If You Only Knew Then What You Know Now

Last week, September 28th, marked one year since we received the details of Sloan's diagnosis. I still remember the day so vividly; the outfit I wore, the drive to UofM, laying on the hospital bed crying as the tech carried out the fetal echo, the tech telling us she didn't think it was Hypoplastic Left Heart and for a moment me thinking our prayers had been answered. And then, shortly after, her mentioning Tricuspid Atresia which she stated was a serious CHD. As we cried, the tech began crying with us.  That started a lot of dark days for Kyle and I as we rode the emotional roller coaster a congenital heart defect brings to a family.

And now I look at where we are and wonder...if I could have seen what life would be like one year from that day at UofM, could I have saved myself a lot of tears? If only I had that crystal ball.

This little girl, and her brother, bring so much joy to our hearts. We feel so blessed and thank God each night for every moment we have together.

Here's to many more years from that life changing day of health and happiness!

Eight Months Old

Sloan turned eight months and she continues to do really well!

Sloan's Eight Month Stats:

- Weight & Height: Well now that we are only going for bi-monthly appointments, I don't have an update here.  I did weigh Sloan on a scale at home, and she showed just over 18lbs, so I know she's growing!

- Milestones/Personality: 

+ We've got more teeth! This little girl is going to have a mouth of chompers before her first birthday! We had four more teeth pop through (all on the top). 

+ Sloan's now a pro at sitting and doesn't need any support. She's even starting to go from sitting to her belly by learning forward on her hands and pushing her feet out behind her. 

+ She's trying her hardest to get up on all fours. She's made a lot of progress here in the last few weeks  At times, she'll be able to get her knees underneath her, we just need to help her keep pulling those knees close together so she can stay up. When she does get up on her hands and knees, she really enjoys rocking back and forth. 

+ We are beginning to catch Sloan waving periodically when people say bye bye to her. And she'll typically give you kisses (open mouth of course) when you ask her to. 

+ She continues to adore her brother - watches his every move, laughs at him when he pays attention to her and always wants to be by him when he's around. And is still the chatterbox she's always been - singing, growling, saying ma ma ma and da da da.

I recently took Sloan in for a physical therapy & occupational therapy evaluation.  I had asked my pediatrician to refer me to get the evaluation and am so glad that she did.  The evaluation consisted of two one hour assessments  Her OT assessment she completed with flying colors. In some areas, she graded above where she needed to be. Her PT evaluation went well, but there were some concerns that put her boarder line in a few areas. Primary concerns were around: preferences rolling to the left, preferences using her right hand, and weakness in her hips (which would prevent her from crawling). So we are now going to PT every other week for rehab sessions.  It's been great so far. They had told me they feel that she'll need one to two months and then will be caught up. They think that she'll catch right on after we start working with her regularly. I've already seen improvements just from the first session to the second and am so very grateful that we are able to do this.

We also got back our family pictures from our end of August session.  Here is a quick preview.