Beautiful Miracle

Had a long day at Sacred Heart last week, but all the news was good. Weight gain is good enough over all that the surgeon does not have to do the reflux repair just yet. The hope is that with age the reflux will get better, and they will re-evaluate about doing the surgery around 9 months old, or if weight gets too off track. Until then, meds will help with feeling better, and mom will just have to continue cleaning up after all the spitting up - much better than another surgery! He explained how GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) was inevitable in her case because her make-up is just different. She has Gortex in place of muscle for a diaphragm. Normally the muscle helps keep food down. They did another chest xray to check up on that interesting diaphragm, and while the experience was horrific because of the measures they need to take to get a proper xray from a wiggly infant, the results were positive. We go back to see the surgeon again in 2 months. They did a renal-ultrasound since she left the NICU with unexplained hydronephrosis (swollen kidneys) and it has resolved as they expected. Saw the cardiologist, and he did an echo of her heart. There are still two small wholes in her heart. One between the atrial chambers and one between the ventricle chambers. They are not affecting her, and they expect them to close - we go back when she is 1 year old to make sure that they have. She will be weighed again on the 26th, and I am aiming for a whoppin' 10lbs, though 9lbs 13oz is the main goal. We were evaluated at a feeding clinic earlier last week and they upped the calories of her milk and increased some of her medicine doses to help us meet our goals. It is a blessing that Allison is doing so well - she is a beautiful miracle!