Hi Everyone!
Sorry about the delay in getting my birth announcements out. I’ve been keeping my parents really busy since I arrived, and we wanted to wait until we could give you all an update on how I’m doing. First of all, I want to thank you for all the support you’ve given my parents over the past seven months. They’ve told me all about how much everyone loves me and all of the prayers that were said for me. I really appreciate that!
I am doing great – Mom says I am “exceeding all expectations” – whatever that means. As you know, I was able to come home just two days after I was born, surprising all of the doctors and my parents. Since then I have been getting bigger and stronger every day. Sometimes I have trouble eating – I get real tired and it seems like a much better idea to take a little nap than to suck on a bottle. Mom says it’s because my heart is sick and needs to be fixed. She and Dad say that after my heart is fixed I’ll not only be eating better, I’ll be running laps! (I think it will be a little while before that happens – but we won’t tell them that.J)
Despite my eating habits, I am finally gaining some weight, which makes my heart doctor very happy. He’s a really nice man and I don’t mind going to see him at all. Sometimes he covers my whole chest with this green jelly and takes pictures of my heart with a special machine. But I don’t mind. Usually I just sleep in Mom’s arms or squirm around and try to see where I am. I like to do that a lot. I never cry at the doctor’s office. I try to be as quiet as possible, because then I know Mom will give me lots of kisses and tell me how brave I am. And the nurses all tell me I’m beautiful and want to hold me. I don’t mind that either – it’s fun to be held and cuddled!
On my one month birthday I decided to give Mom and Dad a present – I slept through the night and have been doing so ever since! I stay awake a lot more during the day now, which is fun because I get to spend time with Mom in her office and we have great talks and listen to fun music together. Mom and Dad also let me spend lots of time when I’m awake on my tummy. It’s fun to hold my head up and do push-ups, and I even surprised Mom one day by rolling over onto my back. She was really impressed and called Dad right away to tell him about it.
Although I’m doing really well, I did give my parents a little scare. I wasn’t feeling well one day and had a little fever, which apparently is a pretty big deal when you’re only six weeks old. Mom took me to the doctor and he sent us to the Emergency Room. It was pretty scary – not so much for me, but Mom was pretty upset. I don’t like to see her cry, so I made sure I put on a brave face and I only cried when the nurses stuck me with needles. The doctor and nurses were really nice and all of the tests they did came back negative. So they told Mom and Dad I had some kind of virus and they gave me a few shots to make me feel better. I didn’t mean to scare my parents, but I think it was good practice for them for when I get my heart fixed. I have a feeling I’m going to have to go through a lot more than just a few tests, and they need to learn to be brave too. I think I can teach them in time. My heart doctor says I should have a couple more months – he wants to have the surgery in late September, even though he says my heart is doing really well. I think September sounds good to me. I’m excited about feeling better all the time and getting stronger. So I just have to try to gain a couple more pounds in the meantime.
I know I’ve already met some of you, and I hope to meet the rest of you soon. Please come visit me any time. Mom and Dad say there is plenty of room for guests at my house, and I love to show people my nursery – and my closet full of clothes. Mom says I am spoiled – I’m not sure, but I think that means that lots of people love me. So I really like being spoiled!
Thanks again for taking care of my parents and for praying for me. Please continue to do so until I get my heart fixed. My mom says she’ll keep you all posted on my progress.
Much, much love,
Lily xoxoxo