Six Months Later: A Happy Heart.

Ellie recently had an appointment with the cardiologist.  The appointment resulted in a victory.

26 3/4 inches.  17 pounds. 

No cardiologist for a year.

Six months ago today, Matt and I endured one of the worst moments of our lives and handed our sweet baby girl over to the medical team for open heart surgery.  Ellie sailed through, and now we're onto other much simpler medical issues. 

(Seriously, Ellie, can you catch a break?  Let's hope your eyes and ears are easily repairable via outpatient procedure, because our whole family is over hospital stays!)

The days surrounding open heart surgery are an awful blur in my head, and I remember crying, hating feeling trapped in the house, and being worried about Ellie's increasing exhaustion while eating.

We are forever grateful for the doctors who worked to repair Ellie's heart and who performed the surgery that saved her life.  While the success rate for AV canal repair is amazingly high, the condition is fatal if untreated.  The surgery seems so routine in the Down syndrome community that I often forget it was more than just a scary hurdle - surgery saved Ellie's life.

Happy Six Month Happy Heart Day, little one!

PS. Ellie's birthday giveaway has about one more week.  Head on over to enter!