We Finally Made It!

After three separate tries, we finally made it to the pediatricians.  We've had to cancel three times due to our little, and not so little, trips to PCMC.
Once again, Livie is shocking everyone around her.  Dr. Firth was pleased to see her rolls and mentioned with these heart babies everyone expects tiny little things.  Of course, we were originally told that she'd be smaller.  But, she is still proving those Dr's wrong.  So, without further ado, here's how she ranks.

Weight:  14.06 pounds  88%

Length:  23 inches  36%

Head:  15.9 inches  65%

A little shorty but she's got the chub and that makes for some very kissable cheeks.  Conveniently, kissing those chubby cheeks is great for keeping away those oral aversions.  So when I'm smothering those chubby cheeks with kisses, just remember, I am not loving her TOO much.  I am working on her eating therapy stuff.  Ok, and loving her a whole stinkin' lot too.

She also got caught up on her immunizations.  Just in time too.  Today was her last possible day to get then til after her next surgery.  Due to the bypass machine cleansing their blood, these kids have to have their immunizations in their system at least 6 weeks before surgery.  Otherwise it gets washed out.  Also, they can't get them for six weeks after surgery.  Anyway, can I just say, one upside to this girl having been through so much already is the immunizations hardly phased her at all.  Yes, she cried.  But nothing compared to Ella.  Liv cried for a bit then settled down once she had her binky and knew it was over.  

Downside to immunizations and a heart baby, she got a fever.  Totally normal for any baby but this girl scared the livin' daylights out of me last night.  She'd been fine all afternoon and evening so I was thinking we were going to be fever free.  But, I put her to bed and had to put her back on her oxygen as well as crank it to just under a liter.  We finally got that turned down but then everytime she'd stretch her heart rate would jump to the 190's and higher.  That's high.  Really high for just stretching.  And her heart rate was high even when she wasn't stretching.  Not high enough to set off her alarm but higher than she normally is at rest.  Anyway, after getting uber nervous I called PCMC and the nurse practitioner had me check all the usual stuff.  One being, hands and feet and whether they were colder than usual.  They weren't colder but were the usual cool.  So I assumed she still didn't have a fever.  Shame on me for that.  I did still check her temp and sure enough, she had a fever so after getting her new dose of tylenol (she's twice the size she was last time she had tylenol) and giving it to her I attempted some sleep.  It wasn't until her fever started coming down and her heart rate along with it that I actually got some sleep.  I made a lot of rookie moves but luckily, I had a nice professional to talk me through it all.  I am blaming the rookie moves on it being between 1 and 2 am.  But I am pleased to say, the fever is gone, her heart rate is just peachy, and she's just got a small whiff of O2 going right now.  Big surprise, the fever has made her sleepy today so she's napping better than normal (which means she's actually napping normal for a baby her age) but when she's awake she's her happy smiley self.

So even though I was already planning on being on lockdown all winter, this little adventure with her fever just reinforces my plan.  Dr. Firth also supports our plan of never going anywhere.  So, sorry families.  But you won't be seeing us this winter at any of the holiday gatherings.  We'll miss you but I will not miss the adrenaline rush that would come with a sick heart baby.