After a very hyper evening, Ada now sleeps.  She has been doing great these last few days with surpassing the amount of milk intake that is her goal each day.  She has healed up quite nicely on the outside, and each day gets a bit more active.  Her latest "milestone" is that she can sit up - ALMOST unassisted!  She looks so proud of herself when she does so, and it is pretty precious.  Still no rolling over, crawling, or jogging, but we figure that she's allowed to have a lot of slack cut in her general direction, due to what she has been through this past month!

Last week at the cardiologist, the echocardiogram showed that her left ventricle, the one that is doing all the pumping, is operating slightly less "effectively" as it had been when we left the hospital.  They measure the heart when it is at it's most expanded point, and compare it to when it is at it's most contracted point, and assign a fraction or percentage... she went from 33% to 22%.  Not sure how concerned to be about it, but the doctor prescribed a new medication for lowering blood pressure, and wants to see us in a week (which means that I head in with Ada tomorrow.)  The medication should help relieve some of the stress or pressure on the heart muscle, allowing it time to heal and recover.  So of course this is a little hiccup, and we are watching Ada carefully.  She really seems to be doing fairly well, and as of right now has not seemed to pick up the slight head cold that I've had the last couple days, which is a huge blessing.  I cannot wait for the day when we don't have to think about her health and heart condition.  But at the same time, I really am grateful that we have access to such tremendous health care, with caring doctors who are good at what they do.

Ada is six months old on Thursday, and it is so crazy to think of all that has happened these last months!  No, the time has not flown by.  It has been a very long and hard season, but our baby girl is getting so big!  She's been gaining weight a bit more rapidly than is her custom (!) and we plan to attempt some solid foods in the next couple of days.  Pictures to come, for sure!

And Christmas also comes - we'll be here in Colorado, as the cardiologist has said that Ada should not travel yet due to the air quality on planes.  So a word to those of you who WILL travel by air this holiday season - Airborne.  Or Vitamin C.  Or Zinc.  Whatever works for you!  And for my friends and family in Minnesota, I miss you bunches and bunches, and mourn another Christmas away from you all.  Just to illustrate the depth of my sorrow, know that a couple evenings ago I even contemplated making a batch of fruit soup!  OH, and don't you worry, lefse is on the list of things to do this week.  So prayers for a long nap from Ada and an ineffective smoke alarm would be appreciated!

I'll update again soon, on tomorrow's visit at the cardiologist, and perhaps also with some photos of the 6 month old delightful girl I spend my days with.

Peace...