Baby New Year...

...wishes you a happy and healthy 2010! We wholeheartedly thank you for walking through this year with us. We just couldn't resist capitalizing on our little lady's ears. Be safe!

7 Month Update

Abby has had a crazy few days. She had a package opening party with her Grandma and Pop Pop Nieporte in light of it being her first Christmas, followed by a drive to Sacramento to see the Heatherly Grandparents. She did great, save for about an hour of fussiness. MUCH better than when we did this drive in early November. She seems like such a big girl now... here are her stats on her 7th month birthday.

7 month stats :

sitting up with help

grabs things with both hands, transfers them from hand to hand and to her mouth

head is fairly steady

not quite ready for an exersaucer or a bouncer (that hangs from the door jam) just yet

can roll from tummy to her back no problem

finds herself on her tummy from time to time having rolled there without meaning to

grabs for our drinks

can drink from a cup with help

can drink from a sippy cup without help

loves carrots, peas, avocado & prunes

not so happy about pears (why not?!)

solidly wearing 3-6 month clothes (some 6 month clothes in long, lean brands)

finally weighs over 12 pounds!

takes a small iron supplement every other day

loves hearing "la la la" and grabbing at our eyes and mouths

is spending her first Christmas Day in Sacramento at her grandparents house

is finally in size 2 diapers!

Here is Abby - actually smiling during tummy time. Her Papa was making her laugh.

Gettin' ready for Christmas with Grandma...
Grandma took Abby out for a walk in her cute bunny suit (because it's cold here!) and when she came home, Abby was fast asleep in her arms. Hurrah for 3 naps today instead of 2! Merry Christmas, everyone!

You Better Watch Out....

Abby meets an old man with a beard in a red coat. She was surprisingly okay with it... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! Abby turns 7 months on the 23rd. Update to come.

Carrots & Lily

Abby had her first taste of carrots today. She LOVED 'em. She isn't gaining weight the gang-buster way she was a few weeks ago. I'm sure she's having normal growth spurts here and there but of course, we have a lot of catching up to do and I want continual big time weight gain. It's always a prayer request in this house that Abby will continue to gain weight. I guess I won't be weaning her off of those night feedings anytime soon! She's doing just great -- I just won't be completely satisfied until she's "caught up" -- as all the doctors say that she will.

It's been 3 months since our good friend Gina had her baby girl, Lily and we had yet to meet her. Since Gina is a disinfecting crazy woman, we had no need to worry about germs and headed over to her house for a bit today. We joke that the girls will be choreographing dance routines the way Gina and I did in high school...but to be honest, Abby was really enthralled with Lily's older brother, Luke. Oh boy. Here is Gina and Lily (she's got the coolest hair in town)...

and here are the girls, laughing it up. Oh! And, while we were there, Abby kept "grabbing" for my water glass. Finally, I got the hint and gave her a sip. I tell ya, the girl is going to be throwing back her very own Sigg of water soon. Hope you are all having a wonderful December so far!

What a difference...

two months makes!

Here we are, immediately post surgery when we found out that Abby was out, was okay, was going to be fine.... (relief, joy, exhausted, tears). And here we are today -- please forgive the "Saturday morning-no make up-rolled out of bed" look (so thankful and happy about sweet Abby).

Big day today - Abby was picked up under her arms and was put on her tummy. Both went great. She immediately flipped on to her back -- she's half way to rolling over. Her favorite past times remain -- sitting up and sucking on her feet. And "talking." Lots and lots of talking. Even when she's trying to fall asleep, she mumbles. Crazy girl...

Her sleep is a bit better -- some nights she's great, other nights she can't quite stay "down." We've learned to roll with it for now, until she's a bit bigger. Here she is in her first winter outfit seeing that we're getting hit with the first storm she's ever seen! Merry Christmas, everyone!

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O Christmas Tree!

Usually we have a $20 rule for trees. It's almost a challenge - the best tree for $20. It started the year we were married, and since we get it the first week of December and aren't even here for Christmas day, it works. Other than the needles all over the house for a few weeks seeing that the tree is dying a slow death, it's great. This year we really splurged -- $29 (i know... crazy!) and Grant went to get it by himself (blasphemy!). We realized we couldn't lower the back seat on one side with Abby's carseat in the middle. Drat. So, off he went and here we wait, with lots of cheer to greet him with. I gotta go make the Cocoa! Thankfully, it's not hot here today so it actually feels like winter (I know, you east coasters... it's only 60) but it definitely helps get us in the mood.

I also had time to go through a few things today seeing that Abby slept for an HOUR today... and I ran across this quote from EM Bounds. I really resonated with me when we were trying to get pregnant with Abby and seems appropriate looking back on her surgery, too.

"Trouble is God's servant. No trouble is ever turned loose in this world and comes in to the life of a saint or a sinner but that it comes with divine permission and is allowed to exist and do it's painful work with God's hand involved, carrying out His gracious designs of redemption."

When things are tough, doesn't that make you wanna take a big sigh of relief that someone, other than you, is in control? Thankfully that "someone" can be trusted with everything -- even our very lives.

We're off to decorate -- bad hair day and all.

6 Month Check Up

Big day.... Abby went back to the pediatrician today and got a glowing report! She's up to 11.5 pounds (about an ounce a day, still) and she's now 24.25" long. Our little peanut is grooooowing! Her little growth chart just plods along, not even touching the graph and now -- boom!-- it's sky rocketed straight up. She'll be on that graph in no time. They tested her iron levels and she jumped from 9.3 to 11.5! Hurrah! I think that 12 -13 is really ideal so she is doing fabulous. We've taken her down to half her dosage every other day, which is GREAT news. She got a vaccination today and hardly cried -- she's getting back to her old self -- tough like her dad. Pretty soon she'll be taking soccer balls to the face and hardly wincing... (we won't let her play Lacrosse, Grandmas, don't worry!). She's still battling this cold and now THAT'S messing with her sleep since she's having a tough time breathing even with the "brain sucker" (snot sucker -- which she hates -- you just feel like you're sucking out her brain) with saline drops and the humidifier. Somehow, when we bring her into OUR bed instead of her crib, she can breathe easier and sleeps great. Hmmmm..... something very suspicious going on there, don'tcha think? This was truly a wonderful way to kick off the holidays. Maybe I can even talk her daddy into getting that Christmas tree tonight! Thank you all, again, for your continued concern, prayers and support. We are so very thankful for all of you. xo

Happy Desert Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving !!! Not a great pic of any of us but we have so few of the three of us, I had to post it. We have so much to be thankful for this year...obviously. We simply cannot believe how great Abby is doing.

Abby had her first Thanksgiving in the desert this year at Grandma and PopPop's house. Here is Abby with her cousins and Grandma...

It was nice and warm and she got to take her first dip in the cooled down hot tub (thanks Christy Zipf for the cute suit!) -- with a shirt on to cover her scar from the sun, of course!

Abby managed her first cold of her life this week .... so we're managing her stuffy nose with a humidifier and lots of salt water nose rinsing. It hasn't slowed down her eating -- just one more reason to not be sleeping through the night! Above all, we are so thankful to the Lord for His many, many blessings to us -- and all of our close family and friends top that list. We couldn't have gotten through the last 6 months without all of you! We have our next pediatrician visit on Friday so we'll have some more "news" (hopefully about discontinuing the iron!) then. And, with that, I guess we can now officially say, MERRY CHRISTMAS -- tis the season, right?

Happy 6th Month Birthday, Abby!

Today was a BIG day. Abby turned 6 months old. I didn't quite realize she was HALF A YEAR OLD until today. It snuck up on me....and I can't keep her in the "infant" category any more in my mind. That's because the girl is finally growing! She started off her day with a big breakfast of avocados and flax seed oil (yum?) which she loves. We headed out for a walk in her newest favorite --facing forward in the Moby wrap. She took a typical nap (20 minutes --grrrrr) and then we headed to the cardiologist. She gained 1 kilo in a month. She hardly gained 1 kilo in the entire previous 4 months before surgery that we'd been going to him. Hip Hip Hurrah! He kindly took Abby off of the Lasix medication that has been drying out her lungs and said that hopefully, very soon, she can quit the iron, too.

Here she is playing this morning...

Waiting for the cardiologist wore her out!

Check out how great her scar looks! We're waiting to see our Dr. after her EKG.

The best part of MY day was Abby falling asleep on the way home and STAYING asleep for OVER AN HOUR. I'm still in shock. Then it was off to the park to see some friends.

And if you can believe it, these two are only four months apart....

We are so thankful for all the ways the Lord made her 6th month birthday very special. If I could (or didn't care about her health!) I would give her a big, fat buttercream laden cupcake tonight for dessert. But alas, she'll have to settle for breast milk. Maybe I can eat that cupcake....

The Featherweight Champ ....

is bulking up! She gained EIGHT OUNCES this week. That's the most in her entire life, gained in one week. Hurrah for Abby! Here she is... more comfy in her new "seat."

Royalty and Jackie O

Abby has had a big week so far. She did a few very "big girl" things.... sat up in the tub with no "infant insert" to keep her suspended (and therefore, her scar from getting submerged) as well as tried out the Bumbo seat since she is starting to really sit up -- although not quite by herself. She loved the tub and did not really love the Bumbo. It's like exercise to her at this point. Soon enough she'll be sitting in front of a computer for hours a day and I'll wish she never learned to sit still! Sorry for the graphic pic, but here she is in the tub... look at how good that scar looks! Kinda sad for me who LOVES looking at it. Soon enough it will be gone....And how bout that belly, eh? I'm praying for super chub.
Our friend Letam came over for dinner this week and Abby had her first brush with royalty. No, seriously. He really is a Prince. Sorry for the blurry picture...but she LOVED meeting him. I think he whispered to her that there was a tiara in her future.

And, she dressed up a bit today with a sweet little Jackie O sweater that my mom actually knitted for JJ's daughter, Miller -- and she graciously let us borrow it back! She's channeling Jackie O....but with leg warmers. Maybe a Flashdance version of Jackie? Hmmmm.....And look how close she is to rolling over! She's hanging tight in the mid 10 pound range....now if we could only get this girl to fall in love with sleep.

Weekend!

We spent a great day on Saturday at the park.... and she weighed in at 10 lbs 5.5 ounces today. Hurrah!

Now That's Funny

We're one month post-op! I can hardly believe it. Only a month to go until we can put Abby on her tummy and not worry about how we pick her up because her breastbone will be completely healed. Some of you have asked what we're still concerned about and here is the short list of what we are still waiting to be resolved.

-- Lungs. Our cardiologist said it would be a number of months before they dry out. She takes medication every day to help speed that process (and it makes her pee like crazy, too)

-- Enlarged heart and therefore, a leaky valve. Again, time should resolve this.

--Anaemia. She's taking iron every other day and it does still wreak havoc on her little system. Some nights and days are worse than others but really painful gas is the thing that wakes her up screaming at night. Or, like tonight, crying every 15 minutes in her sleep.

Those are the biggest concerns still....but she is feeling great and happy --and MOST days we're getting more sleep and actually getting out in public places (with no germs!). Try to tune Grant and I out when you watch this video - we're acting like crazy people trying to get the girl to laugh. And, finally - laugh she did.

New Best Friend

Hurrah for doing something "normal" today -- Abby is doing so well, we were able to venture outside the house, and hang out with someone just as germ conscious as we are. Abby met her first real friend her age -- Pema! They hung out at the park and as Pema's mom said, "It looks like they want to give each other manicures." Tee hee.... They are only two weeks apart but Pema is everything Abby wishes she could be -- a nice filled out baby girl. They aren't too far apart in length, but Pema was showing Abby how to roll over and Abby's little bobble head was getting a bit more sturdy just watching Pema sit up so nice and tall. Abby's head is doing pretty good, actually -- it's those "sit up" muscles that she needs to work on.

10 pounds

That's right people. The girl finally weighs 10 pounds. I almost have a 5 month old that doesn't weigh that of a large newborn! Waaaahooooo!

5 ounces

Doesn't sound like much, but for Abby, it's HUGE! We spontaneously went to northern California this week and spent some time with the Heatherly side of the family (thanks for all the help Grandma and Papa!) She has been sleeping about the same -- great at first and then some tough time with an hour or two of screaming from her tummy pain. Our scale stayed at home and while Abby seemed bigger when we were away, I was afraid to believe it. She's doing a bit better this week and somehow she just seems .... older, somehow. The new iron protocol must be helping her to gain a bit of weight which means her tummy must be feeling a bit better.

. And, today, she hung out in a Baby Bjorn for the first time and she loved it! She almost always "sits" in our arms facing outward (it helps with her tummy pain and gas) so this was an easy transition. I just wasn't sure if it would be too hard on her chest (it wasn't!). This opens up some freedom for me -- laundry, dishes, vacuuming...all with Abby seeing the world from a new vantage point -- hands free!

Feety Eatys

It's official. Abby can get her feet in her mouth. In the Heatherly family, we call it the "feety eaty" stage. It was so exciting to see it first hand -- these little things make it more real that we're past surgery and hopefully moving forward in every way. She is still waking up every few hours at night, is still dealing with tummy pain (although it seems better) and is spitting up more often - which I'm hoping means that her tummy is more full than ever after a feeding. Her weight hasn't taken off yet.... but we're waiting anxiously for it. As a nurse told us on our last day at the hospital, "soon, you'll have to worry about something else." I can't wait for that. She doesn't have any more scabs on her scar or where her chest drainage tube was- she's just healing so fast. Abby has been out of the house a few times recently and it's clear that she's a social gal. Now we'll just have to wait till the Swine Flu season is over and her immunities are up till we really can hit the town.

Happy Halloween

Two pics of Abby pre-surgery that I just found. These were both taken two days before she got her "whole" heart.

Happy Halloween!! We hit a few houses on our street (Grant got the pleasure of eating Abby's candy) and our little butterfly "flew" into someone very special. We had never met Cortney, a great gal who gave blood for Abby's surgery. As we were walking down our street, our mutual friend introduced us! It was so fun to meet Cortney and tell her how big of a role she played in Abby's successful surgery.

Her first Halloween was a huge success (she got into her costume, didn't pee all over it, and feel asleep as mommy and daddy hung out with the neighbors!).

The Iron Saga...

For those of you keeping up... we had our follow up with our pediatrician today. I told Abby that she wasn't going to get "stuck" with another needle and yet -- they did do a toe prick to see if her iron levels were rising. They've gone up a bit and so he lowered her dose of iron and is allowing us to give it every other day. We're hoping this gives her body a little break and a chance to gain some much needed pounds. His final words were, "You can do this, Abby!" Hurrah for the pediatrician.

More New Things She Can Do!

The picture doesn't quite capture it, but Abby could never hold on to her feet and bring them toward her mouth before. She does it whenever her tummy doesn't hurt and she's happy! I don't know if it's an age thing or a heart thing (i tend to thing the latter, of course) but it's pretty cute. Every time she has done it she spits up a little afterward from smooshing her tummy -- but she doesn't seem to mind. Yet another "new" thing she can do post surgery!  It was actually a bit chilly here yesterday so we busted out an outfit that should've been too small and too hot (it's from a friend in Bend, OR) and it not only fit her, it kept her toasty AND you can see her healing scar through the little hole. Cute, right? (I'm sure no one else thinks her scar is "cute" except for her dad and I). And of course, in lieu of giving the vitamins that make her gag and throw up, we have another way for her and Red the dog to get their Vitamin D. Thank God for warm So Cal weather!

1 Step Back....

Ugg. I hate to update with this....after all our good news. It's not that something bad has happened, but in the midst of severe sleep deprivation and exhaustion, it feels like a step back. I won't go into all the details, but in short, the iron supplement is still wreaking havoc on Abby's little system and she has trailed off in terms of how much she is eating again because of how much her tummy hurts and her constipation is affecting her. We're adding prunes to her diet so hopefully that will help... but the excitement that she is gaining lots of weight has really tapered off and the reality that this is going to continue for a few months is settling in. I'm really ready to worry about skinned knees, painful splinters and really ANYTHING other than weight gain. We are hanging in there and trying to take things day by day... and Abby will prevail! We just know it.

Cardio Follow-Up

Hurrah! We made it to our cardio follow-up today with a great weigh-in. FINALLY! Our cardiologist (pictured here with Abby) has always been very honest about how serious her weight gain (or lack of it!) really is and today we got a great report. Her pulse/oxygen levels were great and EKG was good too. We also did an echo. Because Abby's heart has been enlarged due to the hole making it work extra hard for all of these months, it's going to take some time for it to return to a "normal" size and also for a set of valves to adjust. At this point, the valves are a little "leaky" but we expect that to fix itself as her heart functions better and better. Her lungs sounded so good today that he lessened her dose of the medication to dry out her lungs from twice a day to once a day. Yes!

We also met Matthew -- a little guy who was having an appointment the same time that we were. He had his surgery a year ago, at 4 months and around 9.5 pounds -- pretty similar to Abby. First of all, you can hardly see his scar anymore....and his mom gave a glowing report about how by the time he was 8 months old, he was back to where he should've been for weight. I don't know if our little peanut will rebound that quickly, but Matthew was a big ray of hope for how quickly these little guys recover. In fact, you can see from the picture that her scar is already unbelievably different than it was 2 weeks ago (when she had surgery).

Seeing that Abby can't lay on her tummy till early December, she'll be a bit delayed with holding her head up most likely. This will slightly delay her ability to sit up and start crawling....but long before her first birthday, our cardiologist assures us that she will be "up to speed." She'll be playing soccer, racing circles around us...and if she wants, running triathlons by the time she's older. Good job, Abby.... keep on eating, girl!

Happy 5 Month Birthday, Abby!

I can't believe Abby is 5 months old... And that surgery is behind us. She hasn't had any painkillers for over 48 hours and it seems like she is out of pain. She had codeine for the first two nights home and then just Tylenol which we gradually spaced out so that now she is off of that too. Amazing, right? I'd still be complaining and laying flat on my back.

We had our surgical follow up today and Abby got her last childrens hospital sticker! I busted out an outfit that looked too big-- and it's almost too small-- thanks Heather Motichko! The surgery follow up was pretty uneventful -- great blood pressure, great vitals in general and some weight gain! When she saw the nurse coming at her with the blood pressure cuff, she burst out crying. She's got a little post hospital trauma going on, I think. It just so happened that our favorite nurse came in to snip the stitch where her chest tube came out and we were outta there - hopefully never to return! The picture on the left is us waiting for the nurse to come snip that stitch. After our cardiologist appointment on Monday, we don't have another appointment for awhile... we have plenty of questions for him about what Abby can handle seeing that she hasn't been on her tummy yet and we aren't encouraging any turning over, which I think is usually happening by now.

Before I get lots of choking comments about that second picture, please know she had on those Disney Princess goodies for all of 5 seconds. Little Eliza Bock wanted Abby to have candy (thanks for the box of See's, instead, Kelly!) and to share in the joy that is Disney jewelry. Abby looks pretty happy... just perfect for her 5 month birthday.

Spit up and Pumps

Lovely topics.... But for the first time in Abby's life, she split up twice today. I'm so happy! It means that she's got a full tummy! She actually had a little tummy hanging over her tiny 0-3 size pants. Yes!! She weighed 9.5 pounds today.

I'm almost scared to say this outloud but it looks like for the first time since Abby was 2 weeks old, I don't have to use my breastpump at every single feeding. I feel so..... Free! And proud of my growing eater.

Iron Woman

Oh how much more fun watching Iron Man would be than watching my little Iron Woman suffer. Taking oral iron really bites! But I guess it's better than a blood transfusion. My Dr. says that he has this conversation post-surgery with parents twice a day -- their child is in pain, they need relief. Ugggg. We're giving Abby just a tiny bit of diluted apple juice (oh, the things I've given her that I have sworn I wouldn't give her till she was older...) to help with the constipation (and hopefully the crying.) We didn't take the iron yesterday and had a pretty good nights sleep and very little fussiness today. But our Dr. convinced us we had to resume ... so here we go. He also said not only will it constipate her but it will also make her nauseous. Awesome, right? I told him that he might need to have the straightjacket prepared for me when this few months is over. That's right...she'll be on this stuff FOR A FEW MONTHS. When I heard that I almost cried. So, please pray for Abby's digestion of this stuff, very little pain and ultimately, her anemia to be completely resolved sooner than later! Here are a few pics of her doing her new favorite things -- sitting up and getting as many things into her mouth at once as she can; as well as listening to classical music and "hanging out" (hence the arm on the pillow) with Sofie the Giraffe.