Cardiologist Post-Op Follow-Up

Emmie started off her day with Nana eating pancakes with syrup, and then needed to go back out on another walk again today!

 

 

 

 

 

We think we finally got the video thing figured out, so hopefully I’ll be able to start posting more videos on the blog. This was one Nana took on their walk today. She was making up her own song (which is something she’s started doing a lot lately), about walking. She’s singing, “Going on a walk, going on a walk, we’re going on a walk, hi-ho da dairy-oh… be safe in here, you don’t have your buckle on. Kay?” I love it!!

 

Emerson even convinced Nana to walk all the way to the park down the road from our house, while Emmie rode in the stroller the whole way 🙂

In order to get Emerson to get used to going potty with Nana this week instead of me, we gave her some very important business work to take care of, with notepad and pen, so she could keep herself entertained. And it worked!

I worked through my lunch break today so that I could get off early to take Emmie to the cardiologist. But I made sure to have some amazingly delicious leftovers while I worked!

 

Emmie wouldn’t go down easily for Nana for nap time, so she only got to sleep for about an hour by the time I had to wake her up for the appointment. So she was tired and groggy and grumpy, and it was hard to get out the door, but we made it only a few minutes late. And she was such a brave little trooper! Oh also, she picked out her little outfit today, so cute!

Pre-surgery & hospital stuff, Emerson was never really scared of doctors or nurses, but she was definitely a little bit apprehensive today. I think after all the traumatic experiences last week, she was just worried that something would hurt. I kept telling her “no ouchies, no boo-boo’s,” and she was still nervous, but we made it through.

 

I don’t think I’ve shared any photos of her chest post-surgery, but you can see how her incision is healing and how the bruising looks in these next two photos. The bruising looks super green now, but she rarely ever tells us it hurts. The only stitches she has are the ones inside, and just the purple dermabond on the outside, which has already started coming off a little bit.

We did an echocardiagram again today, and the doctor said that the enlargement has almost completely shrunk away and all but disappeared! Which is yet another miracle! He was also very pleased with her healing and recovery so far, and everything is looking good. There is still just the faintest amount of fluid on her heart from all the surgery related stuff, so we’ll continue the lasix for just another few days, and then she’ll be off all the prescriptions. We give her Tylenol and/or Motrin as needed, and she take a low-dose Apsrin every night, which she’ll do for a few more months at least, but just 9 days after open-heart surgery, that’s all! Today went well, and we’ll go back and visit him again for another follow-up in another month.

 

 

After an exhausting afternoon, she just needed to lay in Mommy’s bed and watch Blippi for a little while.

Then she was ready to get up and so some more playing and coloring! We’re all loving these magic marker Baby Shark pages that Aunt Meggie and Uncle Bo gave her. They are actually really satisfying, and I really enjoy coloring them myself.

 

Our sweet Sunday school teachers brought us over dinner tonight – chicken spaghetti & green beans, and “plain” cheese noodles on the side for Emmie, plus sweet tea and pound cake for dessert. And everything was again delicious tonight! So nice to eat a yummy meal, and not do any of the work! 😉

 

We ordered a new fancy rolling laundry hamper thing, and Jeff and Emmie put it together, together, and she was just the sweetest little helper girl.

 

Since she’s had such a hard time getting to sleep at night lately, we decided to start the whole bedtime routine even earlier than usual. It still took an hour before she would let us leave her bedroom, but all-in-all the whole process actually went well. She was super sweet and just wanted hugs, and wasn’t too upset or whiny. It took an hour, but it wasn’t terrible!

 

 

Jeff had to update some more stuff on my blog/website tonight, because the update from last night apparently crashed like everyone’s stuff and caused a bunch of issues. We couldn’t get any photos to upload for a while, and it was acting crazy. So while he did all of that, I read in the living room for a while, curled up on the couch. So that’s why this post is getting published so late tonight.

 

 

It’s almost 10:30 now, so it’s basically my bedtime already. So night, friends!