Jacob's Cardiology Appointment

Merry Christmas! Sorry again for the delay in Jake's update. I am currently working on a very special project which I will reveal soon!

Jacob's cardiologist visit went very well. Jake surprised everyone by coming to his appointment dressed like Santa's little helper. He even hand delivered Dr. Heydarian's Christmas card.

Of course Jake wanted to eat the card.

Dr. Heydarian was very please with Jacob's progress. He is consistently gaining good weight and continues to drink more by bottle and need less by his g-tube. His chest x-ray and EKG were both good. His SATs and blood pressure were also good. The best news of the day was about his heart echo that we did while in Cincinnati. Dr. Heydarian said we could not ask for it to look any better (other than him not having HLHS that is). His tricuspid valve had minimal leakage which is very very good. Kids with leaky tricuspid valves tend to have more complications with their heart. Jacob's has consistently looked good. His aortic arch and pulmonary vasculature also was wide open and showed no signs of narrowing. His heart function had improved. Basically his heart looked great. As any heart mom can tell you we dread heart echo's. Although we want to know how their hearts look we also fear it. It is such a relief to know that his is functioning great for a hypoplast.

Dr. Heydarian always tells me that Jake is the healthiest hypoplast he has ever seen. This makes me feel so great. The only thing we wish would improve is Jake's tracheomalacia. Jake continues to exhibit classic signs of this, mainly his noisy breathing. Usually it should disappear by 6 months old however Jacob's has not gotten any better. We hope to find more answers on this when he gets his scopes in Cincinnati. I still have not heard when his appointments will be for all of that but Dr. Heydarian agreed that we should put it off until the weather warms up some. It is not an emergent procedure and I don't want to risk taking Jake out in flu season especially to a large hospital.

Jacob weighed in at 19lbs 10oz and was 27" long. He is getting so strong. He loves to hold my hands and stand and even take steps (Holding onto mommy of course). He is also starting to roll all over the place.

We are so blessed to have our family together this Christmas. It has been a very long year with many bumps in the road but I thank God everyday for my blessings. I have many close heart friends who have lost their precious angels this year and I think of them daily. May God grant them peace this holiday season. Their babies may be gone from this earth but they are forever in our hearts. Forever teaching us that each moment we get with our children is a miracle and a blessing that should be cherished not wasted.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you so much for the support and love you have shown us this year. You are all so dear to our hearts.

Love,
The Bakers


Some pictures from our visit...

Cutest elf ever!

Dr. Heydarian playing with Jake

Jake's new pediatrician, Dr. Shields

Dr. Heydarian.. Love this man!

Jake loving the attention!