8 lbs. 3 oz.

That's Malachi's weight as of today's appointment! He's growing by leaps and bounds. :) Only 2 weeks ago he was 7 lbs. 4 oz. I think he's starting to get a little more baby fat-- in fact he's almost grown out of his newborn outfits and newborn diapers.

I wanted to be the one to write about today's appointment, but John beat me to the punch. Malachi did really well through all of the poking and prodding... our Dr. spent a lot more time on doing the echo than normal as he was really hoping to get to the root of the problem. He seems genuinely concerned with Malachi's well-being, and I believe he is even taking extra steps to help him. We are very thankful for such a wonderful Dr.

After the appointments Malachi and I took a Spring walk around the neighborhood. We hear there could be another winter storm blowing through, so I thought we should get out while we could. It was windier than I had thought, so I ended up with cold ears, but it was still nice to be out and about.

One final comment--- We went up to Moose Lake for Easter on Sunday so that Malachi could meet John's Grandpa Winston. It was great to be with family, and special for John's Grandpa to meet the little boy with his name. We, being the shutterbug parents that we are, managed to forget our camera. Thanks to Ron and Doreen who took this picture for us! :) Grandpa Winston is 90 years old, so this is pretty special.

Malachi's Treatment Plan

Malachi had an echocardiogram and a chest x-ray today to determine if there was a plan of action that could help him. It was decided that he will be admitted to Saint Mary's Hospital on the morning of Monday, April 7th. He will be checked in for treatment in the cardiac cath lab where they will begin by putting him to sleep then inserting a catheter in an artery from the top of his leg to his heart. They will try to run more conclusive tests on the pressures in and around his heart. At the same time, they will also still be trying to determine a cause of "why" things are happening the way they are. If they can, they will begin a medication to relieve the increasing pressure from his right ventricle to his lung. If everything goes well, he may be released by Tuesday, April 8th.

We are disappointed of course knowing that things have not been getting better since he was born. If anything, some of the indicators they look at have gotten worse thus the desire to be more aggressive in getting him in. At one point right after he was born, they thought they could wait several months to watch his condition to see if it stabilized or got better. Being that it has gone the other way, they want to see if they can help now.

The best case scenario may be that an oral medication would keep the pressure down and things would be "OK".

Things I've Been Meaning to Mention

Hello Folks! It seems like time flies by, and before I know it I've missed the opportunity to comment on/ share something. So this post is devoted to those things I forgot...

• A while back I was commenting on having to go on 2 field trips with my class, and being concerned about possibly going into labor while on them. I set up a plan with my school just in case, but a very lovely friend bailed me out of one of the trips. Carrie Johnson (a teacher I taught 6th grade with at Kellogg) called me up the morning of one of the trips, and offered to go in my place. It was completely unexpected, but OH-so-appreciated! I thought she deserved a shout out on my blog. :)
• John's been posting some pictures, and one of them I had meant to post. It's the one of Malachi in his swing. I was going to say that John was such a good daddy that he put together the swing all by himself one evening (I usually do all assembly-type work). The picture is of Malachi's first ride in the swing.
• The feet at the top of our blog are actually Malachi's feet with our wedding rings. We took him to get his pictures taken when he was just 10 days old. They turned out super cute, and I'll have to post some more soon.
• I'm back to singing on the worship team at church! I was able to sing for a super-fun choir weekend Mar. 15/16th, as well as sing on a regular team on Good Friday. It is great to be back, and John was a great stay-at-home dad while I was off at church.
• It is SO great that John is able to be home over the weekends now that Malachi is here. We get to go to church together (and sit in the cry-room ;) ), he helps with Malachi all day, and we just get to have some family time. It is wonderful!

Malachi's Heart Update

Malachi had appointments today to look at how his heart is developing now that he is three weeks old. The updates are: First, today's x-ray compared to the x-ray from the day he was born indicates that the right side of the heart has enlarged. Second, the echocardiogram shows that the blood pressure between his heart and lungs has also increased. Third, there continues to be leakage in the mitral valve.

He will be back in on Wednesday, March 26th to run through the same exams to see if things are stable, better, or getting worse. If they are worse, he would likely be admitted to the cardiac cath lab at the hospital, anesthetized, and given medication intravenously that could help relax the lungs hopefully causing the blood pressure to go down.

While things were looking bad before birth then great immediately after birth this has been discouraging to hear. The bright side is that Malachi is confusing multiple cardiologists that are looking into this being that he displays no outside symptoms. He has gained weight (from 5 lbs. 12 oz. to 7 lbs. 4 oz.), he eats a lot, he breaths normally, and his color is great.

Nothing Major; Just Pictures

Nothing too new with us. Malachi is headed to the doctor on Thursday for a chest x-ray, an echocardiogram, an electrocardiogram, and a consultation with his cardiologist.

Here are some more pictures:

From Mommy!

Hello Friends! John has done such a nice job of keeping the posts coming and updating often! I haven't had much of a chance to write in the last 2 weeks, so I want to start by saying THANK YOU! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for little Malachi for months now, and those who have just joined us, too. I really can't explain the emotions that passed through me when I was informed by the cardiologist that Malachi would not need a surgery after all, and that things were looking good for him. I truly feel that God worked a miracle in our little boy's body, and so we say- PRAISE GOD! Even now I feel that God is working miracles as Malachi's heart isn't "normal," but yet is functioning well. So, again thanks for the prayers and support you have offered. It's been amazing.

Now on to talk about daily routine-- things are going pretty well. Malachi has decided that between 8pm and 11:30pm is his fussy time, so we are learning to function in the midst of a screaming/ crying baby during that time. It's amazing what you can get used to. :) Other than that he sleeps well (for the most part), and I am adjusting to getting about 6 hours of broken sleep a night instead of my normal 8 continuous hours. This has been hard for me, but I am sure I will continue to adjust (especially since this part of parenthood appears to be unavoidable). :P

One random thought before I wrap up-- we know a lot of you have said that you really like Malachi's name. You might be surprised to know that it has been mispronounced quite a bit in the less-than-two-weeks since he was born. Everything from Ma-la-chee to Ma-le-key to Ma-lay-key, and still others. It's pretty funny, especially considering we never thought it was that different of a name. Who knew?

Cardiology Frequent Flier Club

Malachi's Friday appointment with cardiology confirms that there are up to six issues with his heart ranging from "no big deal" to "concern". There are parts that are not right with it; however, it is functioning and he is growing well. He eats three times what he did last week and has gained nearly one pound in one week (now at 6.69 lbs.). The best case scenario is that his heart will grow strong overcoming the potential weaknesses as he ages. At this point, he will not have anything done but will be part of the "Cardiology Frequent Flier Club" having echocardiograms frequently so the doctors can monitor his development closely.