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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Size Matters

Ha! Got your attention, didn't I?  ;)

I had written a rather lengthly post venting about how strangers react to her and my reaction to them.  I'd rather share good news, so I won't post that one.  Just know that the thought of lying to you for multiple reasons runs through my mind if you ask me how old she is.  And yes I do realize that she is small.   If you can't say anything nice, its best to leave this mama bear alone and not say anything at all.  moving on...

Merritt is 12 weeks/3 months old!!!  She weighs 8 lbs!!!!!!!!  whohoo!  She is still wearing newborn-size clothes and doesn't sleep more than 4 hours generally.

We had her cardiology appointment with the new cardiologist (Dr. Braden) today.  And it was SO worth getting a second opinion.  What a difference a nice informative doctor can make!  She still has a PFO and VSD that have not closed yet (see links for definitions).  However, the PFO was so small the sonographer could barely see it.  The VSD is getting smaller!!  Dr. B said there is a thin membrane above the hole and he is VERY optimistic that it will close on its own eventually.  He has seen some close as late as 1-5 years old.  The best part?  He did not see a reason to do surgery anytime soon.  IF it doesn't close later and IF it is still causing a problem later, he could see the possibility.  Those are 2 big IF's though.  We are keeping her Lasix dosage the same and she should out-grow all of this!  The left side of her heart was still enlarged but he thought it was in the process of shrinking back to normal size, and she still had a little pulmonary stenosis but he thought that was due to the fact that the VSD is getting smaller so naturally there is more blood elsewhere.  That's a good thing.

We have come full circle and we are finally back at Baptist Hospital where we began exactly 1 year ago.  Its nice.  Dr. Braden's office even had an electric warming blanket for the babies.  Yeah we're spoiled like that!  So Merritt is good for another 6 weeks til the next checkup.

Her 0-3 month sized pants that are HUGE on her
I'm sure we'll be seeing alot of this office in the future
My lil cutie patootie!  



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4 comments:

May Flowers said...

What a cutie and congrats on the GREAT news! People still comment on how tiny Lulu is and tut tut when they find out she's exclusively breastfed. She was a prem, and it takes that time to grow! Merritt is the size she is meant to be and has grown a lot! She is beautiful and perfect! And, sleeping 4 hours at a time is fantastic at that size! :)

danielle said...

YAY! I love good news!!! We still get questions about how old McKinley is, and how small she is. I just smile and say "yep, she's tiny". Strangers opinions dont matter. You know she is doing great, and you guys are doing eveything right! Good job, friend!!

Pamela said...

That's right, Carrie...the bad things have their own way of being remembered without any documentation so I learned that lesson too;) I usually try to write the positives on my blog instead of my drama because one day the little eyes will read it and if they are like most people..they don't need to be reminded of those bad things or disappointments that happened along the way because they are usually right in the forefront of their memories. It's the happy things that we tend to forget most because it is easier (with all the negativity around us) to focus on and remember the bad. You go, Mary Poppins:) I, for one, LOVE the happy news!

Anonymous said...

Hello Carrie. I am a friend of Mrs. Paula, we worked in the church nursery together. I am so glad you went to see Dr. Braden. He is WONDERFUL. We have been seeing him for the past 16 years. As you know most babies with health problems are small. But things will be better. My son will be 16 on Halloween. He is currently 6 foot tall and weights 135 pounds. Still a bean pole, but oh so much better than I ever thought. You won't know that he started out with health problems as a baby. Remember God is still in control.
Teresa L.