Living in the seventh layer of Hell

So it's been a while since we last posted. I blame that on the fact that my hands are literally melting off my body. It's so freakin hot here, I think we are actually living on the sun. It just doesn't seem right that one should sweat when all he or she is doing is breathing. Oi, I say.



I HEART YOU


When Monkey was a few days old, the doctor heard a slight heart murmur. He said that if she still had it when she went to her 2 month appointment, she would need to see a cardiologist. Well it didn't disappear, so last Wednesday, she went in to see Dr. Baker. As he was listening to her heart, she was flirting up a storm, smiling and looking at him through her eyelashes. Little Monkey, going for the older men!

Anyway, after a really long appointment including an echocardiogram, we found out that she has three defects in her heart structure. And now I get to dazzle you again with my fake medical knowledge:

• Periphoral Pulmonary Stenosis (which is causing the murmur): This is a narrowing of the main artery or arteries of the heart. The doctor thinks that E has a narrowing of both. According to the University of Virginia's website, some issues that can occur are swelling and fluid retention as well as heart infections. Eleanor's is not nearly this bad. She just needs to be watched.








• Right Aortic Arch with mirror image branching: Instead of the aorta going over one of the branches of the trachea that goes into the lungs, it wraps around the whole trachea and esophogus. What can happen is as she grows, that aortic arch could constrict the esophogus and trachea. This is another thing to watch.

• High takeoff of the left pulmonary artery: I think this is the main artery that goes to Monkey's left lung. It is high-arched, meaning, I think, that it could constrict blood-flow to her left lung. When she goes back, she will have to have a chest x-ray to make sure that lung is doing okay. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of this.

So overall, she is fine. We will just have to watch the conditions, and, like Bear, she will have to be monitored by a specialist to make sure that things are doing okay.

Other news not as complex

Per usual, nothing new is going on. We both have the Fourth off, which is cool. I was so ready for a break, even though I have only worked 2 days this week!

Both babies are sounding sick, snotty, coughish, and somewhat lethargic. They are drooling like mad, so maybe it's teeth. Scary! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that they were tiny?!

Well I should get back to my task at hand:embroidering kitchen towels for my cousin's wedding. And with no babies, this is my chance to motor through!

Take care and until next time, stay cool!

-s-