Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Snowed in and doing fine...
This week's round of appointments went REALLY well. At her cardiology appointment Elizabeth got an echo that showed her left ventricle has gotten smaller over the last month. That's an answer to prayer and means we can increase her blood pressure medication to a full dose. Otherwise, her heart is doing great and not showing any signs of additional problems.
At her Gastroenterology appointment, Elizabeth's GI was THRILLED with her progress. She's weighing in at 27+ lbs these days and that puts her in the 50th percentile for weight...pretty impressive since she went more than 4 months without really gaining ANY weight. We're happy with her tolerance of her new formula and while we're not making any progress on her oral eating, we're grateful that she's thriving in every other way. Unfortunately, her GI gave us the final word on Christmas travel and asked us not to leave the area right now. The blood pressure medication has not had enough time to make significant impact on the pressure in her verices, so it's unlikely that her risk of a bleed has decreased at all. The plan is to increase her medication, keep her on a good growth curve and then do another endoscopy in the late winter or early spring and perhaps do some repairs on any "leaky verices" at that time. We're so sad that we'll miss out on the Peterson Family Christmas this year, but in the hopes of lessening our disappointment, our dear friends, Matt & Abby will be flying out to keep us company over New Year's...we sure love them!
All in all, we're thanking God for a really stable season for Elizabeth. She's been thriving at home after that long stretch of hospitalizations. We don't plan to leave the house, especially now that we're snowed in here, (6 inches of snow today!!) so that decreases our chances of her catching something. While my mom was here to help after Ruby's birth, she kept Elizabeth moving and learning and thriving. Elizabeth is now taking 6-10 steps at a time and is growing in confidence daily. She's throwing up a lot less these days (still don't know why she's throwing up at all) and she's talking, singing & signing up a storm. We're so pleased. Now my mom has gone home and Matt's Mom has arrived (actually, she and Matt are navigating the snowy streets on their way home from the airport as we speak) and we're so thankful for the additional help.
Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. We are sustained by them and so grateful for your friendship. Here are a few pics!
At her Gastroenterology appointment, Elizabeth's GI was THRILLED with her progress. She's weighing in at 27+ lbs these days and that puts her in the 50th percentile for weight...pretty impressive since she went more than 4 months without really gaining ANY weight. We're happy with her tolerance of her new formula and while we're not making any progress on her oral eating, we're grateful that she's thriving in every other way. Unfortunately, her GI gave us the final word on Christmas travel and asked us not to leave the area right now. The blood pressure medication has not had enough time to make significant impact on the pressure in her verices, so it's unlikely that her risk of a bleed has decreased at all. The plan is to increase her medication, keep her on a good growth curve and then do another endoscopy in the late winter or early spring and perhaps do some repairs on any "leaky verices" at that time. We're so sad that we'll miss out on the Peterson Family Christmas this year, but in the hopes of lessening our disappointment, our dear friends, Matt & Abby will be flying out to keep us company over New Year's...we sure love them!
All in all, we're thanking God for a really stable season for Elizabeth. She's been thriving at home after that long stretch of hospitalizations. We don't plan to leave the house, especially now that we're snowed in here, (6 inches of snow today!!) so that decreases our chances of her catching something. While my mom was here to help after Ruby's birth, she kept Elizabeth moving and learning and thriving. Elizabeth is now taking 6-10 steps at a time and is growing in confidence daily. She's throwing up a lot less these days (still don't know why she's throwing up at all) and she's talking, singing & signing up a storm. We're so pleased. Now my mom has gone home and Matt's Mom has arrived (actually, she and Matt are navigating the snowy streets on their way home from the airport as we speak) and we're so thankful for the additional help.
Thank you for your continued prayers for our family. We are sustained by them and so grateful for your friendship. Here are a few pics!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Upcoming appointments
Days fly by. Elizabeth is getting bigger and stronger and if it weren't for her tube feeds every 3 hours & and doses of a half dozen medications twice a day, it would be easy to forget that her underlying health remains a huge concern. This week we'll see Cardiology and Gastroenterology. If her heart is handling the blood pressure medication, (which she's on in an effort to reduce the pressure in her verices) then we may move up to a full dose in the hopes of delaying a shunt or transplant proceedure that may become necessary if she bleeds.
Ruby is an angel. I'm slowly wading my way through the paradigm shift that is having a healthy baby and am enjoying it immensely. My saint of a mother is still here, still going strong and making sure I take daily naps and keep eating. We are so thankful for the meals, gifts, notes, emails and phone calls. We're overwhelmed on a daily basis by how loved and well cared for we are. Here are a few pics from this week. I'll send out an update when we're finished with this week's appointments.
Elizabeth LOVES her sit-and-spin!
Gotta love those pigtails
Our sweet Ruby Christine
Getting some "Granna time"
Ruby is an angel. I'm slowly wading my way through the paradigm shift that is having a healthy baby and am enjoying it immensely. My saint of a mother is still here, still going strong and making sure I take daily naps and keep eating. We are so thankful for the meals, gifts, notes, emails and phone calls. We're overwhelmed on a daily basis by how loved and well cared for we are. Here are a few pics from this week. I'll send out an update when we're finished with this week's appointments.
Elizabeth LOVES her sit-and-spin!
Gotta love those pigtails
Our sweet Ruby Christine
Getting some "Granna time"
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Happy 1 Week Birthday Ruby
What a week! We're a family of 4! Ruby is recovering from her jaundice and we're getting to do all the newborn things we didn't get the joy of experiencing with Elizabeth while she was in the ICU. Elizabeth has turned into a full-flegged toddler and is movin' and shakin' and keeping us on our toes. She'll walk before long if she can figure out how to balance. She's up to 26.5lbs and is thankfully staying healthy so far through this transition. Granna Peterson is still here and Matt's back to work so we're really appreciating all the meals graciously delivered from our new friends in St. Louis. Next week we'll have a follow up GI apt. for Elizabeth and will hopefully hear the final (or close to final) word on wether we'll be able to travel home for Christmas. Have a great week!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Ruby's Busy Day
On her 5th day of life, Ruby is quickly becoming adept at all things newborn. Here she shows off some of her newly acquired skills.
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