Happy Birthday, Mitchell!

Standing up like a big boy- trying to get the ball

Grandma & Mitchell on his birthday

Day of his party, May 22nd

He didn't like the icing on his hands- "get it off, please."

Thank you, Amanda for the wonderful birthday cakes!

kids in Mitchell's new ball pit

Mitchell had his 1st birthday on May 20th- it's hard to believe it has been a year. We have so much to be thankful for- starting with the fact that he is here with us today!
Many of you have been following the blog from the beginning, but a quick summary of his year would be:
May- July: hospitalization at Children's in Atlanta- his first heart surgery & a general surgery for a fundoplication & feeding tube
August- back for 1 day in the cath lab in preparation for his next surgery
October/November- back to Children's for his 2nd heart surgery- hard to believe I can't remember for sure, but his stay was b/t 2-3 weeks- surgery-back to the cath lab for some additional modification- and a few complications...
December- back to children's for a revision of his fundoplication d/t a hiatal hernia
January- a quick trip to Atlanta just for f/u at the surgeon's office

His time at home, he is followed by amazing doctors- he has a wonderful Pediatrician & Nurse Practitioner & an outstanding cardiologist. We have been blessed with their close attention to his needs.

We are happy to say that he is doing well. At the moment, his primary concern is significant reflux- he spits up quite a bit. We are hoping to see this calm down again. It had improved, but was exacerbated again by a virus last month. At this time, we don't know exactly when he will need to return for more surgery. At some point, he may need to go to the cath lab to dilate the stent in his pulmonary artery. It is possible that it may be adequate until his next surgery. They will continue to monitor for any changes. We will take a trip to Atlanta sometime later this summer to replace his feeding tube, but that should be a simple thing. His next heart surgery could be anywhere from 18 mo. to 36 mo. of age, depending on his status.

We are enjoying all of the smiles & laughing. Despite everything he has been through, he is full of life! He loves his family & gets very excited to see daddy come home or grandma come over; his sisters get lots of smiles & laughs out of him. He enjoys the kitty & puppy, too. Right after my last post, he added "kitty" to his vocabulary; and after his party, he is saying "boon" for balloon.

His favorite thing is balls, so we got him a ball pit for this birthday- he has lots & lots of balls to play with. We attached a few pictures from our celebration.

1 year stats: 16 lbs. 9.6 oz; 27 1/2"

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes- He had mail every day the week of his birthday.