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Monday, November 16, 2009

One Big Huge Update

Since it has been soooo long since I have posted anything, I figured I would just catch up on everything in case I don't post again for a while. We did another blood test a couple of weeks ago and everything is still good. Her platelets were still low (58,000) but that is up from 23,000!!! And no blasts showed up in her blood which of course is excellent. We went in to the ENT because she never passed her newborn hearing test and because she was so little, they couldn't really see in her ears anyway so they just wanted us to wait until she got bigger. I knew at 9 months that she was suddenly hearing quite well so I didn't push seeing them again until she was 18 months. The doctor looked in her ears and said there was no fluid in her ears and her ear drums looked shiny which I guess is how they want it to look. She will refer us for a hearing test and she said that as long as she can hear to at least 20 decibels (I think), then that is all she needs to pick up speech. So thankfully, no tubes are needed!!
Then the next day, we did a follow up with her cardiologist whom she hadn't seen since she was 5 months old. He is following her to see if her PFO and VSD (small holes in her heart) have closed. Due to the many blood draws that Ella has had in her life, she has officially hit the point where she doesn't want any doctors touching her. She will sit and flirt with them until they touch her and then she starts whining like there is no tomorrow. Of course this made it hard for the cardiologist to hear but he said he didn't hear any murmurs. I asked him if we would do an echocardiogram to be certain if the holes had closed and he said "Do you think she will be less afraid next year?" Like I know how she will be a year from now. I told him that I am not afraid to hold her down so let's just go for it this year. If the holes have closed, then we will be done with seeing the cardiologist so I figure, why wait!!
And lastly, we have FINALLY gotten Ella authorized to get some OT to try to get her to eat solid foods. I ended up just asking my pediatrician if we can do it through our private insurance instead of waiting on the state to provide it. She would be 10 and still drinking formula if I wait on the State of CA!! So we have kept our pediatrician pretty busy getting us referrals this past month. Ella is weighing in at 23 lbs 3 oz this month....so I guess the formula is sustaining her just fine for now. Below is a bunch of pictures that probably should each be their own post but I may never catch up if I don't just post them all now.



Ella - 19 months



One day I decided to do some real pigtails and they actually kind of worked. The long piece of hair on the top of her head that usually makes up her antenna type ponytail is now almost long enough to reach to her pig tails. I just put her on her little car and she sits still pretty well.






I think this is my new favorite picture








Pigtails......post nap!!




Below you will see lots of pictures of Ella's new favorite activity......standing. She is finally pulling up to everything she can reach and then just standing there. She does it with such ease now and it seems like just yesterday she couldn't do it at all. Just another example of the little milestones that we usually take for granted. I just love that now I can stare at her cute butt!!























Another new thing that Ella is doing......getting in the kitchen cupboards. So on Daddy's last day off......the childproof latches went on. I can finally relax again. We only had 2 broken crystal bowls!! Little stinker!!


Needless to say, Daddy has been pretty busy childproofing lately. He finally got the gate installed for the stairs but not before Ella quietly made it to the top TWICE without any of us knowing!! Of course when I finally decided to do a video of her climbing, she takes her sweet time doing it. As usual, sorry for the grainy quality of the video!!

17 comments:

Kele said...

Okay, your forgiven for not posting in soooo long. That video, and the 'cute butt' pics redeemed you!!

Tina said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for some new pictures, I have been so missing Ella, but you've totally made up for it today. Oh she is such a delight, she has just made my day. I love that video, Ella is doing so great, I like it how the cat comes to watch as well. Love those pigtails. O.k. so you know this doesn't mean you don't need to give us our regular fix of Ella pictures!
Also so happy to hear everything o.k. with her blood count. Once yoy get the echo done and please let us know what it says :)

Stephanie said...

Thanks for catching us up. Honestly I'd be quite happy with pics of Ella every day, that face !!! No words! i realized after the video I had tears in my eyes. I just love her.
So glad everything is good with her blood count! Wonderful news, keep it coming! The ponies are awesome!

Devon said...

She. is. too. cute. I can't take it!! I"m so glad her results are turning up so well!!

Doctors are so dumb sometimes. Once at about 4 am I was concerned about Dakin so I called the pulmonologist--he asked me if I thought D needed to be admitted to the hospital. Well, dur...if I knew the answer to that question it would be ME driving a Maserati around and answering phone calls at 4 am...

OH well.

Hugs to you guys!

Emily said...

I miss my sweet little Ella! I am so glad for the update! She is doing fabulous on those stairs! I'll need to re-do Justin on the stairs... that video of mine was horrible! I love your new favorite picture of her too! But then again, all pictures of her are darling!

Michelle said...

oh good grief, could she be any cuter!?

Heather said...

Love the update and there could never be enough pictures ... that face.So stink'n cute!Love the video and love you guys.

heidi marie said...

what a great update!!! so glad she is healthy and doing well! she is getting so big. i love her cheesy smile, henry does the same thing now. and the pigtails are adorable. i think we need to have an arranged marriage for miss ella and mr henry.

Unknown said...

Such a great post...good news, great pics, great video...who could ask for more! :) So glad everything is going well for sweet Ella. Gosh how the time flies! xo

Alan Anderson said...

Oh she is such a sweetie! Love all the pictures and the cute ponies! She has got a smile as big as Carter - and she just makes me smile along with her. Thanks for the wonderful update - good luck with the echo and the OT!

Lori said...

Thanks for the update! And I am glad to hear that everything seems to be going well =)
Ella is a such a cutie pie. I love full pigtails (and post-nap piggies - which is why I don't do them often - wrestling with Anna once a day for piggies is enough)
Anyway - in case you don't post again for a long time...Happy Thanksgiving! =)

Cathy said...

What a cutie pie!! I might just need to fly out to CA so you can teach me how to get Lily's hair in a ponytail or pigtail. I always think it looks ridiculous when I do it. Thanks for the update. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!!

Lacey said...

You know we are already planning our next trip out there. Ray wants to ride with him all night, plus we are also going to get season passes to Disneyland this year. I wish I would have done it last year. We were hoping our cousins would get married in June, but they haven't made plans yet. It will probably be sooner than that. Expecially if I try to adopt the little girl I just found in Californias foster system. She's not downs but she has other medical problems. I want her.

Anne and Whitney: Up, Down and All Around said...

I just love all of the pictures of her new skill, standing!!! her pigtails are ADORABLE and the 2nd picture is definitely my favorite- that smile is AWESOME!!!

Heidi said...

I loved reading your update! I'm so glad Ella's blood test came back okay!

She is doing so well standing up to things and climbing the stairs!

I love the pictures! Her pigtails are sooo cute!!

The Lehnick Family said...

So happy to hear the update! Ella you have been keeping mommy and daddy busy! I think you and Brayden would just have a ball together and get into EVERYTHING! Love the video of her climbing the stairs...so cute! Can't believe our babies are growing up! Happy to hear you will be starting OT! You will love it and Ella will LOVE it too!

Kim said...

Look at her go!! That is great! So glad to hear that her test results have all been wonderful. Mattie was weighing 22 pounds last month and she eats like a little piggy. I don't blame you for going private for OT. Mattie starts speech next month. We'll see how that goes!