Vanderbilt Visit

A friend reminded me this week that I have been very neglectful in my posts. Hopefully now that Lucas is a little bigger and taking better naps (some days) I'll keep this updated more frequently.

Last Thursday we took Lucas to Vanderbilt for his 1 month visit to have his heart looked at. They did an ECHO on his heart, which was just an ultrasound with heart monitors hooked up. Garen and I got to sit and watch. It was actually pretty neat to watch his heart work and beat. They turned on the "color" which showed the blood flowing through his heart. It was both blue and red, depending on if it was oxygenated or not. When the tech zoomed in on the different chambers of the heart, we could actually see the little holes. Surprisingly, it made me feel better because I could see how small they actually are. They are in the muscle of the heart (as opposed to the ligaments) which is very good. They are also no located near a valve, which is also very good. When we met with the pediatric cardiologist, he was very happy with the results and said he does not think Lucas will need any type of surgery. He is confident they will close by the time he is a year old. SUCH good news! He said there isn't anything we need to watch out for and nothing special we need to do. We don't even have to bring him back to Vanderbilt until November! Garen and I are so relieved!

Lucas has also started smiling and cooing in the last week or so. He doesn't yet do either consistently, which means we haven't been able to get a picture of his adorable little smile yet. I'm hope it won't be too long before he is laughing and smiling a lot more. His first bath was the only bath that he screamed through. He doesn't love bath time yet, but he doesn't hate it. He just sits in the water with his eyes wide and a look of shock on his face.

Garen had to go to Texas this week. He left early this morning, so Lucas and I are on our own for 5 days. I have a few friends and neighbors I can call for relief during the week if I need a break. Garen will come home the same day my parents come to town. My brother Jeff flies in on Saturday. With it being Mother's Day weekend and my family being here, we are going to have Lucas baptised on Sunday. Garen's parents may also be coming up, but we aren't sure if they can make it yet. Richard had rotater cuff surgery about a week ago and is still recovering.