Mary Clare’s check up…

Mary Clare and I ventured to Charleston alone for her check-up today. We both did well, aside from having to pull over on the side of the road about a dozen times. I was only about 20 minutes late to our apt. I’ll have to plan her eating schedule a bit better next time!

She now weighs 8 lbs 3 oz and is 20 inches long, and her heart looks great! She is growing!! I was a bit nervous about her weight gain because she continues to struggle a bit with her eating. She is now up to about 1 1/2-2 oz every 2-3 hours, so we are slowing gaining volume, and the cardiologists say that this is “normal” for heart babies.

I keep reminding myself not to compare her to our McCanless. At this point McCanless was a healthy 12+ lbs. She has always and continues to be over 95th percentile in height, weight and head circumference. Hopefully, Mary Clare will catch up soon. She is still on her lasix twice a day and once daily Baby Aspirin, but other than that, she is just like a normal 6-week-old, sleeping, crying, fussing, and waking to “play” in the middle of the night.

McCanless is such a wonderful big sister. She has taken on a very nurturing role. She really does help me out with Mary Clare, but also knows her boundaries, without even being told or reminded. She seems like such a big girl now, which is bittersweet.

I am so happy for the two of them. I know how wonderful it is to have sisters and I know some day they will be the best of friends as my sisters and I are.