Do you see what I see?

Doctor sees improvement!

Ronnie took Skyler to her cardiology appointment this morning and the doctor said she is finally seeing some improvement in her heart function! Apparently Skyler was pretty well-behaved, too, because the doctor was able to experience some of her normal happy demeanor. She’s now a whopping 13 pounds and 2 ounces (hey, that’s big for Skyler!) and the doctor said she won’t increase her meds even with her weight gain because her dosage is already high. With the shown improvement, she can keep her meds the same and with further improvement, maybe even bring the dosages down!

I am so relieved! Thank you everyone for all your prayers. They are working!!!

Keeping busy!

I haven’t been able to write as much lately. I’m hoping the pictures and videos do enough talking for me, because it takes long enough just to get them downloaded and linked properly, let alone write something!

But a little more detail into our lives…

Last week Skyler had a sudden onset of diaper rash, which she’s NEVER had in her life thus far. We noticed it coincided with a new pack of diapers, which were the Target brand. We hadn’t used those since she was days old. I wondered if she might be sensitive to something in those particular diapers, so I switched back to some Luv’s that we had, and it miraculously went away! so, I guess the Target brand is no more! Too bad, because I did like the fit and absorbancy, and of course the price! But Luv’s is the next best thing I guess.

She tried peas tonight for the first time. I was excited to see the nutrition label on the bag of frozen peas I bought said 5 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber per serving. That’s pretty good nutrition for a vegetable! Anyway, she loved them! I expect having some extra protein will also help with her weight gain. I know you aren’t supposed to start babies on meats till they are 8 months, but I may ask her doctor if starting earlier would help get her weight caught up as well. So far, she’s had both rice and oatmeal cereals, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas, and she’s loved them all!

Update on me and my refreshed fitness incentive: I did 5 out of 6 of my workouts last week, and the one I skipped was yoga. I’m not downplaying yoga, but of all the workouts to skip, I believe I missed the least by choosing that one. I was pretty sore this weekend so on my “rest day,” I took Skyler for a nice 45 minute walk. It did not help loosen my legs any, so yesterday instead of starting back at the beginning of my workouts, I took Skyler for another 35 minute walk to give me one more day to recover. Today I resumed the workout schedule, and it kicked my butt – in a good way!

In closing, here is a fun video from last night. Skyler is so much fun to play with. And, she actually rolled herself all the way over from back to front while playing. Next step – go back the other way!

Cardiology Follow-up

Skyler had her first follow-up appointment this afternoon. It went good overall. She’s gained 10 oz or so since we left the hospital (two weeks ago), so that’s great that she’s gaining weight again, even while being on Lasix which sucks the fluid right out of her. Dr. Schroeder did a sonogram and thought things looked a little improved and maybe her heart was smaller, but she didn’t have the last sonogram from Children’s Mercy to compare side by side. She couldn’t get a good look at her aorta b/c Skyler was crying to much, so she’ll try again in a couple weeks. Might end up having to sedate her to get it, which would mean a little time in the ICU so they could monitor her closely during it, but it would just be a few hours at the most.

The best part was, as soon as the cardiologist saw her she was amazed with how good she looked compared to when she first saw her a month ago and diagnosed her problem. She couldn’t stop saying how much better she looked and acted than that time. That was the most reassuring thing to me. We’ll be going back every 2 – 3 weeks for awhile, and she has to stay on her meds for awhile. No daycare for a few more weeks. She is still technically in recovery even though she’s acting pretty normal, so the doc doesn’t want her catching any respiratory viruses if at all possible!

Playtime photos

We had lots of fun with the camera tonight, and a few from the last few nights as well. Ronnie actually got some great “sneaky” videos of Skyler while she was busy talking, but Youtube is undergoing maintenance right now so I can’t upload them. Hopefully later this week. She is so funny – when the camera is rolling, she tends to get shy and quit whatever she was doing and stare into the red light. But Ronnie got creative today and tricked her! Anyhow, here are some recent photos, mostly from tonight.

Look at my rings! They are still my favorite toy.

The Bumbo is so much more fun now that I don’t get so warn out from sitting up!

Aw, how fitting. Sky and Bruno on the “loveseat.”

She’s a ham!