Surgery now August 5th

Well...we were scheduled to have Annabelle's surgery July 19th, but unfortunately we received a call a few days before letting us know that a sick baby came into the PICU and was going to need emergency surgery on the 19th. We were given a new date of September 7th. The surgeons and her cardiologist thought it would be okay to wait that long because she has been doing so good. They thought it would be better if she gained a little more weight. We were all set with September 7th.

At our last cardiologist appointment Dr. Forbes said he had been doing a lot of thinking and would like to get her into surgery August 5th. He thinks it would be okay to wait until September, but he doesn't want to risk her growing out of her bands and heart stents. He was also concerned that if we waited that long, she may have to have another cath. Since he has to go through her liver to do that, he definitely didn't want to do that again. He was so apologetic and everything he said made sense to me. So we are now less that two weeks from surgery.

Today Annabelle turned 8 months old. She can now roll over from her back to belly and is still working on sitting up. We think she may also be getting a tooth. Yesterday was the first time I took her to an unscheduled doctor visit. The poor girl has a rash on her legs. It doesn't bother her or cause a fever. The doctor said it was just allergies and that it was nothing to worry about. Boy, was I relieved.

Less than two weeks away. We are still not ready, but honestly I don't think we could be ready. It helps that we have great friends and family to help us along the way. Special thanks to Mom, Dad, Gail, Craig and my sister, Jenny. I can't tell you how lucky Annabelle is to have you all in her life. We love you all.

2nd Surgery 10 days away

Annabelle is now 7 months old. Her 2nd surgery is scheduled on July 19th, 2010. They will be doing what is called a Bi-directional Glenn procedure. I won't go into all the details, but it's the biggest surgery out of all three.

Since my last post Annabelle has been doing so good. We are going to the cardiologist every other week now. Every time we go the whole staff just loves seeing her. They love making her smile and talking about how cute her and her friend Donovan are together. She has not had any big issues. Her heart function is doing just what they want it to do. The past few times we have gone Dr. Forbes has had some students come into the room too. I can't believe how Dr. Forbes can explain her situation in so much detail and even remember specific dates without even looking at her chart. The only thing I don't like about the students being there is the fact that we have to go over her battle to live. I know that sounds extreme, but unfortunately it's the truth. We haven't forgotten her fight and never will. But because she's doing so good, its hard to believe everything she's gone through.

She is still sleeping through the night and if she does wake up, she falls right back to sleep. She is still doing good with the bottle and is now eating fruits and veggies. She is getting her own personality too. She laughs out loud and gets mad when she can't reach a toy. She can even roll over from her belly to her back. She is starting to let other people hold her besides mom and dad. She loves her big cousins. They make her smile. We have even left her with the grandparents to go golfing.

Her surgery is in 10 days. I hate having to go through this again, but we have no choice-it has to be done. We were given all the risks when we went to the surgery consultation and I still can't get the biggest risk out of my head. I have to keep telling myself how strong she is and that shes already come this far. She has proved that she wants to be with us. For now we are just going to get through these next few days as best as we can and then get her back home as soon as we can. I know everyone has heard me say this, but she is so special. She is my little angel face. I love her so much.