Saturday, June 20, 2009

Double Digits

When we first brought Alexandrea home, we could wrap her up in this blanket and she could not get out, now she is too big, I still can wrap her but by morning her toes are hanging out. Since she has also discovered her feet they are constantly at her mouth. One of her favorite things to do is to pull off her socks and chew on her toes.



I just love this sweet little face



I thought this was too cute how she has her arms place while sitting in her bumbo. She love to see all that is going on around her.














Alexandrea is such a happy baby, We have completed some of the testing (blood work)for why she has continued to grow on the slow side, so far everything has come back normal, We are very happy about this.

Also Aexandrea did have her repeat echocardiogram on her ASD, She was not a happy camper and as I sat there holding my baby girl while they did this test, I still could see the hole. I just knew it, After it was compled we , immediatly met with the pediatric cardiologist, who confirmed what I had just saw. She said it was a moderate sized, and that it would most likely not close on its own and she will eventually need surgery to repair this defect.
Atrial septal defects (ASD) are among the most common types of congenital heart defects. In general the defect is a hole in the wall (septum) between the top two chambers of the heart (atria). There are three common types of ASD's, named in relation to their position in the atrial septum. A physician will identify the type of ASD a patient has and whether associated defects are present.

The Dr said that there are two ways this can be fixed

Surgery
The standard method for closure of atrial septal defects has been open-heart surgery. Surgery requires a heart-lung cardiac bypass machine to allow the heart to be opened and the defect closed — with stitches if it is small, or, if too large, with a patch. This surgery has a very low risk and has been performed for more than 35 years. Minimally invasive incisions are utilized in selected circumstances when surgery for this defect is performed. Long-term survival after repair of this defect is similar to that of a healthy person of the same age.

Nonsurgical Closure
Nonsurgical closure, a relatively new procedure is done in the heart catheterization laboratory and avoids the need for surgery. A patch, usually resembling a small umbrella, is inserted into the damaged area through a small tube, called a catheter. Various other patches are being investigated. Cardiologists at Mayo Clinic are involved in investigational trials for these devices

THey said that Alexandrea is a good canidate for the nonsurgical closure.

Our biggest hurdle though will be Alexandrea's weight, for the non surgical procedure, they would like Alexandrea to be about 30- 33 lbs, they want her to be at least 18 months old but they want to fix it before she enters school.

Alexandrea's is just now at 10 pounds, Yippee she has finally hit double digits and is at 10 lbs. If she is anything like her mama, It will be 5 before she even hits the weight they would like her to be at. They can do the procedure when they are smaller but they just wnat them to be biggger.

Here is also a twist, while they do not feel like the asd is causing her weight issues, it at times can cause poor growth.
So please pray for growth for Alexandrea, Please also pray that this defect asd will close on its own.

much love Becky, Lars and Alexandrea

Friday, June 12, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

happy 7th month


so sleepy






she has found her feet






Monday, June 1, 2009

Look at Me!

We received this stuffed cow from the Ronald McDonald House when we were there, (The Shriners have a ride every year where they drop off toys for the kids that are in the hospital). It was practically as big as Alexandrea, you can just see her feet , It is amazing to see how much she has grown. She was 3 days short of being one month here.
Now she is here at almost 7 months.

Alexandrea -15 days, this little bear is half her size



I am growing 10 weeks








Look at me! I have grown so big!