Chris turns ONE!

Hi everyone! I know I haven't posted much about family this month, so I will attempt to remedy that now.

I run the risk of making this a depressing post with this paragraph alone, but hopefully those of you who know me, will see that I'm really just stating facts.

This has been an overwhelming month for our family. On February 18th our little man Christopher turned one! We are so grateful that he is here and doing well. Many parents of CHD kids never get to celebrate the big milestone that turning one is. While we were so excited to celebrate his birthday...the 18th also brought many strong emotions flooding back.

I will share some of my journal entries from that day and that week one year ago, when I locate my journal.

So for now, just a Chris update!

Our youngest baby Chris, turned one on February 18th. He is a very busy little guy. He is very curious, and loves to wrestle his brothers. He is fearless, and usually has some little bruises on his little head to prove it. He is a big snuggler, but is wary of new faces.

At 1 yr old Chris:

- has 4 teeth, but not the ones you'd think. The two bottom were first, followed by a huge top one, which was followed by the one to the side of it, not the other front one! Now he is cutting the other front tooth.

- is transitioning from bottle to cup. He still likes his bottle from time to time, but is figuring his cup out and really likes his watered down apple juice from it.

-drinks whole milk (yay no special formula, and no more regular formula to buy!)

-still army crawls, but is very quick (big bro Tyler did that forever and didn't even get his tummy off the floor til he was almost walking!)

-walks everywhere by pushing his walker and Tyler's shopping cart.

-walks down the length of the couch hanging on for dear life!

-has slept through the night forever but now sleeps 12 straight hours and 2 or 3 naps a day

-has no more binky's !! (though sometimes i wish he still did)

-says a lot of words and understands many more. He knows mama and dada of course, but can also recognizably say hi, bye, (and waves when saying those) baba, he also says mmmmaaaa to imitate a big kiss sound (we thought he said you're welcome the other day but haven't been able to coax him into saying it again, could be wishful thinking). He understands "can i have that?" "time for meds" "time for bath" "time for bed" "do you want this?" , "YAY!" and when we say yay, he smiles and starts clapping. This isn't a word but he loves to slap his hand on his mouth to make the Indian sound. He probably understands a whole bunch more, but that's all i can think of right now. When called on the phone he will babble for a few minutes while smiling. He babbles all day.

-he loves Popsicles

-he loves bread

-he hates peas

-he is not a picky eater but will let you know if he doesn't like what you've offered him.

-would gladly play with Tyler all day (but Tyler gets annoyed with him sometimes)

-Has had 4 surgeries

-has caught up and surpassed many children whom have not had surgery

-is his parents pride and joy

-is the happiest and most cuddly and photogenic baby i have ever seen!

Happy 1st Birthday my snuggle bug! We love you!

ps I will post more pics from his party and some from our adventures with Grammy and Grandpa at a later date! Hugs

The Face of CHD's...

Hi everyone...

I am doing a post dedicated to CHD Awareness today, in honor of CHD Awareness Week. I know, much less riveting than a normal post, but it is necessary, I think. I did a post about HLHS (Chris' defect) shortly after he was born, but I think there is a bigger picture that I need to share. So without further ado, here is some things you didn't know about CHD's:

• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 birth defect. Source: March of Dimes
• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. Source: March of Dimes
• About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with some type of Congenital Heart Defect. (approx. 40,000/year) Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• 4-8% born with CHD have Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
• 4-10% born with CHD have Atrioventricular Septal Defects
• 8-11% born with CHD have Coarctation of the Aorta
• 9-14% born with CHD have Tetralogy of Fallot
• 10-11% born with CHD have Transposition of the Great Arteries
• 14-16% born with CHD have Ventricular Septal Defects
• This year approximately 4,000 babies will not live to see their first birthday because of Congenital Heart Defects. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• The cost for inpatient surgery to repair Congenital Heart Defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward Congenital Heart Defect research. Source: Children’s Heart Foundatio

"In the United States, a child is born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) every 15 minutes. Children undergo surgeries and sadly, some die every day from CHDs.

We need to understand what causes CHDs and to prevent them. We need to detect and diagnose CHDs as early as possible. While much progress has been made, we need to develop new treatments for CHDs so that children undergo fewer invasive surgeries and improve the long-term prognosis for children with CHDs.

We need your support to fund the most promising research to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of CHDs in children." ~Chilren's Heart Foundation

I know many of my friends have been asking what to do with this info once they have it. I say tell everyone you know! If you know someone who is expecting, make sure they know about screening newborns for CHD's. It is not a routine screening. Most CHD's are deadly, it's worth telling them about it!!!!! Also, if you are really ambitious, write your congressman to ensure funding for CHD research! We can only help these kids so much, until we know the cause!

If you can forward a chain letter about how many friends really love you then you can talk about CHD awareness!

Links for additional info:

http://www.marchofdimes.com/birthdefects_congenitalheart.html

http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/about-chf/fact-sheets

http://www.itsmyheart.org/chd-information/chd-facts/