Cardio Update

Yesterday Emma went for her 6 month post-op cardio check-up & Dr. O thought she looked great. He didn't even see any reason to do a echo or EKG. He didn't hear anything that concerned him when he listened to her & thought her murmur sounded really quiet.

He has now moved Emma's check-up to annually, YAY. He said normally with a child who has a VSD repair he will see them 6 months post-op, then 1 year & then every 2-3 years, but he wants to keep an eye on our Emma. Since she did have 3 surgeries & one of them included a PA band, he wants to make sure no scar tissue forms around the artery which would restrict the flow of blood. He also wants to test her heart rhythms with a holter monitor when she gets older which will be several years from now.

She did really great in the office with no crying, only a little fussing at first & constantly saying bye, bye to the staff which is her way of saying she is ready to go. I think this was the first time anyone has ever listened to her heart since her first surgery where she didn't cry. Could we be turning the corner of learning to not be scared at the doctor? Time will tell...

I almost forgot to mention that Emma weighs 22 lbs now, grow little Emma grow.

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day weekend we headed to my Mom's beach house & had a great time as always. Emma is still not quite sure about the whole beach thing yet, or at least the sand part of it, but she loved the water. Once we introduced her to the ocean she was constantly asking for more water either to go play in it or to have some in her sand bucket or watering can.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend.

Playing in the water with Daddy

Going to get water with Daddy

She loved playing in the water in her bucket.

Loving her PB&J, we love that face.

Sitting in cousin Morgan's chair showing us the sand on her feet. Emma is such a girl.

She's walking!!!

Emma's newest trick as of Monday, she is actually walking. She has been taking steps here & there, pushing toys, furniture, laundry baskets but now she is actually walking from one thing to another. She does still crawl some but there is definitely a lot more walking.


Not real sure why I am shaking my head "no" in the background

A Sad Day

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Deebs family today with the loss of their precious 10 month old baby girl, Maia, who lost her battle with HLHS today. We actually meet little Maia & her mother when we were at MUSC in Decemeber & have been following their blog ever since. Please keep this family in your prayers.

18 months & growing

Everyone said she would grow up fast & they were definitely right. I took Emma for her 18 month old pictures this morning & the proofs look like a 3 year old little girl with a silly (sometimes fake) grin.

She went for her 18 month check-up last week & she is still in the 10% for weight at 20 lbs, 15 oz (she is probably over 21 lbs by now) and 50% for height at 31". Dr. K wants to see Emma back in 3 months to do a weight check & if she is happy with her gain we may be able to start her on regular whole milk & discontinue the Pediasure. Emma really loves her milk so we have to wean her off slowly. As for her eating, Dr. K says she is right in line with all the other 18 months who are trying to figure out what they like. She will not eat meat at least not yet, but I will keep trying. Her favorites right now are waffles (plain, we haven't introduced condiments yet), grapes, strawberries, broccoli, PB & J & cheese.

She still hasn't taken the plunge on walking independently yet but she is taking more & more steps on her own. She is pushing her toys, laundry baskets & whatever else she can find around the house. She loves to go outside with the dog & walk in the yard holding our hands so hopefully she will just let go & take off soon.

Playing ball in the yard

Look at me go

On the slide, her favorite thing at the park

On the swing looking like a big girl

Easter 2010

Sadly we don't have any pics of Emma on Easter since Chris, Mama & Beverly were all sick & Emma soon followed. The only Easter pics we have are of her 1st Easter basket & her first egg hunt.

Emma's first Easter Basket which contained: a color book, crayons, mini Big Bird & Cookie Monster, 2 books, bubbles and of course eggs.

This was after the egg hunt was over & Emma was playing with the egg that had been returned to Shannon, our lovely host.

Let the hunting begin

To Sum It All Up

I am so behind on blogging, I almost stopped all together but lets see if I can sum up the last month or so.

Emma has been doing really good in therapy, although she still will not walk independently for more than 4-5 steps. We had our gospel meeting at church the end of March, which was a very busy week. Then we had Easter at Mama's beach house where I was the only adult who wasn't struck be the terrible stomach bug & poor little Emma had it for 1.5 weeks. I took her to the pedi 3 times & they sent her to the ER twice for dehydration. Emma is not a water or juice drinker. I had to squirt liquid down her throat to get her to drink or try to feed her jello. It took her a while to bounce back as far as her eating & walking go but she is back on track & almost gained back the 3 lbs she lost while sick. She still isn't walking independently but pushes her walk toy or will walk holding your hands.

Emma has also stopped wearing her splint during the day on her left hand & now only wears a smaller one at night while she sleeps (if she doesn't take it off that is). Her hand looks great & she is finally getting used to using her reconstructed thumb. Dr. G said it would take a while to learn how to use it & it did. We no longer have to show her how to hold things in her left hand.

In the middle of all of that we have been trying to get everything squared away with the adoption center. I sent our profile to the printer yesterday & it should be back on Thursday. We still need to punch holes, tie ribbon, attach our cover photo & hand sign all 50 copies. After all of that is complete, we will be in the waiting mode once again.