Not Much New

I'll start with the good stuff- a picture! :) Here is a picture taken last Saturday after Malachi had his bath. Daddy gets bath duty, so here they are cuddling afterwards.

Now on to the appointment update. Malachi had another echo today, and then we met with Dr. O'Leary. We were able to get through the echo without sedation (praise the Lord!). This time things only maintained, as opposed to seeing improvement. This did not alarm his Dr., and he's really pretty pleased with how well Malachi is growing and "acting" healthy. He maintains that although things really aren't normal, they are still working for him just fine at this point. He still thinks continuous oxygen is the best treatment option for Malachi's pressures between his heart and his lungs, so that will continue. He did note that Malachi has some more concerning pressures in his mitral valve, which really hadn't been much of a concern before (other than it being narrowed). He thinks this is probably due to how much the rest of his body's grown in the last 6 weeks while the valve remained smaller. This may naturally improve if the valve growth catches up a bit.

We appreciate your continued prayers, and really hope to someday report complete healing.

Happy Independence Day, and Other News

Happy 4th of July (a couple of days late)! We hope you enjoyed your day and weekend. John and I sure did- we went to Apple Valley to meet up with the Carlson Clan. It was an afternoon filled with family, good food, good conversation, and fun! Here are a couple of pictures from the day.

John's brother Joe and his wife Ange

John's aunts Donna, Mary Lou, and Delores showing their "jazz hands." :)
John's cousin Deb and aunt Joann
Deb holding Malachi
John's Aunt Donna and Uncle Dick. Donna's the one who made all of the window treatments in our house. She's one talented lady!

In other news--- Malachi had his 4 month well-baby visit last Monday (6/30). He is growing very well, and is staying in his growth curve. He's now 12.5 lbs, which puts him in about the 7th percentile for weight, and his head circumference puts him in about the 5th percentile. However, his length is in the 52nd percentile! What a tall and skinny boy we have! The most surprising news of the day was that Malachi has been teething! The Dr. put her fingers in his mouth and said "He's got teeth!" At that I rocketed out of my seat-- "Where?!" His bottom two front teeth are coming up, and one actually had the corner just out. I can't believe 1) He's getting teeth at such a young age, 2) we didn't have any clue (and neither did Grandma or Grandpa Carlson when they watched him for a week)! I feel bad, too, because he hadn't had any Orajel or Tylenol up to that point. We think that's why he's been fussy in the evenings; now that we know and have been able to medicate a little, he's been much happier. Poor little guy! Anyhow, one of the teeth you can see the entire top of now (since Saturday). That's not something that photographs real well, so it'll still be a bit before you see them on here.