My Little Miracle Is 1 Year Old

 

Well it has been a year since our Little Miracle was born on July 9th, and also a year on August 23rd since Shaelyn was re-born with her new transplanted heart.  Where has this past year gone?  Oh yes, very busy with appointments, work vacation and just enjoying every minute with her, even though some of those minutes were very taxing, lol, teething nightmares had to have been the worst .  Thankfully we have the first 4 teeth both bottom and top (8 in total) and I believe we are going to get a break.  Shaelyn started teething April 11th (later than normal) and went all the way until the end of July pretty much.  Oh the drool, running nose, cough (thought she had a terrible cold that just wouldn't go away) runny eyes, bum rashes, the works!!!  We had Shaelyn re Baptized back in April at a private ceremony in our Church, the first baptism was when she was 13 days old in CCCU at Sick Kids Hospital and now that she is healthy we wanted to do it properly with all of our friend and family present and her respective God Parents present and named.

Overall Shaelyn has had a good year since the Transplant.  She is about 3-4 months delayed in gross motor skills but improving daily at an alarming rate.  A month ago she would just spin on her bottom (sitting unsupported since 5 mths old) to crawling, standing and now taking steps with a push along walker/baby doll stroller.  Before long, I suspect in the next couple of weeks, she will be walking, just in time for her next physio appointment in September.  We still haven't nailed down the eating table foods progression, although she is now interested in everything and must try it whether she likes it or not.  Now for me to get back to eating properly to get myself back into proper eating habits to set an example for her to take the lead from (protect that heart from the start).  We will all get there....SOON!!!

We had a Strawberry Shortcake theme for Shaelyn's 1st Birthday and it was a success.  My niece made her cake, awesome job at that too, we actually had a smash cake for Shaelyn and an actual Strawberry Shortcake for the adults and we made it diabetic friendly so that all of us could enjoy it with out the sugar, extra calories, and all the negative side effects for Gastric Bypass patients (a few of us in attendance have had the surgery).  It was lovely to have something sweet tasting, but actually wasn't too sweet

 

Shaelyn is doing super with her New Heart and all her Doctors are amazed with her progress, she still has to have her biopsy once she hits 22lbs/10 kilos to check for rejection, but that won't probably happen until the new year.  All fingers crossed that there is NO rejection and we can continue on with our lives as normal. HA normal, whats that?  We will still have regular tests and appointments but the good news is that it is and will be less frequent now that she is a year post transplant.  Blood work every 2 months (to make sure anti rejection levels are on target) and echos and transplant clinic every 3-4 months...yay!!!

 

Yay!  I'm so happy she's doing well.  What a year it's been!

Love reading this!  So happy that the year has ended so much better than it began!  :)  Who would have thought there would come a time when something as mundane as teething would be one of your "concerns", awesome.

That's so very awesome and exciting!! Time does fly for sure. My paternal grandfather won a Nobel prize in medicine back in the 70's for his by "accident" invention and discovery of the heart cathetization. The Cleveland clinic named its cardiology department after him and there are statues and paintings of him all over the hospital. Maybe my grandfathers invention somehow made the outcome of your daughters surgeries successful. Anyways I'm so happy for you!!