now. I have started giving her a cup (water only for now), but she still isn't quite sure what to do with it yet. She also tried peas for the first time & she wasn't very fond of them. At first the made her gag as if she was going to throw up but the next feeding when she at them she did much better. Morgan is almost 10 months old & she just started pulling up to a standing position, which she is very proud of. Morgan is also saying "bye, bye" now. These babies are growing up so fast & what a joy they bring to our lives.

Morgan & Emma playing. Notice Morgan pointing, its one of her new tricks.

Emma playing in the sand

Me & my sweet baby girl

Morgan checking out Emma after she finished breakfast

Emma on the beach chewing on her boat