I don't know where the time goes, but my baby is 12 weeks old today. It feels like I was just bringing her home from the hospital! My 8lb newborn is now a giggling, smiling 14lb baby. These past 12 weeks have been life-changing to say the least. I think that I have adjusted very well :) I wouldn't take anything back, not even a minute of it. Luke doesn't know it yet, but we are having numerous children! It's just too much fun. That's not to say it isn't super challenging as well.
On August 17th we took Ella to the pediatrician to get her routine vaccinations (the doctor was taking forever) and as soon as I returned I could tell by Luke's face something was wrong (yes, he comes to most of the appointments with me :). The doctor had checked her heartbeat and was recommending that we see a cardiologist as soon as possible. When Ella was first born the pediatrician had thought she heard a murmur but then didn't hear it again until that day. Like any new mom, I was very emotional and eager to get her in right away. The next morning, the cardiologist at Mission Hospital called and got her in at 9am. The stethoscope wasn't even on her for 10 seconds before the doctor told me she definitely had a hole in her heart. Right away they did and EKG and an ultrasound on her heart (Echo). The bad news was she had two holes, a PFO (Patent foramen ovale) which is a normal opening between the left and right atria, and a VSD (Ventricular septal defect) which is a hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles. The PFO was normal and should close soon. The VSD was intimidating, but the good news was that it was in the best location in could be and was only 2mm. There is a really good chance it will close on it's own and as long as it doesn't affect her weight, they won't do anything surgically. About 2-6/1000 babies have the VSD and it's genetic. I didn't realize that a heart murmur is the sound produced by turbulent blood flow. The doctor wanted me to go home and find out exactly what family members have had heart issues. Numerous people on Luke's side have had heart problems, heart attacks, and bypass surgeries. The cardiologist also had me look at anyone with high blood pressure and/or cholesterol which we have on both sides. At least we know early on and can take extra precautions. By some crazy chance one of my best friends, Lindsay, has a son who also has a VSD. She's a doctor so she knows absolutely everything there is to know about this and totally made me feel ten times better.
On a totally different note- Luke & I have both decided that it is best for me to stay home with the baby, at least for the first year. This was a HUGE decision considering that I actually love working and transitioning to one income will be, to say the very least, an adjustment. The only thing that might change this would be if I got a public school job last minute (benefits and retirement would be awesome to have again). Change is always scary, especially since I have been working consistently since I was 15. I started at Tony's Seafood Landing, then Islands (Laguna Hills), Alcatraz, Yard House (Irvine & Newport), Islands (Beverly Hills), The Counter, and then finally into teaching I went. I am now going to be filling my days teaching Ella (the poor thing is going to hate me, we already practice the alphabet daily) and working on sweaty t-shirts (yes, it's as odd as it sounds). You must check out the website, http://www.sweatyt-shirts.com/, Andrew did a fab job and is super talented :)
