Six Months Old

It’s amazing how many times you hear, “they grow up so fast.” It really is true, especially after the first child.

Reese is now 6 months old… WHAT? We have had a very busy last few days. This week consisted of all of Reese’s 6 month check-ups.  On Monday the 25^th, we went to the ophthalmologist to verify that Reese can see and that she won’t need glasses in the near future. She passed with flying colors, and was a champ the whole time. She got her eyes dilated, and just smiled at the doctor the whole time. He said not to come back until she’s 2!!!

 On Tuesday the 26^th, Reese had therapy with Rainbows, and they have an audiologist on their team. The audiologist came out to our house and checked her hearing, and made sure there was no fluid behind her eardrums. Reese slept through the whole thing (shocker) and passed with flying colors again! Little ones with Down syndrome have very small ear and nose canals. This being said, it is very common to get ear infections, sinus infections, fluid behind the eardrums, and even clogged tear ducts. Testing the ears every 6 months is very important, so we will see them again in December!

Wednesday, the 27^th was the biggest one… The cardiologist… dun dun dun! Reese has a PFO (patent foramen ovale) and an ASD (atrial septal defect). When we got there, we got checked in, talked to the doctor, and did the echocardiogram. Reese did so wonderful. They swaddled her little arms in and she chewed on her pacifier for the whole 50 minutes, while watching Despicable Me. Then we talked to the doctor afterwards for the verdict. I was hoping to go in there and they say that everything has closed up and we can check on it when she’s 2. Unfortunately, that was not the case. She still has the 2 holes in her heart, but her pulmonary hypertension is gone. The holes are the same size (moderate), but her heart is getting bigger. YAY! The ASD has caused the right side of the heart to be a little bigger than the left, but that is fairly common with the situation. We will follow up again in 9 months and pray that it gets smaller. As of now, no surgery, but unfortunately not out of the woods yet! We will get there…  Taylor is always looking at the bright side of things so we got 2.5 out of 3 for her appointments, so thankful for him!

Reese has been trucking along with her therapy! She is rolling over from her back to her tummy, but then gets stuck. Hasn’t quite mastered the rolling over from belly to back yet, but I have no doubt it is coming soon. She can hold her head up, is loving time in her high chair, and her frequent stroller rides! Also, she gives the best smiles J