Lounging

Doc Appointment in Review

First off, the vitals: 22.5 inches long. 10 lbs 2 oz. She's growing, that's for sure! Her oxygen level was at 96. Can't get much better. The cardiologist was pleased with how Elizabeth looks and that she's eating and growing so well. Very pleased all around.

The echocardiogram, however, could have gone better. Wasn't terrible, but could have gone better. When Elizabeth was originally discharged from the hospital, she had "mild" stenosis in or around her pulmonary artery. As of yesterday, that stenosis is now "moderate."

Obviously it is of some concern that the "blockage" has increased. However, evidenced by the fact that our next echocardiogram and cardiologist appointment is not until October 4, they're not freaking out. Here's the options on how this will play out:

1. If the echocardiogram on the 4th shows the stenosis to have decreased, all is well and they will continue to monitor it.
2. If on the 4th the stenosis has remained the same, all is well for the time being and they will continue to monitor it. The cardiologist said that Elizabeth may just have moderate stenosis for the rest of her life and that's all there is to it. Obviously the stenosis is not affecting Elizabeth's ability to get and process oxygen (evidenced by the 96 oxygen level).
3. If on the 4th the stenosis has increased even more, Elizabeth will then be scheduled for a cardiac catheter a few weeks later. They will go in like they did before to a) find exactly where the stenosis is and b) to do the "balloon-ing" procedure that will make for more room in her artery. They know that the stenosis is either in her pulmonary artery or in one of the arteries that branch off of the pulmonary artery; they just don't yet know the exact location. (Check out this diagram to get a feel for what I'm talking about)

So, that's where we're at. Goes without saying that Steph and I are a smidge bummed about the whole thing (admittedly, we both went in with really high expectations). But I keep falling back on the fact that as of yet, nothing is wrong per se. The cardiologist has simply taken notice of what could be a possible problem. Nothing is nailed down yet. Just a matter of pressing on and waiting.

Please do pray though that the stenosis goes away.

Talk, talk, talk

Here's the audio I had talked about. (You can ignore the silly daddy trying to coax his daughter into making more sounds...)

Elizabeth talking it up

Dear Diary

Amidst Steph's scrapbooking craze this afternoon, she found her old diaries. She has shown them to me before and let me cruise them. But somehow I missed this gem which she found today (and yes, she is letting me post this):

3/22/93 [11 years old]
Dear Diary,
My brother and sister just lost a tooth. I have 6 Cabbage Patches now. I don't like boys at all (yuk)! I don't understand them. I love my family. Even though we have a dog, I would like a small house dog of my own. I would like one for my birthday. I would like a small dog like a chihuahua. I love animals. I am getting to like reading a lot better. When I grow up I want to buy 5 acres of land out in the country. I want to have 4 cows, 10 horses, 12 chickens, 3 dogs, 1 cat, 20 kids, a husband and a goat. We would make everything, even the house, and we would home school the children.
Sincerely,
Stephanie

Glad to see I made it above the goat.

And 19 more babies? Uh, no.

Talking up a storm

Seems we have a talker on our hands. Just within the past few days, Elizabeth seems to have discovered that she can vocalize. And it's adorable. Just this morning, Steph was on the other side of the room and there lay Elizabeth, talking and coo-ing to herself.

We'll see if we can get some audio or video of it this weekend.

Photo Shoot

Some great video

Taken a couple of weeks ago, this is a combination of my daughter being silly and my weird sense of humor (99% her, 1% my humor).

Elizabeth wakes up (3 mb)

For those on dial up and don't want to wait a while, here's the low calorie version.

Elizabeth wakes up (1 mb)

Not quite what we were looking for

Steph recently sat Elizabeth down for a photo shoot. Here were a couple of the ones we decided not to get printed. 'Course, they're still worth a giggle or two!

Dr Appt went well

In summary:

Elizabeth is now 8 lbs 12 oz. 21.5 inches long. She's growing, growing, growing! Elizabeth is "in the curve" for all of the height/weight measurments, so the doctor is very pleased with her growth.

Dr Liu gave us the go ahead to let her try to comfort herself (cry her self to sleep) and if she doesn't, to try minimal comfort or stimulation as possible. Dr Liu said this is a big transistion time for Elizabeth and munchkin needs to learn to sleep on her own. But it is a gradual process and Dr Liu is not expecting a miracle overnight by any means. This is gonna take a while, which is okay.

Elizabeth had her 2 month vaccinations. She was thrilled. Then she had blood drawn (couple of foot pokes). Even more thrilled. But two seconds in the car and she was fine.

Hurting for some shut eye

If you think to, please pray for the three of us. Elizabeth is not sleeping at night. Not sure what it is. We have a regular doctor appointment tomorrow, so we'll talk about with the doc and see what she thinks. I just got to work, and I'm working on about an hour or two of sleep. Steph said earlier that she doesn't think she's slept more than 2 hours straight at a time in the last 2-3 days.

Elizabeth is tired too (she's got bags under her eyes), but for some reason, she just won't sleep for more than an hour or so at a stretch.

We're pooped.

UPDATE: Stayed home from work today. Steph let me sleep from 7pm last night to 2am this morning. 7 hours of sleep! Steph's been sleeping on and off since 2am (it's 10am now), feeding Elizabeth when necessary. Doctor's appointment is at 4:15pm. We're all feeling much more rested. Even Elizabeth go some shut eye: from 2am - 6am I held her and she was out. Thank you for praying.

Earning one of her nicknames

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:
"Squirmy Wormy!"

Bouncy Seat Goodness

What you can't tell from these pictures is that they were taken at 2 in the morning...

Such a small baby...

... and yet so much poop. My word.

Tips anyone?

Who's got some tips on how best to cut the fingernails of a squirmy 6 and a half week old baby? I've done it a couple times... the first was rough, the second was better, but still not great...

Update on "Blessings"

In the Blessings post, I told everyone how blessed we are to have insurance. The blessings increase. We received another summary of charges today, this time for the ambulance transport from Southwest to OHSU. It was $1,073.50.

Bringing the total to $151,278.74.

Total of our co-payment thus far: $200.00

Praise to the Father from whom all blessings flow.

The Many Emotions of Miss Elizabeth

These pictures were all taken within a seven minute span.

Not pleased.

Calming down.

Curious.

Silly.

Exploring.

Happy. Definitely happy.

Sunday Dress

Made it to church with Elizabeth for the first time this past weekend.