Heart scan-an unexpected result

Just a short entry this evening to update you on G's heart scan.

So yesterday morning arrived and I was surprisingly at ease. I guess the fact that things were 'normal' last May had led me to believe that they would be this time round. Only they weren't normal last May, we had simply forgotten about the hole in her heart! 

How could we forget such a major thing, you may ask.... Well the hole (or gap as the consultant called it), is present in all newborn babies. It simply closes after birth. So we forgot about it because we assumed that it was just a little late closing (I think she was around 3 months old at the time of her scan).

Back to yesterday's scan, and after the consultant had completed the scan, G was in a complete state. All appointments now cause G to have a major meltdown, so as you can imagine we were eager to leave as soon as possible. The consultant left to find Dr Archer, the specialist from Oxford who'd overseen all of G's heart scans-both pre and post birth, and took a rather long time to return. Three of them entered the room, and after lots of 'yeps' 'lovelys' and 'greats' we heard an 'ohhhhh' followed by a 'rewind, slow it down and there it is, pause'. Thankfully Dr Archer is amazing, and quickly explained to us what they'd found. I struggled to hear much over G's wailing (yep, she hadn't calmed down one iota!), but got the gist of it. The gap hadn't closed as expected.

It's medical name is Patent Foramen Ovale, meaning an opening between the right and left atria. Alone, it's not serious. Thankfully for G, she has no other heart conditions thus for now it's not serious. It can require surgery, but not until children are at least 3 or 4 years old. In adulthood it can be a contributing factor to strokes though as the hole allows clots to move through, and up to the brain. 

So, the plan of action? 

G will need a heart scan when she is three years old to determine the size of the hole and whether it will need closing via surgery.

For now, there's no point panicking. The fact that she doesn't need to be seen for two years says it all.

So, not the results we were expecting, but not the worse case scenario by a long shot.

Talking and tantrums!

Where has this month gone?! G's birthday seems so long ago. We've a fully fledged talking, but non-walking toddler on our hands.

This month has been a busy one, and I've plenty to share....

Podiatry appointment

We recently visited our local podiatry clinic with G to get her toe nails assessed. We'd hoped to get them cut. Due to her Turner Syndrome, her nails are deep set in to her toes, they are overly curved, and her two big two nails are nearly vertical to her toe as opposed to laying flat.

Unfortunately G screamed as soon as we entered the consulting room (as she now does with every appointment, everywhere), and her screaming was so unrelenting that the podiatrist didn't dare touch her toes!

We have been given advice on footwear, and been told that when she's old enough to be happy to let someone else near her feet, or near her fullstop, then we can go back for help with cutting her nails.

Weigh in

Our little sausage, who this time a year ago was so diddy that she was on the 2nd centile, is a porky 22lb and sitting close to the 91st centile. Best stop feeding her up, especially as she lurrrve d'cake!! 

Dietary advice

The time has come to start reintroducing milk in to G's diet. Eeeek! Thankfully we have contact with an extremely good dietician who is also an allergy specialist, and he has given a plan of action. Step one, give her biscuits with butter, that are cooked. The only complication is that they can't have wheat in. So the usual method of a bit of malted milk biscuit a day for a week is not going to be suitable for us. Best brush up on my baking skills! If she can tolerate milk in the form of a small amount cooked in a biscuit then we move to milk or butter in dinners, then cheese (cooked initially), then yoghurts, then finally milk as a drink. It will be a long slow process which we will halt at any point should her symptoms return. Once we've established her long term tolerance to milk, we move onto wheat, gluten and soya testing.

Sleep, hurrah!

On the subject of diets, we have made another big change to her foods. We've suspected for a long time that fruits upset her. We knew that the more acidic ones did anyway, and thus avoided them, but even the milder fruits with less sucrose in we're upsetting her. So we took the decision to do a two week fruit free trial. My oh my what a difference it made! Our baby is happy, less gassy, has (slightly) better nappies, and above all else she's sleeping for most if not all of the night.

Her dietician said she may have a sucrose intolerance and that we'll need to slowly reintroduce fruit later on once we've gone through all of the other reintroductions.....I sense a long road ahead of us on the food front.

Poorly again

G catches every germ going. I know all babies do, but we don't even get a full week in between the bouts of virus/colds/coughs, and when she is ill it an be for up to a month.

So after speaking to the doctor this week, we are going to have her bloods tested for low immunity. Not that anything  can be done should she have a poor immune system, but still it's best to know. Only complication is that her blood now gets taken from her hands (as opposed to heel prick) but they are so swollen from the lymphodema that it's impossible to see her veins. That will be a fun trip to the hospital!

'Who's dat?'

...... she says when the dog barks, a car door slams, or when someone walks through the door. 

'Woof woof' she says when we are in the car and I tell her we are going home.

'Cat' she says when she sees Grammy or Nan's cats.

Duck and baba (for her new baby) are also in her repertoire. For a babe who's been behind with her crawling and walking, she sure as Eck isn't behind with her speech. Me and hubby giggle to ourselves as she is always mimicking me. Today she was telling Winston to 'say er' or stay there whilst I was emptying the car. So funny that our little babe has a voice now.

Tantrums

Stubborn, impatient and strong willed are three characteristics which shine out brightly at the moment! Full blown tantrums occur on a regular basis, with the added effect of throwing herself down to the floor and wailing. Have the terrible twos hit early??

Parents evening and reports 

Work for me has been super busy and I've struggled a bit this month. Between G being ill, 3 nights of parents evenings, reports for parents evenings and two uni sessions for my masters, I have found it tough going. But heyho, when I get to spend my Thursday and Friday with my chatty princess, the woes of work are put aside.

So with only a week or so left of March, we have just one more appointment. The dreaded heart scan. I say dreaded, I think more so because all of her other appointments are relatively mild in comparison. Hearts are important. So here's to her heart being just as healthy as it was this time last year :)

G is 1 today!!

I won't bore you with the whole 'this time last year' speech as we all know how pretty darn lucky we are to have G here with us today. So, as an alternative post, I decided to think about what I've learnt in the past year!

- Sleep isn't overrated, that's just what we say to make ourselves feel better when our babe still doesn't sleep through age 1.

- We can sing the theme tune to a variety of Cbeebies bedtime programmes. Tim's still pretty confused by In The Night Garden and G goes crazy for Old Jacks boat. 

- Food can be both a fabulous tummy filler and the root of all evil if your babe has a sensitive digestive system.

- When your babe smiles at you, it can make even the crappiest of days better.

- That car parking at any hospital, regardless of county, is awful.

- Reflux is also the root of all evil (and lack of sleep)

- It's ok to discuss baby poop on a regular basis, and maybe even take a photograph should it back up your argument.

- Family and friends are amazing! 

- When your friends have a chilled out baby, and you have a screamer who can go for hours on end, you'd give anything for just 5 minutes in their shoes. But then you remember that you wouldn't have YOUR child, and that actually you'd give anything not to swap. 

- Teeth are also the root of all evil (and lack of sleep). For Gs birthday she's received her first molar! 

- Going to the toilet is no longer a time when you have 5 minutes to yourself (unless you lock the door and put your  fingers in your ears!)

- There's no point trying to wrestle a dog toy from G or infact Gs toy from the dog. They've certainly learnt the concept of sharing.

- You could watch your babe practice a new skill over and over again, and some more. 

- Looking after a baby, whether newborn or 11 months old, is the toughest job ever.

- We know every country route in Our county and the next! Tim's particular favourite used to be passing the police helicopter base!

- When someone tells you your babe looks like you, you beam proudly. 

- Your babe can't speak for themselves, so you'll do everything humanly possible to make yourself heard on their behalf.

- When they see you first thing in the morning, it's like they haven't seen you in years. I love that smile! 

- Ewan the dream sheep really is a dream, for G that is. I'd quite like to throw him and his repetitive lullabies off the nearest bridge! 

- Having a husband who isn't afraid to do the housework, cook the dinner or  change the babies diarrhea-filled nappy (albeit with gloves and a peg) is a godsend. 

- Baby sick has the potential to cover you, your baby, the floor, and require whole new outfits for all involved.

- Baby wipes make for the easiest cleaning tool. Once upon a time our house was cleaned by a multitude of products, now a quick run down with a wipe will suffice.

-The dog will do anything for a lick of a dirty nappy, or a meal of baby sick!

- God given miracles do happen.

- It is possible to love a little person sooo much that you couldn't imagine a single second without them. Well, except 5 minutes of peace in the bathroom! 

So to our little miracle, our 2%er, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! Xxx