A Week of Appointments

I apologize for the lack of updates this week! I was given a friendly nudge (thanks ,Tiffany!) to post something soon, so here it is :) I've actually missed blogging, so it feels good to finally sit down and type something out.

This past week was pretty insane with all the appointments we had scheduled. After our time with the feeding therapist (Lou Anne) on Monday we began to work on some oral stimulation skills with Ethan. This involves putting different textures in his mouth (a bottle nipple, our finger) and letting him "explore" with his gums and tongue. It sounds kinda crazy, but he loves it! At one point we thought he would suck Jeramie's finger off his hand if he could! We actually dipped a bottle nipple into his milk and he took about 2 mL by mouth. This is huge because usually he HATES having the bottle nipple in his mouth, so needless to say, we were so excited! I'm very encouraged and hopeful about his potential to eat by mouth. We go back to see Lou Anne on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to any new ideas she'll have.

We finally made it to our pediatrician's office on Wednesday! The bulk of the appointment involved Jeramie and I going down the laundry list of Ethan's "issues", and then there was a quick check-up. We were thrilled to see that Ethan had gained a good amount of weight! When we were discharged last Thursday he weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces. At this appointment, 6 days later, he weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces! Holy cow...11 ounces in 6 days! He was supposed to get his 2-month shots, but the pediatrician wanted to check with Duke first. Ethan's since been cleared to have all of his immunizations, so we'll be going in Tuesday afternoon to get that taken care of.

On Friday it was time to see the cardiologist. This was a marathon of an appointment! We went in at 10:30 that morning and didn't leave until 3:00 in the afternoon!! Our time there consisted of an echo, an EKG, a chest x-ray (to check placement of the pacemaker leads), and a pacemaker check. Dr. Idriss (our cardiologist) was able to make some changes to Ethan's pacemaker which extended the battery life to 3 1/2 years! This will, hopefully, line up with the time he needs his 2nd open heart surgery and they can just do it all at once! The echo was the only test that showed any areas of concern. Basically, Ethan's left ventricle has made great improvement since his last echo, but the right ventricle has not. The "squeeze" is very weak, and blood is passively flowing into his lungs rather than being pumped it as it should be. Dr. Idriss wants to watch Ethan a little more closely due to this, so we'll be going back in 2 weeks. Please pray that the right side of Ethan's heart will recover from such a traumatic 2 1/2 months! The echo also showed that his conduit does NOT have any significant narrowing! Praise God! We pray that this conduit will hold out for a couple of years, at least. The bigger and stronger Ethan gets, the better off he'll be for his 2nd surgery. And speaking of bigger, he tipped the scales at 9 pounds, 1 ounce during this visit!

This coming week brings it's own fair share of excitement. Jeramie starts back to work on Tuesday, taking advantage of his new work from home privileges. Then, my sister comes to visit Wednesday-Thursday. We're hoping to hit up the outlets one of those days to return some more of "Baby Hannah's" clothes and replace them with things for our surprise baby boy!

Thank you for continuing to follow our story. It's not over yet, and our little boy still needs your prayers! The cardiology appointment was a reminder that our baby is still sick, something that I think I've "forgotten" over the past week. He is a special boy, with a special heart, who's body still needs healing. Please continue to pray for our family as we adjust to this "new normal"!