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Monday, March 11, 2013

8 months and Cardio update

Punky is 8 months old! She weighs exactly 13 lbs. (which I think is starting to feel a little heavy - ha! maybe I should up the Jillian workouts).  I call her Punky sometimes... because she's just got that Punky Brewster attitude to me.  Or something about her just reminds me of the word spunky.  She's got spunk.   She's got attitude.  She's got drama.  Ain't nobody gonna ignore her!  ;)  (i don't use double negatives for those of you who don't know me...just a little southern talk there.)  She's a fighter, not a lover!  (I kid - sort of)

Her belly looks the same overall.  We have been using a scar cream for the past month and it has dramatically decreased the redness and definitely made it smoother.  We have an appt later this week with our surgeon (who moved to Baptist - so we are TOTALLY done with UMC now and I couldn't be happier about that!) - but we already know he is tentatively planning to do her next surgery for her "secondary hernia" after she's 1. We would like for her to be walking because her ab muscles will be in better shape for recovery.  And she's more likely to "bounce back" if walking is normal for her.  

It's been 4 months since we saw the cardiologist last.  Dr. Braden at Baptist is awesome!  To sum up:  she originally had 3 holes in her heart (1 being the bigger problem aka VSD).  At the last appt, we thought the 2 smaller ones had closed.  One of them is not actually closed, but they can only see it when she cries.  So it's not technically closed, but extremely small.  The VSD is smaller again, but still there.  He said "it can't get any smaller without closing."  So we will recheck in 4 months again, and if its still the same he will let us go an entire year before rechecking it.   So overall, it was pretty much the same as last time, and we're ok with that!  It was all good.   And to think if we had stuck with the other cardiologist - she would have had major open heart surgery by now!! And obviously she did not need that ---> she's doing fine!  She is not on any medication and hasn't turned blue (that I know of) in months.  She does breathe faster than a normal baby and I'm hoping that will slow down when the holes close.  We'll see...

The 8 month update: 

  • Weighs 13 lbs
  • Wears size 1 diaper (although I think we're moving up in the near future)
  • Wears 3-6 mo/some 6 month size clothes
  • Sleeps a maximum of 4 hours at a time (day or night).
  • Got her first two bottom teeth in the last week!  oh they are precious. 
  • BUT...has started biting mommy while breastfeeding.  momma don't play like that. :/
  • Still not sitting up on her own, but can balance a little if holding onto something or if something is around her waist.  Usually takes a nose-dive after a few seconds. 
  • The H.A.I.R is coming in....nuff said for now.  




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4 comments:

Pamela said...

Little precious miracle!😍

Unknown said...

May I ask what sort of scar cream you are using? Does the cream stain her clothes? Our daughter just had her closure surgery on 2/27.

Oh, and I am also totally obsessed with my daughter's weight. She is just over 4 months and we finally hit 9lbs. She is wearing size 1 diapers only b/c we were out of newborns.

Carrie said...

My father-in-law is a compounding pharmacist and while he was at a convention one of his lectures was on this new cream/ingredient. So also being a pharmacist I should know the exact ingredients, but I don't. The label reads "Tranilast/ECG/Pracasil" and I do remember him saying Pracasil was the main ingredient.
NO it does not stain at all and soaks in quickly! I was worried it would leave a greasy spot on her clothes but I haven't noticed anything. Awesome!! It has made a huge difference in the appearance. I'm hoping her next surgery will be laparoscopic and they won't have to open her up again (the surgeon said most likely he could do it Lap and outpatient!)

She gains on average 1 lb a month. If she's been congested it may be less one month but then she'll make up for it the next month. I think I've finally reached a point that I'm not as worried about it anymore. I have been contemplating adding the oils/fats to her baby food but she's doing ok...pediatrician doesn't seem worried about her either.

As soon as I finish the last size 1's I think we may move up to 2's or the 1-2's...so funny that I'm SO excited about changing diaper sizes! We've been in 1's FOREVER!

Unknown said...

The sharing of information by other O parents is amazing. It totally helps you know what works and what doesn't. I will try and find that cream.

In my experience of buying/using diapers (all of size newborn and 1's), I've found that Huggies are just a tish bit smaller than Pampers. Right now I consider our Huggies a Newborn 1/2. We will fully be in the 1's when we start using the Pampers.

I just wish I could find pants for my baby (this will be my next blog post). She is 9 pounds and 23 inches long. Such a struggle to find pants that will stay on her butt!