Doctor's visits

Today Gabe and I spent most of the day at M.C. Children's Hospital for his follow up appointment with the surgeon and an ultrasound. Dr. Christian, his surgeon said everything looked great. His shunt sounds good, he looks good and his incision is healing good. All good! I like that! We do not have to go back to see her until the next surgery.

After that we stopped to see Gabe's nutritionist. He has been having a rough couple of days with his bottle intake. He seems to be having trouble swallowing. He gets choked and becomes very gassy and fussy. I believe it has to do with the volume of the new alimentum formula that I am using to supplement my milk. The nutritionist seems to agree and has lessened the amount of calories he is taking in at each feeding. I am to increase it slowly as tolerated until he is back to where he was prior to his milk allergy reaction. Regardless of this latest hiccup, he still continues grow. He now weighs in at 9 lbs and 6 oz!

And lastly, we went to diagnostics for the hip ultrasound. Thankfully, everything looks good. There is no sign of hip displaysia! I was so relieved! I didn't realize I was holding my breath until after I got the good news. My little guy has been through so much already, I am so happy he caught a break!

Getting Settled

Forgive me for not having written lately. Things have been a little crazy as we try to get situated here at home. It's not been difficult, just tiresome. The Lord has blessed Jeff and I with two wonderful and easy children. Jessie has adjusted to having a new brother fairly well. She has her moments from time to time about why this new kid is stealing some of her spotlight, but for the most part, she is doing very well. She worships her new "baby Gabe" and wants to be a part of everything to do with him. She really loves him so much. And the feeling is mutual with Gabe. Anytime Jess gets within his range of sight his little face lights up into the biggest grin. You can tell these two are bonded for life! Co-conspirators against Mommy and Daddy and their "rules"!

Gabe is gaining. He is so big! At his last Dr.'s apt on Monday, he weighed in at 9.02 lbs. He eats so well. I am still supplementing my breast milk with formula although our diet has changed severely since first arriving home.

Initially, Gabe seemed to be tolerating his feedings quite well, but slowly Jeff and I began to notice that he was getting fussy and was beginning to show signs of reflux. On Monday morning I noticed a large amount of blood in his stool. Also, he had three dirty diapers in less than 15 minutes. I called his pediatrician and the worked us in immediately. As it turns out he is allergic to milk. Not to be confused with lactose intolerance. These are two separate and completely different things. Gabe's milk allergy prohibits him from eating anything with dairy in it because he is allergic to the proteins found in milk. In order to continue breastfeeding, I can no longer have milk, ice cream, yogurt, CHEESE and much, much more. You would never guess how many products contain milk! Even some deli meat! It's a whole new world for me. They also changed Gabe's formula to Alimentum, which breaks down the proteins in milk to make it more tolerable for a baby with allergies. Needless to say, he's adapted better than I have! But so much more worth it! He is such a happy baby now. Poor guy, as if he hasn't been through enough as it is!

On Monday we also had a follow up with his cardiologist, Dr. Parra. They are pleased with Gabe's progress. He is doing very well. They noted that the shunt sounds terrific and there is no sound of interference in the blood flow running through it. A clot in the shunt could be very dangerous. We discussed his next surgery, the Glenn operation. As of now, it looks like this may be occurring in November. He will have a catheterization a week or two prior. This will require a night's stay in the hospital. Until then, he is to remain quarantined with minimal contact with the outside world. And until then, we will continue on with that surgery day looming over us. There are so many mixed feelings that come with that day. I dread everything about it. What my son will go through and endure. But at the same time, I look forward to Gabe getting the help he needs in order to come as close to a normal life as possible. The Lord is what is keeping us going through all of this. Please continue to pray for our son.

On the bright side, we do not have to see Dr. Parra again until November. Not that we don't like Dr. Parra. He is marvelous. We just don't like the circumstances that led us to him. One less Dr's apt. to deal with!

Here are some new pictures of the big guy. He is just so cute!!!


His first bath...if he looks a little mad, that is because he was!



Team "Jess-Gabe"

"What are you lookin at?"

Pediatrician Appointment

Today Gabe, my mother and I went to see Gabe and Jessie's pediatrician, Dr. Mehrotra. Gabe now weighs 8 lbs and 8 oz. He is doing so great! Dr. Mehrotra said Gabe looked good. There were no underlying concerns that he had. He was very happy with his progress.

As most of you know, our daughter Jessie was diagnosed with hip displaysia at birth. This is a genetic trait that was corrected with an aggressive treatment using leg braces. Thanks to the good Lord, this was all corrected before her first birthday without the need for surgery. Because this is a genetic trait, there is the possibility that Gabe could also have the same problem. (His chances decrease greatly since he is a second born and also a boy. Apparently it is prevalent in females more so than males.) So because of this, Dr. Mehrotra's office scheduled an appointment for an ultrasound for Gabe. This is set for the 23rd the same day that we follow up with his surgeon, Dr. Christian. We hope and pray that this is one less thing he has to go through. But if so, this is minor to what we are facing with his heart. The Lord will guide us through.

I am including a picture of Gabe in his little outfit today. He looked so cute! With a daughter and 5 nieces, I am so not accustomed to dressing little boys! I've also included a picture of my little helper. She is so proud of her little brother!

We are home!!

We were discharged last night. Gabe is such the fighter that he had to show those Doctors what was up! He is putting down 60ml's of milk every 3 hours with no problem! We have begun to fortify my breast milk with formula for added calories and he seems to be pleasing them all with his weight gain. He is up to 8 lbs and 5 oz. His body is tolerating the shunt well. His oxygen saturations seem to be a little high. They range between 80-90 (75-85 is normal for a heart baby). This means that his veins are expanded slightly and this allows a little more blood flow in/out of his lungs. Normally, you would worry if his body could handle that much blood flow, but the Dr's say that it is handling it well and everything looks good. They took out his feeding tube and we can finally see all of his handsome little face without the interference of tubes or machinery. He smiles so much now- mostly in his sleep but it is so sweet! I wonder what babies dream of? Freedom from tubes is my guess in his case!

So now that we are home, the Dr's appointments begin. Tomorrow we will go see his pediatrician for the first time. I will post an update after we get home.

The cardiologists, dietitians and nurses all gave me strict instructions on Gabe and being home. Fortunately, he only take a quarter of a baby aspirin and a multivitamin a day. I thought he would have to take more medications!

Another issue discussed was Jessie starting school and visitors. They said it would be OK for Jess to begin her preschool year next week but the teachers would have to be very careful with the amount of contact she may have with sick kids. She will have to be meticulous about hand washing and will have to bathe and change clothes when she gets home from school. If she gets sick, we will have to keep them separated at home and pray that neither Jeff nor I get it from her.

Visitation was brought up as well. The Doctors think it best if everyone wait until we get the go ahead for Gabe to be introduced to you all. He cannot get vaccinated for a few weeks and he needs to continue to grow and gain strength for his next surgery- which will come up within a few months. Getting sick would change everything. So, we are quarantined for the time being!

Jeff and I want to thank everyone for your continued support and prayers. We know that you all have had a hand in Gabe's quick recovery from his first surgery. It means so much to us that you all care. The Lord has blessed us incredibly.