Silly moments

So much trauma and drama has happened in our family (immediate and extended) that we thought we'd share some lighter moments with you. I just love to wear my hats around the house and dance around. This weekend, I had my first opportunity to paint, like my big sister. It was so much fun. Mommy will have to scan our artwork so we can post it on the blog for you.

Healing

We're all healing from one thing or another. My arm is getting better. Although when my medicine wears off, it starts to hurt. I finally returned to school this week. Miss Velva (my teacher) told Mommy I gave her a heartache because I tumbled down two stairs and my friend, Maggie, pulled me around by my bad arm. It's been nice to be back to school and see all my friends.

I'm sorry that it's been a week since we've written on our blog. Mommy has been busy with work. She had to work late twice this week. We visited the orthopedic doctor on Monday and he gave me a new robot arm to wear. It fits a lot better. He said I have to wear it for three weeks. I'm already tired of it. Mommy isn't a big fan now either since it's beginning to be stinky -- especially since I vomited on it Thursday night. Yes, our whole family has been sick to the stomach this week.

Lilly is still recovering from her cold, but I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're just all ready for Spring.

We posted this photo so you can see how long my hair is getting and what a big girl I'm growing up to be. I finally let Mommy put a ponytail in my hair! Hope all of you are healthier than we've been.

First broken bone

Unfortunately, it appears that Belle is going to take after her Daddy and be accident-prone. Not yet three, Belle has already suffered her first broken bone. Again following in her Daddy's first steps, Daredevil Belle leaned too far over the side of her bed and toppled over, bumping her head and hurting her wrist. On first inspection, she seemed fine. Later in the evening after the motrin wore off (which we're giving her because she has RSV), her wrist started to her. She cried out in pain during bathtime; her thumb area turned purple. So we made a trip to HealthPlus. Of course, by the time we reached HealthPlus she was acting fine so I thought maybe it is just stoved, but X-rays revealed a small fracture in her right wrist. It's not big; not near a growth plate so it should heal fine. For now, she is wearing a splint. We see a orthopedic doctor tomorrow. She will have to wear either a brace or cast for about a month just to stablize the area so it can heal.

She charmed the pants off all the nurses during our visit. The nurse who treated her really helped me out by telling Belle how pretty she looked in her new armband. Belle smiled and said yeah! When we left she told the nurse, I feel all better! She didn't even throw a fit about wearing her new armband to bed.

Test results

The echo showed that Lilly has a small hole in her heart. It's called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). This is from the American Heart Association website: "The septum is a wall that separates the heart's left and right sides. Septal defects are sometimes called a "hole" in the heart. A defect between the heart's two lower chambers (the ventricles) is called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). If the opening between the ventricles is small, it doesn't strain the heart. In that case, the only abnormal finding is a loud murmur."

The treatment at this point is to give her antiobiotics before any dental work is done; aggressively treat colds and ear infections and monitor her condition, including with a yearly echo. We'll proceed like this unless Dr. Rubin hears something different during a check up.

Dr. Rubin suggests that the hole was always there but is closing up as she grows (typically happens as children grow). As the hole has gotten smaller, the blood rushing through the hole has become louder, thus he heard the murmur for the first time on her recent visit.

We appreciate the prayers and ask you keep Lilly's health on your prayer list.

Heart murmur

I've had an exciting week. Not only did I visit Dr. Rubin on Monday for my well baby check up, but I got to visit some special people at Women's and Children's Hospital today. During my routine check up on Monday (during which I received two shots in the legs), Dr. Rubin discovered a murmur in my heart. He ordered a round of tests for me and today Mommy, Daddy and me made a visit to the hospital.

First up, we visited the respiratory lab, where I had an echo and then an EKG performed on me. The technician, Shawn, was very funny. He made lots of animal sounds and noises to keep me occupied while he squirted cold stuff on my chest and ran this funny machine on me. I was fine with the machine for about five minutes and then I wanted to move around. Next up, I had several stickers placed on my chest and arms and little cords ran from them to a machine. I had to be very still and quiet and then Shawn played a monster toy for me that sang and made me laugh.

Next, we visited Radiology where I had a chest X-ray of my heart. I wasn't happy with this procedure because the nurses weren't very nice and they strapped my arms by my head. Luckily, it only took a minute for them to take two pictures of my chest. One of the nurses asked Mommy if we'd been there before because she recognized Mommy. Mommy had to explain that she visited the same department last year at this time with Belle for her kidney reflux.

I'm not worried about my test results and you shouldn't be either. Mommy said since she told people about the test that no less than five people have told her they also have heart murmurs and don't have any problems. So we're pretty sure that Dr. Rubin is just being cautious with my health.

P.S. -- I weigh 23 lb.s 12 oz. (still 50th percentile) and I'm 33 3/4 inches tall (still 95th percentile).

Miscellaneous from Morgantown

Last weekend, we went with Mommy to visit Grandpa and Grandma. These are just a few shots from our visit. We also helped our second cousin, Kadence celebrate her first birthday. I (Belle) especially enjoyed helping her eat her birthday cake! Today, we hung out with Daddy watching football. Apparently it was a big game. Daddy was really upset when his beloved Patriots didn't win the "souper bowl." :-(