Counting our Blessings

I spent this afternoon reading a blog- a sweet baby boy named Bowen who was born with a heart like Mitchell's. I was reminded of everything we have been through over the last 16 mos., and am truly grateful for God's blessings.
I don't think we ever shared this picture on our blog, but I think it helps to show just how far Mitchell has come.


Mitchell post-op 1st surgery May, 2009


Big Boy! Standing & clapping for himself Oct. 2010

With the exception of a minor ear infection & upper respiratory infection; Mitchell has been doing well. We are so thankful for the progress he has made!
He is very mobile- loves to get into things! His new trick is dumping out Zoe's food and water... he thinks he's quite funny. He loves to swipe things from his sister and get her to chase after him- it's followed by lots of giggling. He is standing by himself for quite a while now, but hasn't taken any steps yet. His left foot still pronates a bit, so he may require a brace once he is walking. We are just thrilled with what he can do!

He is still scheduled for therapy once a week, and we are working on eating. He's just not a fan. Happy to lick things, just doesn't want to eat them.
Hoping he will be more interested one of these days.

His next Cardiology appointment with an echocardiogram is scheduled for November 1st.

Thank you for your continued prayers & support!

Ted, Jodi, Madison, Mackenzie & Mitchell

15 months old

Sea World

After getting misted with the cooling fan

Guess it's been a while since we've given an update.
Mitchell is 15 months old today!
He weighed 18 lbs. 2 oz. at his visit this week- He is on his own steady growth curve. Can't remember his length at the moment, but it was a steady curve as well.
We have been working on transitioning his feeding. He has been having more spitting up & fussiness, but it didn't start until about a week after we started the change. It may be related to 5 new teeth (in 1 week) & a little virus. It continued even after going back to the previous formula, so we're hoping to see improvement once the teething and drainage improves.
He is not walking yet, but his mobility has increased- he crawls all over; walks on all 4s and gets into whatever he wants. He is pulling up to stand and taking a few steps holding on, but not ready to let go and stand alone.
His vocabulary has expanded- he is giving names to more people and repeating more things that he hears.
He still loves playing with balls, but enjoys everything else, too. He loves to crawl to his sisters' room and explore. He even likes to play with their baby dolls. They get lots of hugs from him, then he gives them to us to hug, too. He enjoys bubbles- he will find them and bring them to us. Then he'll say, "bubble, bubble"; followed by "more" and "pop" when he pops the bubbles.
Anytime we enter a Publix or Party City (for recent birthdays), he requests a "boon". Balloons are so much fun! We are enjoying the excitement and all of the babbling.
We recently took a trip to Sea World, and he was taken with the animals in the shows- very attentive. We are so thankful for his progress.
He is still attending Physical & Occupational Therapy for 30 minutes once a week; and having an hour of Speech Therapy each week. He is making some progress with eating, but still receiving his primary nutrition through the feeding tube.
No appointments til November! The 3rd will be an echo & cardiology appointment; then his 18 mo. check up will be at the end of the month. So nice & such a blessing to have more of a normal schedule.
Thank you again for following Mitchell's progress & for praying for him.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy 4th

Look who's standing

New trick when he wakes up

Excuse the toy mess, but Mitchell is standing!

We are pleased with Mitchell's progress.
He weighed 17 lbs. 2 oz. last week.
He is crawling more and more every day, and we are working on taking steps (with help).

Because Mitchell's new Speech Therapist wanted to rule out issues related to feeding, he had a Barium Swallow study yesterday. The good news is that everything appeared to be normal... with the exception of a hiatal hernia. This really didn't come as a surprise, but it is unfortunate. No plans to surgically correct this one- I think we learned from the last experience. He is growing and tolerating his feeding better, so we will just continue to work on eating. He has had some progress with liquids given with a dropper or a straw, but he's still not very interested in foods. We're gradually trying to thicken things to help him progress.

Mitchell continues with OT twice a week, PT once a week & an hour of ST each week.
He will see cardiology again in about 4 weeks.

Happy Father's Day

It's late, so this is going to be quick. Wanted to wish everyone a Happy Father's Day!
This past week at our house has been a fun week celebrating how much we love Daddy! The girls have enjoyed baking goodies & making crafts.
Attached are a couple of pictures of Ted & the kids.
We are thankful for our godly heritage!
Our kids are a gift from God- Let's help prepare them for whatever God has for them.
We are their examples!

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.

Cardiology Report & General Update

Mitchell had a follow up appointment & echocardiogram today.
He wasn't thrilled to have his echo today, so it was fairly limited; but Dr. Mehta felt that it looked about the same as last time. This is great considering he has been off of his Lasix (diuretic) for about 6 weeks. His sats were good- 89-90%.

Since his virus (shortly after Easter), he has had a lot more spitting up. We have been trying to accomodate for lost feedings, but he didn't really gain (I believe it was only 2 oz. since the last visit). He did grow 2 cm in length, though- now on the 2nd percentile for length!
We are able to stop his Aspirin now, so we're hoping that will help his stomach.

Mitchell continues with Physical Therapy once a week & Occupational Therapy twice a week. He will be getting re-assigned to a new Speech Therapist, since his previous therapist relocated. He is making progress! He is sitting up unassisted- last session he sat the whole time without being helped. He LOVES to play with balls- definitely his activity of choice. So, we have lots of balls- different sizes/weight; and working on strengthening his arms and legs. I don't know how much I have mentioned previously, but he does have weakness on his left side. We noticed leaning, etc.. after his hypoxic episode in the fall. We are very thankful with his progress, considering the concerns we had. He is using his left hand more and more- he used to primarily use his right hand and pass off everything to his right when we'd give him things on his left; but he is starting to pass back to the left & tolerate picking up more weight/larger items with his left hand.

His current vocabulary is "ba" for ball (quite frequently), mama, dada, "hey-yah".
He will wave bye, give '5' & play peek-a-boo.
We really enjoy these milestones!

It's hard to believe that Mitchell will be '1' in 3 short days. No big plans- probably just a nice family gathering on Saturday. One of Juliane's friends from work wants to make Mitchell a birthday cake, so we'll be surprised with some sort of 'ball' cake.

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes & cards!
Mr. & Mrs Brock, Mitchell loves his singing card! He plays it over and over again.

Hope you all have a Wonderful Week!