Anna Grace - April 13

Anna Grace saw her cardiologist today and it was a bit of a mixed visit. Her visit today consisted of vitals, weight and length and a check of her O2 Sats. She weighed in a 12 pounds even today and is 23 and 3/4 inches long now. Her blood pressure was a little on the high side - which hers always is even though she takes blood pressure medication - so it was a little high, but normal for Anna Grace. However, her O2 sats were low - which, hers are always low, usually in the mid 80's, but today they were reading in the low 70's. Not good. The nurse checked and rechecked. Then another nurse came in to check, then the doctor came in to check. All reading in the low 70's. So, the doctor said to try to calm her down and then lay her more flat and that we would recheck again. If they were still in the low 70's then he would need to do an echo. So, we turned the lights off, gave her a paci and Mommy rocked her and we checked again after laying her in a more flat position and elevating her leg. This time they read in the low 80's. Dr. R was satisfied with the reading in the low 80's and we did not have to have an echo today (whew). He explained to us that her O2 sats will continue to decrease as she gets bigger - which I knew, but hers had been so consistent that I just thought maybe we would be the exception and that hers would remain constant until her second surgery. So, we see him again in two weeks and we'll have an echo at that time. He said if she becomes any more blue than her "normal blue" to bring her in - otherwise it's business as usual and we see him on the 27th. Today was a reminder that my little girl is very sick - she looks normal enough besides the big scar on her chest, but she is a sick little girl. She's going to continue to decline until her second surgery. This journey is a rollercoaster. Mommy shed some tears today, but today, I was smart enough NOT to wear mascara!!! I am thankful that we are home and not in the hospital. It's funny, a year ago I would have never even thought to be thankful about just being home under one roof as a family - it was just a given (at least in my mind) that my family would all be under one roof together. Now, I truly am thankful each night that we are all laying our heads down on our own pillows in our home.