Update On Abigail's Heart

A couple of weeks ago, Abigail had her regular cardiologist checkup appointment. We knew this would probably be a big appointment because her cardiologist had warned us that we would most likely be discussing surgery. We knew the day was coming near, but it still didn't make it any easier to hear the news.

When we first learned about Abigail's heart condition, they told us that she would need open heart surgery. It is something that has been on our minds every.single.day since we found out. Colin and I knew that it was not something that would "fix itself" on it's own, but for some reason, we still held out hope that the hole would close and the tear would heal. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Abigail's echocardiogram showed that her condition had not changed. Her cardiologist told us that he would bring her case up to the surgery team the following day and then give us a call to let us know what they decided. We received a call two days later saying that everyone was in agreement that she needed surgery and that now was a good time. The next step was to set up an appointment to meet her cardiac surgeon.

Colin and I had already picked Abigail's surgeon several months ago after doing a lot of research. His name is Dr. Irving Shen. He is the lead pediatric Cardiac Surgeon at Fairfax Hospital, one of the top hospitals, if not #1. He comes highly recommended from several doctors. Many of the doctors have commented that this is the doctor they would want to operate on their child if they needed open heart surgery.

We met Dr. Shen on Thursday to discuss the surgery, answer any questions and set a date. We REALLY liked Dr. Shen. He has such a calming presence, which I don't think we realized was so important in this situation. He spent a lot of time with us, allowing us to ask as many questions as we wanted.

Abigail's surgery has been set for April 22nd. The surgery (not including prep...) will be about 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours. Abigail has an Atrial Septal Defect and a Mitral Valve tear, which basically means that Abigail has a hole between two of her heart chambers and a tear in one of her heart valves. Both of these issues cause blood to go where it is not supposed to go. During the surgery, Dr. Shen and his team will take part of Abigail's Pericardia tissue to be used as a patch to cover the hole and then they will sew up the tear in the Mitral Valve. About an hour following the surgery, Dr. Shen will come and talk to us and then after about another hour, we will be allowed to go see our baby.

Abigail will be in the hospital for 3-10 days, depending on her recovery. Abigail's cardiologist said to expect to be in the PICU about a week. Colin and I are allowed to stay with her the whole time, which was extremely important to us and something we were worried that we wouldn't be able to do.

Dr. Shen and her cardiologist are confident in a full recovery and expect Abigail to live a very normal life following the surgery. They are hoping for just this one surgery, but Abigail will have another echocardiogram following surgery (and many more) to make sure that they have repaired the hole and tear and that there are no other issues that need to be addressed.

Colin and I are obviously very anxious and nervous about the surgery. Abigail is our baby. We love her more than words can describe. We have been very blessed to have been able to wait as long as we have for Abigail to have the surgery. We have an excellent team of doctors taking part in Abigail's care. Most importantly, we have faith that God will watch over our little love and keep her safe and healthy.

We appreciate all of the love and support that we have received from everyone. It truly means a lot to us. If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them the best we can so feel free to ask. We ask that you would please continue to keep Abigail in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy 16 Months, Abigail!!!

Such a big girl!!! Abigail is growing up so quickly. Over night, she went from this little baby, to this toddler who understands most everything we say and has "conversations" with us. Abigail keeps us moving and smiling all day long. We love this cutie pie:)

Her expressions are just priceless

At 16 months, Abigail weighs about 19lbs., probably a little less. She dropped a little bit of weight this month due to an ear infection, but she seems to be getting her appetite back. She did not stop growing in the height department, though. All of a sudden, her pants seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Abigail mainly wears 9 month clothes now, still a few 6 monthers here and there, and size 3 diapers.

This was from when she had her ear infection...you can tell she doesn't feel well. Poor baby:( Consolation...she gets to watch Jam With Jaime on the computer.

Abigail is starting to try and talk a bit more. She says "Mom" pretty regularly and, while it still makes me melt every time, she is not always calling or talking to me. Could be the toy, randomness outside....doesn't matter to me, as long as she's saying it:) We're still working on "Daddy." Especially at changing time:-) She can say up, hot and she can mostly say cheese. Right now she points to EVERYTHING and says "That." She wants you to name it, which is just adorable. She's like a little sponge just soaking everything up. She can also bark at doggies (at least tries) and moo to her cows....gotta learn the important stuff first, right?!?

Abigail is signing a whole lot more. She still signs most of the same things (more, milk, eat, all done, cheese...), but she now initiates it instead of us prompting her, which is GREAT! The other day she signed more cheese...of course that's the first two sign phrase she'd use!

Abigail and I started some classes at the library this month, which has been lots of fun! Our favorite is My Gym. It's basically a gymnastic class for toddlers. So fun! Lots of flips and moving around. Perfect for our little acrobat. We've also done a story/music class. The library offers a variety of classes for toddlers and it's FREE! Wahoo! It's been fun for both of us to get out and do something fun and different.We love making new friends!

Abigail LOVES to be outdoors. If it's above 50 degrees, we're outside. She loves to go on walks to the playground or around the neighborhood and play outside of our house. Auntie Anna and Uncle Kyle gave us a swing so we spend lots of time swinging on our front porch. Abigail could wonder outside forever. Come on Spring weather!!!

 

 Abigail still enjoys playing with all of her toys. Her favorites of the month are her musical doggie and stuffed bears. She loves to carry them around with her all the time! She gives them lots of lovin, which is adorable. Abigail also likes her musical stacker toy and her new car toy a lot too. Abigail loves books. She enjoys holding them and flipping the pages along with being read to. 

 Abigail is still not the biggest eater we've ever known, basically because it involves sitting down. A sitter she is not! We force her to sit during all meals and it is like torture for her. She would eat all day IF you let her stand up and wander around. But put her in the high chair....all of a sudden she's full. Lunch is by far her biggest meal of the day. She eats pretty well then, but breakfast and dinner...not so much. She is still obsessed with cheese. Abigail pretty much loves all things dairy: milk, cheese (all), yogurt, ice cream (of course! She is her mother's daughter, after all:-)) Abigail also likes most fruit, mainly grapes, pears, grapefruit, dates, raspberries, blueberries and she likes carrots too (pretty much the only vegetable), eggs, waffles and french toast. Abigail has a major sweet tooth and loves anything chocolate. She has also developed a huge love for cereal, mainly Krave...seriously...her taste buds are just like her mommy:-)

Abigail dropped down to one nap this month. We made the scary transition on Daylight Savings. We had been in such a groove with her night time sleep, so we were fearful of regression, but it was taking us almost an hour to get her down at each nap simply because she wasn't tired. The one nap has been a little challenging. Most days it's just a "napita." Not ideal, but she still does great at night, so we are super thankful!

We took Abigail to Nana and G-dad's indoor pool at their condo this past weekend. Let's just say we're hoping we're not about to have a repeat of last summer. For some reason, the girl is terrified of the water. Cried and cried. She loves bath time, so we were a bit surprised. Every time we got her near the pool, she picks up her legs so you can't put her down. We compare her to an airplane landing...you know how the wheels come down???...umm...yeah....Abigail's wheels are not coming down, making landing impossible. We're hoping this is a quick phase that she magically gets over before the pool opens. This is the closest this little girl got to the water:

This month has been an exciting month for Abigail and Mia....Mia gave Abigail a kiss for the first time. Yay! Maybe Mia is finally be warming up to her?!? Abigail just adores her sister. She always waves to her and follows her every where. Lucky Mia:) Abigail loves to take mine and Colin's hand and motions for us to pet Mia. It's the funniest thing. She loves to watch us pet her for some reason. Abigail has also started giving Mia hugs, which is just the cutest thing ever. Mia, however, is not quite as fond of them as we are, but she'll come around:)

Abigail, you are the sweetest, cutest, little girl ever! You are so much fun to be around and your dad and I just love you to pieces.  We wake up every morning just so excited to go get you and kiss those adorable cheeks of yours. We love you SO SO SO much, little love!!! xoxo

Getting The Mail

Have you ever read The Biggest, Best Snowman??? Abigail looks like Little Nell.

PS. I'm over the snow! Let it be Spring already!!!

My Two Loves

My new favorite picture. Just so sweet. I feel so blessed. Love these two SO much!!!

Happy Birthday, Granddad!!!

Happy Birthday!!! We are so lucky to have such an incredible father and grandfather. We love you so much, Granddad!!! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!!! xoxo

Weekend In Richmond

We went down to Richmond this weekend to visit Meme, Granddad, Uncle Jay, Auntie Anna, Uncle Kyle, Auntie Susan and Uncle Joby. It was so fun! We had SUCH a great time! We always love it when we get to be together with family. Abigail is getting over an inner-ear infection, so she has not been feeling well. She seemed to be feeling better so we decided to head on down. She had a rough car ride there, but was otherwise a trooper. She was so excited to see everyone. Her mommy and daddy were too:-)

This little bench looks like it was made for Abigail! Just the perfect height!

Awww....so cute. She takes her doggy and bear everywhere with her:-)

Watching the Wahoos win with Granddad and Dad

Abigail loves reading with Meme

Auntie Anna and Uncle Kyle invited us over to their house for dinner. So nice of them! Great Auntie Susan and Great Uncle Joby were there too. We had a great time! Their house is gorgeous! It was beautiful outside so we were able to spend most of the evening outdoors. They had EVERYTHING over at their house: tons of toys, a high chair, a swing....it was just perfect! We enjoyed a delicious dinner and wonderful company. What a great evening!

What a good lookin' family!!!

We topped off our fun weekend with some yummy chocolate chip waffles...need we say more?!? Colin suggested adding these to our Harris Family Beach Week. Best idea ever! We know Abigail and I are all for it!!!

Thank you so much everyone for such a fabulous weekend!!! We enjoyed every minute and we can't wait to see everyone again soon:-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

No pinching this cutie pie:-)

Jillian and Heather: This picture is for you all! Abigail is an honorary 9307 girlie girl. She has the "Oh!" face down perfectly!!!

Loving The Weather

The weather was so nice this weekend. Welcome change from the freezing temperatures we've had recently. We were all excited to get outside and get to playing!!!  We went to Burke Lake, one of our favorites.

Gotta power up for our big day.....Abigail and I making hash browns from scratch. Such a big helper!

We fed the two lonely geese that decided not to fly south for the winter. Abigail did more eating of the bread than anything else:-)

Then we took a nice little walk to a playground.Not gonna lie, it was a little bizarre playing outside in 60 plus degree temperatures with snow on the ground. That's March weather for you in Northern VA, but hey...we'll take it.

Such a big girl! There were tons of kids at the playground and she just goes about her business....not intimidated in the least.

"Weeeee!!!!" Abigail loves the slide!

Such a fun weekend! We're looking forward to Spring where we can do this more often:)

View From The Couch

I had a cold most of last week (as did my wonderful hubby...sad bunch!), so when Nana came over, I gladly took to the couch. This was my view:

So cute to watch the two of them!

 Such a funny, little girl:)

 Doesn't matter how old you are, it's always nice to have your mom around when you are sick. Thanks for taking such great care of us, Nana!!!

Snow Day!

The Farmer's Almanac predicted a snowy winter...so apparently they were correct. So far we have been unsuccessful in taking Abigail outside in the snow. So after some thinking, we decided we needed a little "incentive" for Abigail to play out in the snow. Hmmmm....what does this girl love??? M&M's and Gerber chesse curls, of course!!! This approach worked for the new shoes, so why not going out in the snow?!? (Side note...Abigail LOVES her new shoes! We can barely take them off her now!!!)

Abigail seems to think she can't walk in her snow suit, so before heading outside, we decided to practice walking in her snow suit inside.

 Crazy how quickly she catches on when special treats are involved! Now that she has the hang of things, time to head out. She decided she would prefer to stay on the front porch. Baby steps:)

 Normally I would say I'm not a fan of a lot of snow days (unless I'm skiing), but if it means my wonderful hubby gets to stay home and spend time with Abigail and I....then I'm a HUGE fan!

15 Month Stats

Our Abigail is still a little peanut:-)  Here are her stats from her 15 month wellness check up: 19.02lbs (17th percentile) and 30.25" tall (38th percentile). Petite little girl....well...other than her head. Still going strong at 18.75" (92nd percentile)!

A lot of times, Abigail will come ask for milk and then go sit in her playroom on the beanbag chair while she drinks. This is one of those rare moments where this adorable child is still:)

So silly!!!

Love this little girl SO much!