Pediatric Cardiologist and Chuck Norris

We had our appt. with the pediatric cardiologist from Cook's today (they do a clinic here twice a month) and here goes the long explanation. Addison did great! They did an echocardiogram that only took about 15 min., which was fabulous compared to the previous echos that took about 45 min. The doctor was there for the echo and explained everything that he was seeing. He said that she still has the hole in her heart between the upper chambers, but this was not a big deal and shouldn't cause her any problems. (This was a little bit of a surprise since the last echo they said that they didn't see it.)

They did still see the narrowing of the pulmonary arteries. The doctor said that the type and severity of narrowing (stenosis) that she has is pretty unusual and he doesn't think that it will go away on its own. She has what is called branch pulmonary artery stenosis because the narrowing is where the artery brances to take blood to the right and left lungs. This potentially could stress her heart because it has to work a little harder to get the blood through the arteries. However, the doctor said that she is just fine and should continue to do fine. In the future, we may have to have a heart catheter procedure done to get a better picture of her heart and possibly put some stents (sp?) in to open up the arteries. We will have another appt. in 4 months to check on this. The part that freaked me out the most was when he mentioned that sometimes this condition is associated with certain syndromes (yikes!). He didn't think that this was the case with her, but we are going to see a geneticist in 4 months to check on that...just to make sure. It still scares he pants off of me.

So, that is our heart update. At her appt., Addison weighed in at 17 lbs. 4 oz. and 25 in. long and she is now six months. That translates into a lot of rolls.



Now, for the Chuck Norris portion of my post. Last night, I was introduced to some Chuck Norris-isms that are pretty hysterical. I encourage whether or not you are a Chuck Norris fan, to check out this website... www.chucknorrisfacts.com

Here are the favorites just to give you a taste.
1. If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
2. There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.
3. Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
4. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
5. Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.
6. Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.
7. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
8. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

The numbers are in...

For those inquiring minds, we had our 4 month check up today and the numbers are in. I win the pot on guessing her weight at 15 lbs. 10 oz. and 25 inches long. (That is 90th %ile for weight and head, and 75th %ile for height). Looks like she has inherited the short legs of her mom and dad. The echo results showed that she still has narrowing of the pulmonary arteries, but most babies grow out of it by 6-12 months. We will be seeing the pedi cardiologist from Cooks next time they are in town. There is no course of treatment necessary right now, but they just want to monitor it. She is doing great, otherwise, and we are about to take her off her reflux meds. We will see how that goes:) Here is a picture update from Thanksgiving and the days that followed...

Our first snow in our new house! Happy Thanksgiving! It was sooooo cold, and a little shocking to Addison. This was a fun follow up to our X-Mas tree decorating.






And we have a roll over. Friday afternoon was Addison's first roll-over and she has been a little roly-poly ever since. She just loves to roll over. Here is the result of her first voluntary tummy-time.



Playing with cousin Declan. He sure loves to tickle...



Hanging with Aunt Laura before bathtime.

Is this my mommy? I'm not sure, but this hand sure tastes good.



Addison, Declan, and Kiera with Mama D and Papa. It was a full and happy house. We even took the dog. I am definitely learning to laugh at all the stressful situations we seem to put ourselves in. This is one of the sweet moments of our weekend.


Last but not least, today was Addison's first time in her Jumperoo. So cute, and highly entertaining. I have a feeling this one will be a lifesaver.





Pictures to come--cereal. We probably will start rice cereal in the next few days. Can't wait!

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.