Monthly Archives: January 2005

Cardiologist Appointment

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Olivia had her followup appointment with Dr. Heller today.  It went EXTREMELY well, as always!

Olivia is still weighing in at 14 lbs, 13 oz.  They measured her but I didn’t get that written down.  Her EKG looked great.

We met first with an adult cardiologist who was visiting the practice. He’s starting to get some single ventricle patients so he was visiting to learn the anatomy, etc.  It made us happy to know that the single ventricles are growing to the point that they have to leave the pediatric groups!

Olivia’s oxygen level was 90%! She’s now big enough to wear the finger monitor versus the infant toe monitor which drives Olivia crazy!

They also did an ultrasound and Olivia’s valve looks amazingly great. She used to have “some” leakage (back flow) and now it’s “miniscule”.  So Olivia no longer needs to take her captopril medication!  So we’re down to Amoxicillan and aspirin for medications.

Dr. Heller called Olivia her star patient (again) and called her the poster child!

We asked about Olivia’s bump on her chest. Where the chest bone comes together she has a bump which apparently is very common in heart kids and actually Olivia’s is not as pronounced as others.

We also asked about taking Olivia on vacation. Arnie and I are aching (ok, *I am*) to take Olivia and Maddie to Disney World. For me, what kept me going throughout the surgeries and hospital stays was the thought that one day Olivia would be healthy enough to go to Disney World and meet Mickey Mouse.  Well, Dr. Heller said “GO FOR IT!” and the only restriction is that Olivia cannot ride Splash Mountain. *LOL*

So we’re going to Disney World in May!!!

Our next appointment is not until June 2 at 9AM.

Happy New Year

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Happy New Year!

Once again, it’s been a long time since I’ve updated!  No news is good news for the Belfonti’s and we’re happy to be living a normal life again.

Olivia had her flu shot on her 6 month birthday, which was Wednesday.  She weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz! One ounce shy of doubling her birth weight. She’s in the 25th percentile but Dr. Friedman isn’t concerned because she looks great.  For those who like to keep track – in 29 days she gained 1 lb, 3 oz.  Definitely not too shabby for a heart baby!

Olivia is sitting up unassisted!  She still wobbles when reaching for items out of her reach and tumbles over but if she’s just sitting – she does a fantastic job!

We’re still waking up between one and two times a night.  Dr. Friedman recommended a book for us to read and suggested we start giving her watered down formula when she does wake up at night to try and convince her body that nighttime is not for food but for sleep.

Olivia is still wearing 3-6 month clothing and has grown out of the size 1-2 pampers and now is wearing the size 2’s.  She’s our chunky monkey with cheeks that were made for kissing 🙂

I forgot to mention this before, but I sent another picture and letter to Dr. Roque at UCONN Medical Center.  It wasn’t mean this time around, I just bragged about how wonderful Olivia is doing.  It was sent right around Christmas, after her Glenn.

Monday is Olivia’s synagis shot and I’ll update again after that VNA appointment.