Snow Day!

This year we've had some really warm weather for the winter.  By this time of the winter, we've usually had at least a few days of snow.  However, today was the first day we've had enough snow for schools to be closed.  Chris left around 5am this morning and told me the roads were getting slick, so I stayed home with the kids.

Yummy oatmeal.

 Not really meant for 2 kids... they don't fit and are not excited about sharing.

 Dancing.  He loves posing for the camera now.

This is what David does when he's annoyed.  He usually says "Leave me alone." and grunts.

I was glad the kids could finally wear their snow gear. Yay!

 Kayla was bundled up so much, she could barely move.  She was mad when I put it on her because she couldn't move much.  However, she was also mad when I took it off because that meant she couldn't play outside with brother.

I only let Kayla play for a few minutes outside.  Then, we watched David from the door.

Here's a video of David doing a snow angel... 

Kayla's Cardiology Appointment

We went to the cardiologist last week.  Our appointment was at noon.  Kayla was sleeping when we got there.  I wish they would just let us wait in the waiting room until the doctor is closer to seeing us.  They woke her up to get all her stats...then we sat in the waiting room for about 1.5 hours before we got to the see the doctor... so here's some pictures while we waited...

Kayla's pulse ox was high 70s - low 80s.  The highest we saw was 82.  We didn't get a echo this time.  I think this was mostly just for them to check up on her and answer any questions that we had about her.  We saw Dr. Best which also did an echo on me when I was pregnant.  He asked about her milestones like walking and then wondered if we were doing any physical therapy.  He also wanted to know if she'd been hospitalized any and made sure we were getting the Syangis shot.    The next appointment will probably be in 6 more months.  I like that they schedule it and let me know when to show up.

We haven't started physical therapy yet.  We keep thinking Kayla will just start walking any day now.  However, I did call for an evaluation the other day, so they are supposed to be getting back with me.  I'm hoping she doesn't need any.  However, I think her surgery and the couple months of recovery might have caused her to be a little behind.

It's been a year since her surgery.  I'm so glad she is doing as well as she is.  She is still only taking 1/4 tablet of baby aspirin, and the doctor says that won't increase until she weighs about 10kg.  I give it to her every morning, and she loves it because it tastes like candy.  Her next surgery will probably be when she is 3.  He said it would be best if she weighed 30 lbs.  I think that might be tough for her since her brother barely weighs that much right now.    

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week: February 7 - 14

It's Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week!  I will try to do a couple posts this week for it.  :)

A few facts from the Children's Heart Foundation:

• Congenital heart defects are America’s and every country’s #1 birth defect. 
• Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD.
• Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths.
• Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States.
• Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
• Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.
• More than 50% of all children born with congenital heart defect will require at least one invasive surgery in their lifetime.
• There are more than 40 different types of congenital heart defects. Little is known about the cause of most of them. There is no known prevention or cure for any of them.
• In the United States, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.

Kayla is 1 in 100.

Kayla has severe Congenital Heart Defects.... Tricuspid Atresia, Hypoplastic Right Ventricle or "half a working heart" and pulmonary stenosis.

Kayla's CHD was detected when I had an ultrasound during pregnancy.  However, Kayla's CHD is one of seven that are considered critical CHDs that 9 out of 10 times can be detected by a simple Pulse Ox. This is a simple non-invasive and cheap test.  It is like a bandaid with a red light that tests how much oxygen is in ones blood.

This is Kayla with her pulse ox device at 3 weeks old.

Feverish

It's been a whole year since Kayla has had her heart surgery.  She has a checkup with the cardiologist this week, so I'll post an update about that later this week.  Thursday afternoon she was sent home with fever of 102.  Daycare said she'd pretty much been laying on the floor crying most of the day.  Chris took her to the doctor and they ran a bunch of tests on her.  Her pulse ox was 78.  She didn't have an ear infection, RSV, or pneumonia.  They sent her home saying it was probably just a cold, but we needed to monitor her and take her to the ER if she got worse.

Poor girl had to get a chest x-ray.  :(

She had a high fever all day on Friday even though we kept giving her tylenol.  She was very tired and slept a lot more than normal.  We were really worried about her all day and night.  However, when she woke up the next morning giggling, I knew she was ok.  She was a happy baby all day Saturday and her fever was gone.  :)

She got these little red dots all over her body.  Chris thinks they are heat bumps because she had such a high fever.  Kayla does not seem to notice them, so we're hoping they just go away on their own.  If not, she's got another appointment with the doctor on Tuesday for her Synagis shot, so we can ask about it then.

UPDATE:  We ended up taking her to the doctor on Monday.  The doctor said this is Roseola.  She was able to get her Synagis shot, so we didn't have to deal with going to the doctor the next day. Yay :)

15 month checkup

Kayla had her 15 month checkup today. She weighed 19 lbs 5.5 oz and was 29.25 inches.


She still fits in her infant carseat. We stopped using it for David when he was 6 months old. However, I like her in it when we go to the doctor.


It's easy for her to see me when I push her around and she can eat her snack without throwing food all over the floor.

She had to get three shots and some bloodwork done.  She hates getting shots.  As soon as she saw the nurse put gloves on, she started crying.  :(

The doctor said she is doing well on growing.  She is a little behind on walking.  He mentioned physical therapy last time, so I asked him to refer us so I should be getting a call soon about it.  They will just evaluate her and show us some stuff we can try with her at home.  I think any help will be nice.