Playdate

(Look at this face - how could you resist?!?)

This morning at about 6:15 Cami woke up. She woke up in the most wonderful mood - all I could hear on the monitor was cooing and giggling. When I finally got up enough strength to roll over and look at her on the monitor all I saw was a big huge smile on her face. I knew it was time to get up and seize this beautiful morning with my daughter.

When I went in to get Cami her smile grew even bigger, if that was at all possible. She also put her arms straight up as if she were reaching for me. It sure did melt my heart! Cami and I came downstairs and had our usual morning playdate in her jumperoo followed by medicine, an 8 ounce bottle and TONS of hugs and kisses.

Cami is now FAST asleep back upstairs in her crib for her morning nap. I can't wait for her to wake up, although I hope it's not for another 2 hours, so we can begin the rest of our day together.

Easter is coming...

In just a few short days the Easter Bunny will be arriving for the first time ever for little Cambria. She is really excited about Easter and the other day we even did a trial run of her Easter outfit (hence the picture above). She looks SOOO adorable in her little dress with the sweater and hat - THANKS GMA!!

This Easter we will be here at home. Both of Cami's Aunts will be home from school and we are going to be spending lots of quality time together as a family. I will post next week with some pictures from Easter. We hope everyone has a GREAT Easter Sunday!! :-)

Picky Eater

As many of you may know, Cambria is a VERY picky eater. I have many theories as to the reason for this. Some of these theories include her heart medications bothering her stomach, her reflux hurting her, her having to take so many medications that every time something comes near her mouth she assumes it's a bad thing, etc., etc.

Well, I am pleased to announce that for the past 2 days this little girl could not enjoy her milk more! This has been a VERY pleasant surprise for Mommy and it has made our days together so much more enjoyable. I love picking Cami up with a bottle in my hand and seeing a smiling face instead of her arching her back and screaming before I can even get the bottle to her mouth. Today I was thrilled when Cami 'asked' for an additional feeding - and she took 8 ounces for a 'snack'. YIPPPEEEEEE!!!!

I am praying that this good eating streak continues. Maybe she is finally starting to realize milk is not such a bad thing after all...I guess time will tell!

**(The picture above was taken right after Cami's 8 ounce snack...I LOVE how relaxed she is!)**

Spring Walk

Daddy, Mommy, Gus and I went on our first family walk last night. I thought it was totally cool and the entire time I squealed, waved my arms around and kicked my legs like a crazy girl. This spring weather sure is wonderful and I can't wait to spend more quality time outside with my family.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So yesterday Cambria got to enjoy her very first St. Patrick's Day. We started out the day with Cami taking a snooze while Mommy got ready for our big outing.

Once Mommy was ready we headed out. Where were we going? To visit GMa at school - her school is the Lynbrook Leprechaun's so we knew we had to visit them on this special day. We had a fun time and Cami was a good girl while everyone admired her.

(Notice the new bow? GMa had it waiting for Cami when we arrived to her school!)

Wow - what a busy day we had. We hope everyone else enjoyed their St. Patrick's Day too!!

5 Months Old!

Dear Cambria,

Today you are 5 months old! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital but at the same time it feels like you have accomplished SO much since my last letter to you at 3 months.

Over the past two months you have been very busy doing lots of 'firsts'. First long road trip (to Rochester), you rolled over from your tummy to your back, tried your first solid foods, had your first fever and really bad cold that was accompanied by a nasty cough, first walk in your baby bjorn, first nap in your crib, and I'm sure there are tons more that I just can't think of right now.

Although you are still a picky eater things are starting to get better. You are now eating 4 bottles a day and taking anywhere between 7-8 ounces on average in each bottle. You get oatmeal in the mornings and you get a vegetable in the evenings. I am excited to start you on fruits soon. I am hoping you are like your Mommy and Daddy and you will LOVE fruits and that will open up a whole new world for you in terms of food.

You are definitely Daddy's girl. You are obsessed with your Daddy and I will catch you smiling and gazing at him from across the room. You squeal in excitement and anticipation of Daddy coming to pick you up and play with you. I think your favorite part of the day is when Daddy comes home from work and you get a big hug from him because you always get a HUGE smile on your face.

You are definitely our little Princess and we can't imagine our life without you in it. This morning as you laid on our bed cooing after your bottle I got down on my knees and prayed. I prayed for the gift of your life, the joy you have brought to us, your continued health and the fight that God gave you to overcome all that you have had to deal with over the last 5 months. I could not be more blessed to have such an amazing baby. I love you Cambria Leigh. Happy 5 month birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Spring Has Sprung!

Here in good ole' Virginia it appears that spring has sprung. The past couple of days have been near 60 degrees and today they are calling for a high of 65 degrees.

Cami and I are SOO ready for spring. We have our shades out (as you can see from the above photo) and we're anxious to spend lots more time outside exploring all of the new things there is to explore for little Miss Cambria. I can't wait for her to experience grass, sunshine, warm breezes, birds chirping and all of the other sights, sounds and smells that come with spring!

Burrito Evolution

When Jon and I brought Cambria home from the hospital we very quickly learned that she was a good sleeper. We learned that the hard way though - after one long night of NO sleeping and a screaming baby. I will never forget that night. We tried EVERYTHING! I changed her multiple times, fed her, rocked her, burped her, bounced her, walked around the house, etc. for hours on end with nothing working to calm her down. Finally, after waking up my Mom for help since I was exhausted and frustrated, she had a novel idea: she told me she didnt think Cambria was warm enough and she wanted to be wrapped up tight and warm. So, the swaddle began. It was like magic! As soon as we swaddled our new little angel up she slept - for 5 hours straight!

Since that day Cambria has been swaddled every single night before bed and she sleeps ALL night long all wrapped up looking like our little Burrito.

Over the past few weeks Cambria has been trying to roll over in her sleep. This has made me nervous because her arms are all wrapped up and I worry that if she rolls over she will suffocate herself because she won't have her arms free to move around. At her 4 month appointment I asked the Doctor about this and she suggested slowly weaning our little Burrito from her swaddle.

The first week we left one arm out to see how she would tolerate that. SUCCESS!!! She continued sleeping ALL night and only woke herself up once or twice by hitting herself in the face. Luckily for us she fell back asleep within a minute or two after she clonked herself.

After about a week of one arm out we decided it was time for both arms. Much to our surprise that has been a success so far too. The only difference that we really have noticed is it has made it a little harder at night for Cami to fall asleep because she knocks her paci out of her mouth with her hands now and we have to replace it a few times before she is finally out for the night.

I think in another week Cami will be completely weaned from the swaddle. I can't believe what a big girl she is now! Where did my little Burrito go?!?

All Wired Up

Yesterday Cambria and I went for her monthly Cardiologist appointment for her SVT and this is how we came home. She is on a holter monitor for 24 hours in order for her Cardiologist to track her heart rate for 24 hours continuously to make sure she doesn't have any SVT episodes without us being aware of them. Although the monitor looks awfully uncomfortable, Cami surprisingly doesn't seem to mind it one bit!

Her appointment went great and we only got good news - PRAISE GOD!

They did an echocardiogram (the last one she had was in the hospital when she was first diagnosed with SVT) to make sure that structurally everything was normal and that there were no holes, structural defects or anything else that would cause heart problems. All checked out perfect according to the Doctor. She even said that when looking at the images that one would never know Cami ever had any type of problem with her heart.

They also did an EKG (they do one of these every time we go to the Cardiologist) and that came back perfectly too. Last time we went her heart rate was a little on the slow side and so we had to adjust her medications - not today! Today her heart rate looked SO good!

After talking with the Doctor it was decided that Cami is ready to come off of one of her heart medications (she is currently on 2). The Doctor said that she no longer needs to take her daily doses of Propranolol to lower her heart rate because she's doing so well and they are confident that her heart rate will stay normal now with taking her off of this medicine. We are slowly weaning her off of it and by Saturday evening she will only be on 1 heart medication. THANK GOD!

We continue to give her the other heart medication for now because it prevents future SVT episodes and although she has gone almost 4 months with no episodes now, the Dr. isn't ready yet to take her off of all medications. I am okay with this - I don't want to rush anything and have her end up back in the hospital. The Doctor seemed hopeful that between 9 months and 1 year we will be able to totally get her off of everything and never ever have to worry about SVT again in her life!!!

All in all it was a great appointment with great news. I could not be more thankful and proud of my little fighter. She sure has been through a lot in her 4 months on this earth and she's pulling through it as if it is easy as pie. The day we get off all heart medications we are going to have a BIG celebration!!