Much has happened

Long time, no post, and much has happened.

First, the honeymoon ended. Noel "woke up" from being so sleepy, and very much turned into a normal baby in terms of crying. No big deal. She still is giving us good windows between feedings: daytime we're feeding every 4 hours, and at night we usually get one 5-6 hour stretch between feedings.

We are having weight problems again. Holly took Noel to the doc for her 1 month well-baby visit, and Noel was only at her birth weight (7 lb 7oz) - problem! A heart murmur was also detected, so given the weight gain issues, Noel went to the children's hospital for an echo cardiogram to check out her heart. In the meantime, we started supplementing her nursing with formula.

The result of the echo revealed that Noel does have a problem with her heart: in layman's terms, she has a hole in the dividing wall between the two large chambers of her heart. In medical terms, it is a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). Holly and Dominic will take Noel to a pediatric cardiologist in about a week for a follow up. Basically, if the hole does not close on its own by age 2, it will have to be closed surgically.

The VSD can contribute to weight loss or lower weight gain because the heart must expend more calories to pump as effectively as a normal baby.

We followed up with our pediatrician 5 days after beginning the formula supplements. Noel weighed in at 7lb 14.5oz, which was the low end of acceptable, so we are now supplementing at each feeding.

No photos this time...trying to make hay while Noel sleeps! We hope to get all three kids to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny soon, so look for a new pic soon!