Wish us luck…

We have our first official check up with our cardiologist, Dr. Forbes, tomorrow in Charleston. If all is well and Mary Clare is gaining weight or at least maintaining, we will be okay for another couple of weeks. Mel, as exciting as it was to post that we were home, left out a few details that many people have been asking about.

We were able to come home, thank goodness, but only after Mary Clare was successful at intaking 130 Kcals/day. Unfortunately, I can no longer offer her breast milk. After blood work and a “poop” study, we discovered that Mary Clare has a milk protein allergy. (Did Mel mention to you all that about 2 weeks ago I tried to explain to our doctors that McCanless had the same allergy??) McCanless outgrew hers, so hopefully Mary Clare will too.

We were able to bypass experimenting with various formulas and go straight to the Nutramigen, which Mel calls “liquid gold.” It is a hypoallergenic non milk/non-lactose/non dairy/ non-anything formula that babies with this allergy must have. (McCanless was on it, too) Not sure what is in it, but for my girls it is worth every ounce of gold!

Mary Clare is still struggling to eat as much as a “non-heart” baby at this point, but everyday she is getting stronger and eating a bit more! (I think anyone would after heart surgery, right?) She is so beautiful and we are so glad to be home. Her big sister loves having her home and has few momentary “only child” break downs.

We will continue to have scheduled visits for check-ups, and if all goes well, they will only be 2-3 weeks apart until her next procedure. She has a heart catherization scheduled for November 13 and her second surgery, the Glenn, will be shortly after that. The cardiologists say that the second surgery isn’t quite as extensive and her stay in the hospital will be a bit shorter.

I’ll keep you posted on tomorrow’s check up! (and post pictures soon of big sister and baby girl)