2 steps ahead..

11:00 am today - high time for a nap for Abi. Abi is playing with her baskets, crawling rounds, climbing on mommy and daddy, pulling up on everything that is at least 1 inch high... All in attempt to prolong the fun.
She's walking when you hold her hands, but this morning Abi just let my fingers and took off and took 2 steps on her own!

Amazing how fast she's growing; how much she understands and communicates. She mastered the sign word for milk, and now she shows when she's hungry and when she's 'done' eating or playing or anything she doesn't want to do anymore! How awesome is that?
Abi is a pretty awesome little girl.
We are so proud of you Honey!!


Mommy.

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Learning New Things

Abi is doing wonderful and keeps on surprising us with new tricks almost every day.

Last week she started climbing the stairs! Yes! Climbing the stairs! It's a bit scary but at the same time it's so wonderful to see the joy and fascination with the new challenge in her eyes when she looks up the stairs just right before she starts her way up ;-)








The following short movie shows the new skill Abi picked up from her grandma (via SKYPE) after i left them without paying much attention for 3 minutes ;-)

And now it's time to go back to bed. After all it's 3.30am.

Art


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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

How much can she eat

Last week Abi started taking longer naps, especially the first one later in the morning.

Today again she took a 2 hours and 50 minutes nap and then had lunch.

And now that's what I was not expecting!

She ate almost full jar of mixed veggies with turkey (one of her favorites) and 1/4 of a container with apples and carrots and 1/4 of a jar with spaghetti in meat sauce and 1/4 of a container of prunes. And snacks after this. WOW!!!! Hopefully the next diaper change will fall on mommy ;-)











Art


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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Abi feeding mommy

Sunday afternoon Abi feeding mommy for the first time. And yes it was Abi's idea and initiative.

Art


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June 24th - 1 month away from being 1!!

Just a few words about Abi:

~ she turned 11 motnhs yesterday;

~ has been crawling for a month now;

~ uses sign language to express she wants milk;

~ understands 3 languages;

~ dances and claps her hands when she hears music;

~ sings Elmo song - the 'lalala, lalala' part of course :);

~ points out things she wants to see or touch;

~ gives kisses;

~ understands and mostly obeys when you say "no touch".

She's just one smart cookie!

wersja polska

About Abi's heart - (from chdbabies.blogspot.com)

Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries

Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries is a complex, unusual abnormality in which the pumping chambers (ventricles) and attached valves (mitral and tricuspid valves) are switched. This condition exists at birth (congenital heart disease), but could remain unrecognized until adulthood.

In congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, the aorta and pulmonary artery connect from the wrong lower heart chambers (ventricles), so the blood flows to the body from the wrong ventricles. The blood flows in the correct direction. Oxygen-poor blood from the body goes into the lungs to pick up oxygen and oxygen-rich blood from the lungs goes out to nourish the body.

Frequency

United States

Data from the Baltimore-Washington Infant Study supported the fact that congenitally corrected transposition is a rare disorder. As many as 40 infants per 100,000 live births are affected by congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels; this is fewer than 1% of all congenital heart defects.

International

This disorder is reported in 0.5% of patients with congenital heart disease, and the literature reports fewer than 1000 cases. Most pediatric cardiologists have seen multiple cases of congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels; however, the true prevalence of the malformation is not known.

Diagnosis

Most babies born with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries also have other congenital heart defects which need treatment, including:

• A hole in the wall between the two lower heart chambers (ventricular septal defect)
• Narrowed or blocked pulmonary valve (pulmonary stenosis)
• Blood leaking backwards in the tricuspid valve (tricuspid valve regurgitation)
• Abnormally slow heart rhythm (complete heart block)

Children who have severe congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries may need treatment within a week of birth.

Adults who have a milder condition may live for years without symptoms.

Symptoms usually reflect associated cardiac anomalies. The uncommon patient with isolated congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels should be asymptomatic early in life. The diagnosis may be established via a chest radiograph or electrocardiogram performed for another reason; otherwise, this condition is usually diagnosed later in childhood or in early adult life when patients present with complete heart block or heart failure due to right ventricular decompensation or systemic tricuspid valve regurgitation.

Treatment options for children and adults include:

• Observation and monitoring - If you aren't experiencing symptoms or heart rhythm disturbances, you should have regular observation and monitoring by an adult congenital cardiologist. A typical evaluation includes a thorough physical exam and tests.
• Medications - Your doctor may prescribe medications to improve your heart's ability to pump and reduce the effects of a leaky heart valve.
• Surgery - You may need surgery to treat your congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries. If you have additional congenital heart diseases, doctors may perform surgery when you are young. Depending on your situation, surgery may include:

1. Heart valve replacement. If your tricuspid valve allows blood to leak backward, your surgeon may replace the valve.
2. Pacemaker implantation. Your doctor may implant a pacemaker to treat an abnormally slow heart rhythm (complete heart block).
3. Ventricular septal defect repair. Your surgeon may close a hole in the wall between the two lower heart chambers (ventricular septal defect).
4. Pulmonary valve surgery. Your surgeon may repair or replace the pulmonary valve or remove the blockage at or below the pulmonary valve (pulmonary stenosis).
5. Double switch operation. In this procedure, your surgeon repairs a congenital heart defect, such as a ventricular septal defect, and reroutes the great arteries so the ventricles pump blood in the correct direction.
6. Heart transplant. In people who have serious conditions, a heart transplant may be needed.

Pregnancy and family planning

If you have any congenital heart disease such as congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, you should discuss your plans for pregnancy with your doctor before becoming pregnant. Successful pregnancy is very possible.

j.

Next Step

I have been a YMCA member for a while now, but due to Abi's surgeries I had absolutely no time to go and workout in the past couple months.

Now when Abi's doing so good and she's growing and enjoying children so much we have decided to put her in YMCA child care couple times a week what will give me the opportunity to workout in the mornigs.

Yesterday was the first try. She did great. All 30 minutes ;-)

Today we tried again and she did even better, so I'm going to drop her off on Monday morning and this time actually workout! It is a great opportunity for her to learn new things, have some time with other children and be away from us for a little while.





Art

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