Still Holding His Own

Today, Colby had another visit with Dr. Liske, our cardiologist. For me, I think this was the most encouraging visit that we have had! For starters, his weight and sats were both great! He weighed 9 pounds and his sats were 85. We can't ask for any better than this...Colby finally made it to 9 lbs!

After a fellow, a resident, and a medical student came in to listen to Colby's "complicated heart" and feel his "thrill" (the rumbling we feel when we put our hand on Colby's chest), Dr. Liske finally took a listen for himself. Apparently, Colby has a unique heart murmur to say the least, so Dr. Liske likes for the doctors he is training to hear it for themselves. He told us that he is "pleased" with Colby this week! There is still of course more blood flow to the lungs than normal, but after the echo from the last visit, he feels good that the lungs still have enough protection for us to put off any surgery for now. He also said that he is still hopeful that we will make it to the Glenn operation (close to 6 months of age) without needing the first surgery. What an awesome thing to hear, even though I try to never get my hopes up too much! He even told us of one patient that made it all the way to the Fontan (the final operation) without needing the first two surgeries at all. He said this is of course very, very rare...he has only seen it once in the last 10 years, but it does give us a little glimmer of hope!

The most emotional part of today's visit (for me) was hearing Dr. Liske brag on how happy he is with Colby's weight gain! Feeding Colby is a constant battle of mine and extremely stressful for me, so hearing from his cardiologist that he is gaining great is such a big relief! I was so overcome with relief, happiness, etc, that I actually cried right there in front of all 4 of these doctors. I'm sure they all think I'm crazy now, but I just could not help myself!! Dr. Liske even said he thinks Colby is getting a little chubby!! We love chubby babies!!

So, as you can probably tell, today's visit went really well! In fact, Dr. Liske is so impressed with Colby that we won't go back for a follow up until October 22nd... a month as opposed to two weeks. We also will only go to our pediatrician for weight and sats check every two weeks.

Colby continues to amaze me! He has such a complicated heart, has trouble eating, and has labored breathing and panting occasionally, yet he is doing so well. He is so strong to be so little!! He is truly an inspiration! I will never understand why God decided to bless me and Jason with such an amazing baby, but I will always be grateful. Colby has taught me more in the last 7 weeks than you could ever imagine, and I know the lessons will keep on coming for the rest of his life!

As you can see in the picture above, I was actually able to put "real" clothes on Colby for his appointment today instead of pajamas or a onesie...they finally fit!! I think this outfit is absolutely perfect for our Colby...he truly is "one of a kind!!"