Eye Appointment

Everett had an eye appointment on Thursday. Dr. L said that his eyes are improving!! We will change up his treatment slightly by dialating both eyes on Sunday nights and just the left on Wednesday's. Dr. L says this will make E more willing to wear his glasses when both eyes are dialated. He is hopeful that if we can get Everett to wear his glasses more often that the glasses will correct his eye problems and he won't have to have surgery. Dr. L said that he is still borderline on whether he needs surgery right now, but that he won't perform surgery if it's needed until E is around 5 years old. We're very happy with the news we got. The picture at the top is E riding his car in the backyard.
These two were taken at The Wonder Place.
Last weekend we went to Hot Springs for the wedding our two of our friends. Grampy, Chinah, and Grace met us in Hot Springs and kept E while we were at the wedding. We did some sight-seeing on Monday and everyone came back to Maumelle with us Monday afternoon. We had a very good visit.


Everett, Grampy, and Grace in Hot Springs.

I took this one yesterday while he was sleeping. I thought he looked so sweet.

One year

Today marks one year since Everett's last open heart surgery. So much has changed in a year. We're currently in the process of moving so I can't post pictures because I have no idea where the cord that connects the computer to the camera is. We're moving to a duplex in the same town that we already live in. The best part is that E has a big backyard to play in.

My little baby is now a big boy. Everett turns 2 1/2 years old tomorrow on the 13th. He is talking up a storm. Everett is quite opinionated and is not afraid to tell anyone what he wants. When he wakes up in the mornings he shouts from his room, "Mommy, Daddy, I get OUT!!!" until we come and get him out of his crib. He loves being outside, and is crazy about his Daddy. He recognizes the Fox 16 logo on the TV and tells people that "Daddy works at Fox 16."

From a heart standpoint, everything looked good at his last appointment which was in December. It has been almost six months since his last echocardiogram, so I'm curious as to what we'll find out in April. He has been very out of breath lately and his legs and arms take on a dusky color pretty often. His oxygen levels have been great, though. When we left the hospital last March, Everett was on a whole host of medications. Over the past year we have weaned him off of most of them, and now we're left with Enalapril, Aspirin, and a daily vitamin. He will be on these three indefinitely. We are so grateful that he is doing so well and know that we are truly blessed to have him in our lives.

Just like Daddy

CHD Heart Warriors Video

This is a compilation of Heart Warriors that a fellow heart mom, Ashley put together. Everett is at 8:12 in the video, but I suggest you take the time to watch the entire thing. It is very touching.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This cuts off part of the screen so if you want to see it full screen you can go to: http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=9da0e16cd81a898ddcc144&skin_id=1603

CHD Awareness Week

This is Everett reading a newspaper article about Congenital Heart Defects.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week is February 7-14. Before Everett was born, Congenital Heart Defects were not even on my radar. We are very blessed that Everett is doing as well as he is, but the sad fact is that many babies and children lose their lives to CHD's. I pulled the following off of the blog of a fellow heart mom, Paula. You can read about her daughter, Hope and her journey here http://wodzisz.blogspot.com/.

Please help us to spread CHD awareness, and pass this information on to at least one other person:

• CHDs are the #1 birth defect and the #1 cause of infant death related to birth defects. 1 in every 100 babies born will have a CHD (1 in every 800-1000 babies born has Down Syndrome).
  
• 1 in 10 of those born with a CHD will have a fatal defect
  
• In the US there are nearly twice as many deaths due to CHDs than that of all forms of childhood cancers combined. Yet there is 5 times more research for pediatric cancer than for CHDs.
  
• The cost of inpatient surgery alone for CHDs exceeds 2.2 billion dollars per year.
  
• There are approximately 35 known Congenital Heart Defects.
  
• Causes for CHDs are still being studied. While there is no known definitive cause, it is said that both genetics and environmental factors can play a role. Scientists have actually identified over 100 mutations that are directly linked to the heart.
  
• There is no known cure for CHDs. However, the mortality rate after surgery has significantly decreased in the past 20-30 years. On average it is about 5% compared to the 30% it was. At the same time, the rate of incidence of CHDs has remained unchanged.
  With advances in medicine, many of those born with a CHD will have their first and sometimes only corrective surgery before age 2.
  
• Many of those living with a CHD go on to lead normal to near normal lives. Those with complex CHDs will also go on to lead longer and more active lives than before. Most will have some physical limitations, but almost all learn to move pass them.
  
• Only about 30% of the children who need a heart transplant receive one in time.
  
• About 40,000 units of blood are used every day yet only about 5% of the adults, the only ones who are eligible to donate blood, do so. Someone needs blood every three seconds in the United States; that someone is often one of our heart children.

Snow Day

On Friday the 29th it sleeted and snowed in Maumelle, so Saturday we introduced Everett to snow. Chance had his work unit and camera at home so Everett got to be on Fox16 News at 9.

Everett liked the snow.

E had fun, but it didn't take too terribly long for him to say "I cold. Let's go home."

Playing in a box