Four weeks down, two to go

Four days after we saw our cardiologist we followed-up with our surgeon, Dr. Fox (this was last week Monday).  You recall the differing opinions I had talked about in this post.  Well, Dr. Fox agreed with our cardiologist on the first challenge we were having with April and with our pediatrician on the second.  (Sigh.)  What that means is that we are sleeping quite well (i.e. I’m not setting my alarm every two hours) but that she’s back to ruling the roost.  So, still our biggest challenge in her recovery is trying to parent while keeping her calm.  And Fox gave me some pretty convincing numbers to back up the “keep her calm” thing.  (Numbers along the lines of 33% chance of repeating the surgery versus 2%.  Numbers talk.)  When I pushed for a bit more info on this he said it was prolonged raised blood pressure that could damage the sutures on her fixed valve.  Thankfully, we have been able to avoid that for the most part.  It does mean no sleep training until after the six weeks is up; it also means I have to wait to return to my Bible study until then since April only went once and I know she will throw a fit when I drop her off.

Clearly a little bit of crying is okay since when I mentioned getting a picture, Dr. Fox picked her up without hesitation, both of us fully aware that she’d throw a fit over it.  In fact, her face right here pretty much describes her feelings about most of the hospital staff if she wasn’t in Mommy’s arms.  As I was hurriedly taking this picture, Dr. Fox was saying, “That’s a pretty impressive face.”  Yes it is; the girl knows what she wants. =)

So now we are counting the days until we hit the six weeks post-operation.  (Today is exactly four weeks; only 14 days to go!).  And also trying to figure out the best way to firmly yet graciously “change the rules” on her when that happens.  Thanks again for all of your prayers on our behalf.  Words are not enough to express what they mean and have meant to us.