Pictures...10 weeks

A few pictures of Addison and her new friends...


on the couch with mommy


At the hospital with Lillie, Mommy and new baby Karlie on her birthday 9/28/2007


Jessie and Braden were there, too!



Kristen, a dear friend from high school, stopped by on their drive through to Colorado so Shawn and Addison could meet



I love my funny striped outfit!


Well, Addison seems to be doing well with the reflux. Her medicine seems to really be working! Praise the Lord! She is talking a lot (mostly V or CV for you speech paths out there:) and smiles a lot too. Few smiles have been captured on camera. My mom and sister have some good ones, but they haven't sent them to me yet. (Nudge, nudge). Last weekend we made our first out of town trip by ourselves, and we survived!

Work is going well for me, but is a bit of an adjustment since I seem to have left my great time-management skills at the hospital. They have yet to find their way home to me. Addison has decided that while I'm at work, she will freak the ladies out at Young Children's World, by not wanting to take her bottle. Any tips from moms out there on switching between bottle and breastfeeding? I would welcome any! right now we are practicing with a bottle at home from daddy. Hopefully she will take it and not be so stubborn! We'll see...

Final update

Well, the report from the pediatric cardiologist is in! We got the call a few nights ago and it is confirmed that Addie has a little hole in her heart, called a patent foramen ovale (PFO), and narrowing of the pulmonary arteries. Neither the ped. cardiologist nor our pediatrician are concerned right now, but they do want to repeat the echo in a couple of months to make sure she continues to do well, and that her arteries are growing with her little body. Thank you for your prayers!

I GOT A JOB! As an answered prayer, I was offered a part time speech path job at a small private school for children with learning disabilities. I start on Tuesday, YAY! I'm a little nervous, but that is usually the story with a new job. Let me know if y'all have any tips for working with 7th and 8th graders (I haven't worked with kiddos that age in awhile:)

I love Mylanta!

I LOVE mylanta!



Or do I? I'm not sure.



It does taste like cherries, so it can't be that bad.



Ok, ok. I DO love Mylanta! It makes my tummy feel good. (even though sometimes I forget that when mommy and daddy make me eat it!)

Good news

Well, we just got the preliminary report from our pediatrician. It looks like Addison probably has a small hole in her heart, called an ASD (Atrial Septal Defect--I attached a picture); this is good because it is nothing major and doesn't require treatment. Most of these holes repair themselves by the end of the first year. So, we are not worried that our little girl will continue to grow and be a sweet, healthy, chubby baby. Thank you for your prayers, calls, and emails. We are so grateful to have such amazing friends and family.

7 weeks

Yesterday was a hard day for our little girl. Per our dr.'s instructions, we took her to the office to get checked out for what I was convinced was reflux. Turns out I was right and she has reflux/esophagitis. Ouch! All those times I was so convinced that she was hurting, she probably was. She was such an angel after waiting in the waiting room for a solid hour with about a million kids here is what Dr. Wiley said...
1. Addison weighs 11 lbs. 13 oz., 22.5 inches long (75th percentile in both)...which is above average!
2. She has reflux/esophagitis, explaining the long bouts of hysterical, frantic crying, the random, unexplained gagging, and the inconsistent difficulty with feeding. He prescribed some meds for this that should help pretty quickly.
3. She has a yeast infection in the rolls of her neck (apparently common for those little chubs), despite my obsessive cleaning between the rolls:) He also prescribed some meds for this, too.
4. She got 3 shots (for her 8 week appt.)
5. She has a pronounced heart murmur, so he referred us to have an echo done at the hospital this morning. He said it wasn't an emergency situation since she is gaining weight so well and is not having difficulty breathing.
6. She did great at the hospital, and only fussed toward the end.
7. We should have the results late today or tomorrow.

Say a little prayer for our family as we wait for the results. We are not too worried, but are hopeful that it is nothing major and nothing she won't just grow out of.

On a completely separate note, Andy got in a wreck last night, no fault of his own. While he was on duty, a lady turned onto the street where he was driving and ran right into the side of Andy's patrol car, pushing both cars across a lane, up a curb, into the partking lot, and banging his prisoner's head on the cage. Yikes! Needless to say, it is a bad idea to not be paying attention and to run into a police car. Andy gave her every ticket he could think of. Ha! Everyone is doing fine.

On another separate note, I watched Night Rider when we got home from the hospital. It is a work of cinematic genious on the part of David Hasselhoff. And to think that he has lowered himself to "America's Got Talent." What a shame.