Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Life at Home!!

We haven't posted in a long time, (babies require a ton of work!) but we've been enjoying EVERY single second at home with our sweet babygirl! She is SUCH a joy and a blessing... we couldn't be happier!!

As for her status, we are immensely pleased to say that Kenzie is doing AMAZING and getting bigger every day! Since she's been home, she's gained almost three--that's right THREE--pounds! She's a regular chunker weighing in at 7 and a half big ones. ;) (Well, maybe not, but at least she finally has some form of chub on her little body.) It's funny b/c people still tell me she's tiny, but compared to what she was, she's huge to me! This is SUCH an awesome thing seeing as many heart babies need feeding tubes and have a difficult time gaining weight b/c of the extra calories their heart has to burn. We're sooo grateful that she is eating and gaining so well!! She's also sleeping well and doing all sorts of normal baby things. Yesterday she smiled at me for about a solid three minutes, which absolutely melted my heart. Any parent knows there's nothing sweeter than this! She's "talking," smiling, eating like a champ, sleeping great, she's strong as anything, and she loves being held (of course)! She falls asleep in the carseat everytime, likes going on walks, swinging, and being outside. She's even gone on a few select outings---and aside from the 2 minute scream fest in the middle of Target (yeah, I was THAT mom), she was great!

As far as her heart goes, it is functioning perfectly!! We check her heartrate and oxygen saturation levels every day, and never once has she had a questionable reading... SOOOO awesome! Every doctor's appointment has been great and she's checked out beautifully! Even her bilirubin levels are down to 1.9--which means she's lost her tan and now has that slightly bluish skin color of a baby with 75 to 80 percent oxygen sats. Again, this is another huge thing to be thankful for... there seem to be no longstanding liver issues! Her shunt is working perfectly, and we've only had one slight scare since she's been home, which turned out to be nothing at all! We thought she might have spit up some blood, but it turns out, it was dye from the carseat straps coming off on her sleeper! Ha! Although annoyed at the dumb carseat, we were super thankful for that one! Other than her scar, you'd never know she's had major surgery and that her heart operates in a completely different way from the norm. Her second surgery is tentatively scheduled for around September or October, but this just depends on how she does and how she grows. The bigger she is, the better! Although we of course don't want her to have another surgery, we know she needs it and all we can do is pray for God's continued care and protection over our sweetie.

Looking back at pictures of when she was first born and we weren't sure what was going to happen, it is absolutely incredible to see where she is today! Every time we look at her, we see God's goodness and answered prayers. And every so often I just tear up staring at her and am in awe of the fact that we have the immense privilege of having her here at home with us. What a joy!!! Here are a few pics of Kenzie at home just being the sweet, happy baby that she is!