Back in NOLA

We are back home in NOLA. Emmie is a little cranky (who could blame her), but she is doing great. The post cath lung scan was improved and her cardiologist was very pleased with the results. Thanks for all of your support!

Post cath

We are back in the recovery room with Emmie and she's doing pretty well. She has to get a little blood (pretty normal after a cath) and has had a fever so they are watching her closely. She had a fever after her last cath as well so that's not too surprising. They just want to make sure she's not having a reaction to the blood. No other signs of that though. We'll keep you posted......

Amy

Back in Bean town!

I'm flying!

We left for Boston Wednesday afternoon. Emmie did great on the flight and charmed everyone around her. The flight, however, was a disaster. We made it to Baltimore in time to sprint to our connecting flight and then after rolling away from the gate, we had to sit on the tarmac for almost 2 hours while thunderstorms cleared the East coast. Apparently all of the flights in the Northeast were grounded. We finally made it to Boston and to the hotel around 1:30 am. Emmie was a little champ- though a very sleepy one. She couldn't figure out why we were waking her up at 1 am. We finally got to sleep around 2 and then the fire alarm (a talking one) went off around 3:30. We were so sleepy and confused. Liz was telling me to turn off the alarm. I thought someone was talking to me from the ceiling. Truly surreal! The alarm (ours) then went off at 6 and we were off to Children's for 6 hours of preop. Everyone was pleased with her weight gain and np's and fellows saw her name on the schedule and all stopped in for a quick hello. It was great to see everyone!

Nonie flew in because she just couldn't stand it. She was in Baltimore working and it was a short flight. We went to dinner last night and then went to bed early.

We had to check in at 9 and the cath started about 11. It's almost finished and Emmie did great! We just spoke to Dr. Marx and he was extremely pleased. They were able to dilate her pulmonary artery and he said he thought it looked great. They will do a lung scan this afternoon to see how much more blood flow there is to the left lung after the dilitation. They didn't have to place a stent and all of her ventricular pressures were fabulous! This is so much better than her last cath and we are thrilled! We should be able to see her shortly. She'll have to spend the night tonight and then back to the hotel in the morning. We'll be back in NOLA in time for the Saints game on Sunday.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Amy, Liz, and Emmie

Quick visit with Aunt Marsha and cousin Nicolas

G-daddy is so proud of his Tigers- HAHAHA!

Who Dat on the bottom.....

and War Eagle on top!

Note Emmie's new BFF now that she's eating people food!

Wants to do it herself even at this age! I think we are in trouble!

It seems like our lives are so much busier now that Emmie is around, but in reality we spend a lot more time at home. However, she spends a lot of time instructing us on her proper care and feeding. She has started to eat people food and is dying to crawl. Her favorite foods are baby yogurt and strawberry snoballs. She just knows she would like her mom's chocolate cake and doesn't understand why we think she should eat her sweet potatoes and peas. She has also found a new BFF in Ella (who previously denied her existence). Ella thinks Emmie is a lot more interesting with food all over her body and the surrounding area.

Marsha and Nicolas came to NOLA this weekend for a short visit. We were so glad to see them and tried to make them miss their plane. We would like to just keep them here. It was a great weekend spending time with family, meeting new friends and cheering our Auburn Tigers to victory. I wish I had taped Nicolas' touchdown dances so I could post them for all to enjoy. The boy definitely has moves that would break my back. My father is a huge ALabama fan so pardon the sarcasm under the first photo.

We are heading back to Boston on Wednesday for Emmie's heart cath. This was planned since her surgery so no surprises we hope. They want to balloon her left pulmonary artery and hopefully increase the blood flow to her left lung. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and hope it's very successful. I'll keep everyone posted of how she's doing.

Cheers,

Amy

Happy 6 months birthday!

Emmie's first meal at Commander's Palace

Yummy, Gumbo!

Emmie turns 6 months today and we celebrated with brunch at Commander's Palace. We took my dad, MIriam, and grandmother and everyone loved it including Dutchie! Brunch was fabulous as always and Emmie was an angel. She tried her first garlic bread, gumbo, cochon de lait, and bread pudding souffle. We made her wait to try the milk punch and mimosa until she's at least a year old. Emmie especially loved the jazz band who played her several sweet songs. She agreed we could spend every birthday and any other day at Commander's. hope you all enjoy the pictures. It's been the most fantastic 6 months (minus a few bumps) and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with Emmie.

On a separate note, Angel, if you're reading, know we are thinking of you and remembering Lawson and his beautiful short life. I was lucky to have known him.

Amy

More pictures from Emmie's first Saints game! Who Dat!

Thanks Vanessa B for the pictures inside the dome.