Sunday, July 31, 2011

Heather's pictures

Today mommy's friend, Heather Rigby, came to take some pictures of me (for free!) to build up her portfolio.  Here are a couple shots from it:





Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Second doctor's appointment

Today was my 2 week checkup.  I weighed in at 10lbs11ozs (92%) and am still 22ins (88%).  I am growing great, which is a great sign my heart is doing well.  I need to keep growing and thriving!  And keep praying my heart fixes itself!  Everything else looked great! The doctor could still hear my murmur, but that is not necessarily a bad sign.

My next appointment is in September for my 2 months check up.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Belly Button

My belly button fell off!! Well, Dr. Rawls cut it off. When I went in for my heel prick, they undressed me and my belly button stuck to my shirt and was hanging on by a thread, literally. So, the nurse called in Dr. Rawls to take a look at it and he decided to cut it off and carterize it. Mommy is glad to see it fall off, she is squeemish around dangling belly buttons! :)

Heel prick - again!

So my pediatrician called again on Friday, but this time it was worse than just inconclusive results on my newborn blood screen.  My IRT levels came back high (86), which is an indicator of Cystic Fibrosis.  I had to go back today and have my newborn blood screening done again - another heel prick.  They are going to re-test my blood for CF and are supposed to let us know "within a few days" what the results are.  What a long week this is going to be!!!  Mommy and daddy are in a panic.  They have prayed all weekend I do not have CF!  They contacted Shelli and found out mommy was tested for CF when she was pregnant and those results came back negative.  This is a great sign, as both mommy and daddy have to be a carrier for me to have CF.  However, mommy was only tested for the 39 most common CF genes and there are thousands. So, there is still a chance I could have it.  I'll post as soon as we have results.  Pray for my results to be normal!!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Monday, July 18, 2011

Heel prick

My pediatrician called on Friday and my newborn screening test was inconclusive, so I had to go back today for a heel prick. Either the blood sample was too small or clotted and they could not test it, so I have to resubmit everything again... Since mommy still can't drive and daddy is back at work, Grandma drove us to the doctor.  It was not fun and I hope I don't have to do that again!  Mommy can see 4 other places where my heel has been pricked, it is pitiful!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

My first week

I know what you are thinking, mommy probably had a rough first week adjusting to life with me and life with two children, but that was the easy part!  Here's a run down of our first week:

  • Granddaddy got an ear infection
  • Meermaw fell and broke her foot and bruised her hip (she was at Summit Hospital while we were at Vandy)
  • Mommy dropped and broke the automatic focus on the camera
  • Mommy and daddy's car battery was dead when we tried to leave hospital. We had to get Vandy to jump us off...
  • Everyone was exposed to strep and mommy had no help for the first 3 days at home! And she couldn't move! By the end of the week, Kara, Lincoln, Fletcher, Zane, Annabeth and Grandma all had it. Grandma came down with it after spending my first night at home. We had to send Grandma home and quarantine mommy and I away from everyone. Daddy took care of Kayla who had just spent the weekend around everyone who is sick. Daddy took Kayla to the doctor to see if she also had it and the doctor didn't even test her. She said due to the exposure and Evan being in the house, she wanted to treat Kayla as if she had it. Daddy had to then come home and disinfect the whole house and wash everything. It was a long 3 days!
  • I had to go to the cardiologist where I they found a few issues with my heart. :(
  • Just when Grandma was getting off quarrantine and finally coming over to help, Fletcher was taken to Vandy for possible seizures and Grandma had to go get Bart's other children. (Fletcher ended up being OK, thank goodness! He just had a high fever from the strep and was having chills.)
  • Fletcher got roseola
  • Lincoln had an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin and got hives and swelled up
  • Mommy's benefits center called and the one bright spot to the c-section (8 weeks of leave) was squashed. As of January 1, mommy's company only gives 6 weeks of leave, not 8, regardless of how the birth occured (vaginal or c-section)
  • The pediatrician called on Friday and my newborn test came back with a high IRT.  I could have Cystic Fibrosis. :(
Mommy is just not sure how much more she can take. Please let things get better!!!

HOME!

With mommy:

My many faces and poses:
The thinking man:





Fist pump:

SMILE!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Trying out my swing

Oh, I just can't stay awake...I love it so much!  Who is that in my bouncy seat?!?!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Me and my big sister

Kayla is so excited to have me home. She wants to help - giving me my paci (even though I didn't want it...)


And relax with daddy and I:


And pat and kiss my head and my hand:



First doctor's visit and Cardiologist appointment

Today was my 5 day old appointment.  I weighed in at 9lbs 11ozs (92%) and my height is still 22ins (97%). Everything else checked out fine except for my heart. The doctor heard a murmur and sent us straight to Vanderbilt. They squeezed us right in and first did an Echocardiogram:


They had the lights down low, so it is hard to see, but it is just like an ultrasound like mommy had done on her belly, except it's done on my heart. I did really well and sat still for the technician. Shortly after she finished a cardiologist met us in the room and immediately went over the results. It appears I have a hole in my heart in two places and my aeortic valve is not formed correctly.  The hole in the heart they seemed really optomistic it will correct itself (85% chance).  The aeortic valve is of more concern, however.  Apparently you can either have a valve shaped like a 3-piece trivia pursuit game piece or like a cat eye.  Mine appears to be stuck together and not certain which it was going to form to be.  Since it appears to be functioning correctly, they want to "watch" it for the time being.  The cardiologist did not want to discuss "what if's," so, we are going to have to wait and see what my heart does over the next few months.  I have to go back in 3 months to see how my heart is doing and the cardiologist will talk to us more about the future. Mommy and daddy think the cardiologist said there is a chance it can all correct itself. So pray everything fixes itself in the next three months! 

After the Echocardiogram, they wanted to do an EKG on me. Here I am, being brave once again:


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Going home!!





Hospital stay

 Here we all are at the hospital:

Sleeping on daddy:





Mommy having to do her walk around the halls, using me as a walker:

Snoozing on mommy:

The best midwife ever, Shelli. She worked her hardest to deliver me, but I wouldn't cooperate....


We had to switch rooms 3 times at the hospital. Our first night was in the labor and delivery room. Then we were put in a triage delivery room. Finally a room in post pardom opened and we had our own room! The problem: every room had a broken bed for daddy...  In the last room, daddy got very upset when the fold out bed came apart while he was holding me at 2:30am. He was not happy that I could have gotten hurt, and he let everyone know about it. Within a half an hour, he ended up with some manager lady who got him a cot to sleep on:
Don't mess with my daddy! :)

My many faces:



More daddy time!

Holding mommy's finger:


Sunday, July 10, 2011

My big sister!!

Kayla's first sight of me. She wasn't so sure....


But, then warmed up pretty quick. And pointed out my hand and cheek and nose...



And we became a family of 4!!!




Mommy and her kids!