Long, but good 7 days / 5 month update

Katie had her surgery last Friday, or as she called it, a "tune up".  A little over 5 years ago, Katie was feeling bad and started experiencing some pain in her abdomen.  Her liver was extremely enlarged, but doctors did not know why.  After numerous tests, she found out that that her inferior vena cava was very narrow and not functioning.  The inferior vena cava is a large vein that carries blood from the liver to the heart.  So, obviously not a good situation, and extremely rare.  If I remember correctly, there is not another known case out there.  Katie was referred to an amazing team of doctors that helped dream up a surgery to fix the problem.  They put in a bypass which has worked with incredible success...until this last December.  Her surgeon, Dr. Peden, noticed some narrowing in the bypass.  Last Friday, Dr. Peden inserted a stent to hold the bypass open in the portion that was narrowing.  After a follow up visit this week, the stent has fixed the issue, and Dr. Peden says that it should work for "...a long time".  We are happy that she has proactive doctors keeping her healthy.

Katie could not pick up anything heavy, including Caroline, for about 48 hours.  That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it slowly wore me out.  I didn't realize how tired I was until about 9 a.m. on Monday morning.  I am looking forward to this weekend.  Katie got some good rest with a great friend.

Two Texas Medical Center miracles

Okay, okay, it wasn't all work and no play

Caroline had her 5 month check up on Monday.  She is now 8 pounds, 8 ounces.  She is growing about 1/2 an ounce a day, which is fine with her doctor.  She continues to improve with her bottle feeding.  She is eating about 22 to 23 ounces of milk a day, which is up about 7 ounces from just a few weeks ago.  Overall, her pediatrician is thrilled with her development and is amazed that she is doing so well.  Here is a picture of her at 5 months with her doll.