Hannah's Latest Checkup

Hannah had a check up with her cardiologist this past Tuesday. Her doctor was happy with her progress and overall health. He is concerned with the lack of growth in her pulmonary arteries (routes blood from heart to lungs). So far they are not developing as he had hoped. He expects that within a year Hannah will need an angioplasty to stretch the arteries. This would not be open heart. It is done through the leg and requires no stitches. The hospital stay may be as little as one night. The arteries are undersized due to her original heart defect. Hannah's next appointment with the cardiologist is in July. She will have another echocardiogram at that time to determine if the arteries are still undersized and if so we will proceed with the angioplasty. Please keep her and us in your prayers. We hope and pray that the arteries will start growing and be normal by her next visit. We would love to avoid this surgery if possible, but are prepared to undertake it if necessary. Jeff, Amanda and Hannah

Good News and Not So Good News

Good News
We took Hannah to the cardiologist for her 8 week post-op visit on July 7. We can't believe that it has already been 2 months! Dr. Doyle says that Hannah is right where he would expect her to be and he is pleased with her progress so far. Praise God! She does not have to go back to the cardiologist until January 2010!
Not So Good News
Since Hannah had the urinary tract infection the doctors were concerned and wanted to do a VCUG. I have no idea what that stands for so don't ask! They put dye into Hannah's bladder through a catheter and watched her pee it out under an x-ray machine. It was pretty cool to watch! They discovered that Hannah has level one ureter reflux...which means that she is refluxing urine back up into her ureters. This condition has nothing to do with the tetralogy of Fallot. It is common and should resolve itself with time. If it does not, then surgery will be the only option. She will have to take a low dose antibiotic until the condition is gone.
Other than that...all is good here in Hardin County! Jeff got the pool open and we are enjoying swimming as much as possible. Hannah loves to swim, but she loves to sleep in her float more! Too cute! Hannah rolled over from her tummy to her back on Saturday! She is now 5 months old and I am so sad! She is growing up way too fast!!!
We are planning a visit to east Tennessee soon!

Hannah's 4 month check-up

Hannah went to the pediatrician on Wednesday, July 1. She was actually 4 months and 2 weeks, but we had to wait until she had been out of the hospital for a few weeks before she could get her scheduled immunizations. She weighed 14 lbs. and 4 ounces - 50th percentile and she was 25 and 3/4 inches long - 90th percentile! I think she is going to be tall and skinny like her daddy! She is growing well and her overall health is great! We go to the cardiologist for a check-up on July 7 so I will blog again then!
Hannah is very happy and smiling! She is eating cereal, applesauce and bananas! We are very excited to have our baby back!
Thanks so much for all of the prayers that went up for Hannah. We truly appreciate each and every one!

Back to Normal

Hannah is doing great! She is off of some of the medication and she seems to be feeling much better. She is back to a normal sleep schedule, she is eating more and more everyday, and she is "talking" and playing with us more and more! We introduced her to applesauce yesterday and she loved it!! She is a great spoon eater.
We went to the pediatrician for a check up and she is healthy...as far as the UTI goes. We are having to travel to Jackson to the pediatrician. As many of you know...there is one pediatrician in Savannah and we do not like her at all...she did not even pick up that Hannah had tetralogy when she listened to her heart...I can listen to her heart and tell that it is not a normal beat. Anyway, I called around and no other pediatrician around here was capable of caring for a baby that just had open heart surgery...funny huh? So we are traveling an hour and a half (one way) to the doctor. We like our new doctor...she is very thorough and seems very intelligent about tetralogy. We are thankful that we found her!
I got Hannah's surgery book finished last night! I made her a book titles "Hannah's Special Heart." It is my journal entries and photos of her surgery and her stay in the hospital. I am very proud of it, because I am not a creative person at all! I am sure she will want to look back one day and see what she went through as a baby. This is a big part of who she is and I want her to embrace that and understand what a special person she is!
We have had one heck of a week! I started throwing up Sunday night and threw up all night. I went to the doctor Monday morning and was given an antibiotic for a bladder infection. My mom (who is visiting us from east tn) started throwing up Tuesday night and threw up all night. She never went to the doctor. The Wednesday night Jeff started throwing up! I have never seem him this sick since I have known him. Poor thing was miserable. He even went to the doctor Thursday morning and got an antibiotic shot for some sort of bacterial infection. I am so ready for everyone in this family to be healthy!
We are settled back in, all family has gone home, we are all healthy, and we are back to our regular schedule. Thank goodness! I am so happy to be back to normal!

Our First Anniversary with Hannah

Yesterday was our 4 year wedding anniversary. It was wonderful to look back to our wedding day, but it is hard to remember life without Hannah. We went out to eat as a family and I had to take Hannah outside 4 times! She is never like that. I just didn't plan ahead and give Hannah her pain medication early. I will know better next time! She has every right to be upset. She has been through more in the past three weeks than most people experience in a lifetime. We learned on Wednesday when we were discharged from the hospital that the hospital messed up and gave her 3 times the amount of Ativan that she is taking! It is still an appropriate dose for her to have, but we are trying to wean her off of it and that just set us back a little. I feel like she will not be my Hannah completely until she is off of all of this stupid medicine! Hannah weighed 13 lbs and 1 ounce on Tuesday and was 23 1/4 inches long! I can't believe how big she is already! She is almost 4 months old! My baby girl is growing up way too fast. We do not go back to the cardiologist until July 14!
She is becoming more and more like Hannah everyday. She is awake more and more everyday, she is eating more and more everyday, and most importantly, she is smiling at us more and more everyday! I think that her smiles are more beautiful than ever!
We have had an awesome week with Jonathan, Ashly and Dave! It has been great to have them all here to celebrate Dave's 60th birthday and Hannah coming home from the hospital. Although I am sure they are here just to see Hannah! Jonathan and Ashly are leaving in the morning and my parents are headed this way from east Tennessee.
Thanks, again for all of the prayers! Keep them coming!

Home again

The best anniversary present ever...we were discharged from Vanderbilt at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday. We are so excited to be home, not only are we more comfortable at home, but Jonathan and Ashly are in from Oklahoma to meet Hannah for the first time and granddaddy Dave is in from Maryville so we can celebrate his 60th birthday! We are so glad to be surrounded with family.
Ashly gave us the best anniversary gift ever...she got up with Hannah last night and let me and Jeff sleep. It was great! Thanks Ashly!
They did a ultrasound of Hannah's bladder and kidneys to check for any physical abnormalities...everything looked great! Hannah will have a VCUG test performed on July 14 when we go back for another cardiology check-up. The VCUG is a test where they put a dye through a catheter into Hannah's bladder and then watch her pee in out to make sure that there is no fluid going back up into her ureters. Let's pray that this test is normal!
Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers! We truly appreciate each and every one. We are so glad to be home! Keep up for updates on Hannah and any big news. Hopefully, she will stay healthy!

We're Back

Hannah has been improving daily on eating and keeping formula down. She had a check up today at Vanderbilt and had not lost any weight. She weighed the same today as she did last Thursday when she was discharged. We were so excited to find out she would not need the feeding tube! The doctor said she looked great and was healing well. Then the bad news. Hannah has a urinary tract infection...probably from having the catheter during surgery. She was running a fever and she was admitted back to the 6th floor here at Vanderbilt. We will probably be here until Thursday or Friday. Children's Hospital is becoming a second home for the three of us. Although we would much rather be at our home in Hardin County, this hospital stay is by far less stressful than our previous stays here. This is Hannah's fourth time to be admitted at Children's. Let's pray it is the last!!!