Time to build some muscle

Maddy saw her ped today. All is well as I expected, but she is concerned that Maddy is not sitting on her own yet, she's not bearing any weight on her legs, and that her overall muscle tone seems week. So, Maddy will be starting physical Therapy from our birth to 3 program. I'm very familiar with this program, Tristyn did her physical therapy with them also and I was very pleased with the results. The doctor said Maddy could be having this problem for a number of reasons: Heredity - seeing how Tristyn was delayed also - could be from O2 deprivation right after birth - or from the surgery. On a good note, she gave Maddy a little test & she scored very well cognitively & socially, she is using her prinser grasp (thumb & pointer finger), feeding herself finger food very well & babbling constantly with vowels & consonants. So, she will start the physical therapy in a few weeks, I am glad we are catching this early. I ordered her a Fisher Price Jumeroo, so I hope she likes it & builds some strength in her legs. It's time to crack the whip and start doing, situps, pushups, pullups, (LOL)

Great Appointment

Madilyn's apt went great today. It started with the EKG which only took 15 min!! This is because she had 2 wonderful nurses who really seemed to know how to entertain her. The first nurse made a game of putting all the stickers on and the second held Maddy's hands & talked to her & kept her attention the whole time, Maddy was just fascinated by her and just laid calmly & listened to her. They only had to restart the test once, because Maddy decided something the nurse said was funny & giggled.

More good news, because her EKG looked so beautiful, Dr. Dyke decided she didn't need an echo today, and she probably won't need one until she is 3 or 4 yrs old, unless a problem is detected by the EKG. If she needs an echo before this age she will probably need to be sedated.

Her heart mummer has gotten softer, so that means her heart is adjusting well. I did bring up one concern: Her arms & legs tend to turn blueish very easy, especially when sleeping. You can notice it a little in the picture at the top of the blog, but sometimes they are even more blue. He reassured me that is normal in the first year of life. He called it "some kind" of cyanosis, I can't remember the name and said that it happens even with babies whose heart is perfect. He said he would be concerned if her lips, tongue, or torso became blueish, or if her hands & feet didn't pink up when she started moving around.

So, Maddy is doing GREAT! She is up to 16 pounds 4 oz & is 27 3/4 inches long. And we don't have to go back for a visit for another 6 months now.

Next Monday she sees her regular Ped. & I'm sure that apt. will go well also! She'll be happy to see that Maddy is finally starting to gain some weight!

Cardio appointment

Maddy has a big cardio apt coming up on Monday. She's scheduled for a Echo & EKG. I'm not nervous that they will find anything wrong, because she has been doing great, its just that these apts always last so long. The she had these same tests at 4 months old and the EKG took 45 min, the Echo took 1.5 hrs & the Doctor visit took 1/2 hr, ad all that up with the wait time in between & we were there over 3 hrs. The reason the tests take so long is that the machines are very sensitive & we have to try to keep Maddy still & keep her from pulling the stickers off. We resorted to feeding her during the tests, kind of holding the bottle in front of her & letting her drink, we couldn't hold her because that would mess up the readings also. Now that she's almost 9 mo old I don't know how we are going to keep her still, maybe the docs have some tricks? We'll see.

The worst birthday present

Happy 7 mo Birthday Maddy! Here is your present: Ear infection with a perforated eardrum, sinus infection, nasty wet cough, and to top if off a red, raw, sore throat.

Maddy & Tris both had colds about two weeks ago, and besides a cough that lingered for Maddy both recovered, or so I though. They both had a scheduled apt for a flu shot this morning, so when we got there I asked the Doc to give Maddy a once over because of her cough. The Doc says she has probably been fighting this since her cold two weeks ago. The little sinker NEVER complained, never had a fever, was not overly cranky, ate perfectly fine, and slept fine, she was even smiling & giggling as the doc was examining her. How am I supposed to know something is wrong unless you tell me, you little stinker! Talk about a tough girl! I enjoy having an easy going baby, but this is a little crazy. If I had all those things I'd be crying!!!

Well anyway, Tristyn got her flu shot, Maddy will have to wait about 3 weeks to get hers. We got Maddy started on an antibiotic, which she will have to be on for 10 days. Looks like the start of another great cold season!

6 Month Doctors Appointment

Maddy had her 6 mo Doc appointment today with her Pediatrician. She now weighs 13 lbs, 14 oz, and is 26.5 inches long. Her doc. is not happy with Maddys weight gain, she only gained 14 oz. in 2 months and dropped from the 25th percentile to the 10th. She also noted that her heart murmur has gotten slightly louder. Maddy will always have a murmur because even though her heart is "fixed" its still not quite anatomically correct and therefore there is some turbulance in her blood flow. (In a normal heart the aorta straddles the pulmonary artery. In her heart in the pulmonary artery is in front of the aorta). The Doc is not real concerned, but please pray that this is not a sign of a more serious problem such as narrowing of the arteries, leaky valve, or a leak at the switch correction sites.

On a good note Maddy is hitting all of her milestones on time and some of them ahead of schedule. She is a very alert and happy baby, with good muscle tone, and she doesn't seem to get tired easily. She really likes baby food, we have progressed from just rice cereal, to oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and applesauce.