Q & A

Gabe has had lots of visitors the past week. He has met Grandparents, friends, and neighbors. We have been getting a couple questions:

Does he really have Down Syndrome because I can't tell?
Yes, he does. This was confirmed by amnio when I was still pregnant. There are features that appear subtle now and as he grows, they may become more noticeable...we don't know yet. Looking at his cute little face, you can't tell much, only with certain expressions. He does have smaller ears, a crease on the palm of his hands, a larger gap between his big and second toes, and a little extra skin along his neck. The geneticist at the hospital told us his tone and palate are very good which will hopefully be a good indicator of speach and motor skills. He is a baby and looks like Justin and myself first and foremost, but there are little traits of Down Syndrome if you look for them.

When will they do the heart surgery?
We're still not sure. The goal is still 4-7 months old. They want him to be as big as possible, while still healthy, before the surgery. The doctors and us will look for signs such as decrease feeding, extra tired, a little sweaty, etc. to tell us that the heart is under some stress and it is time for the surgery. Gabe will not be in pain when showing these signs of "stress". With his heart condition, the oxygenated blood and deoxygenated blood in his heart mix together and go out to the body instead of just the oxygenated blood going out to the body. This means that his heart is working overtime. Kinda like he's running a marathon. This is why there is so much emphasis on his feedings and bulking him up. The outcome for this type of surgery is very optimistic and lucky for us, Gabe is otherwise very healthy which is a good sign for quick recovery. We are lucky that Children's Hospital Cardiac Center is so close to us. Typically after the surgery, recovery is about a week to 10 days and he should bounce back very quickly and immediately begin to grow and thrive.

For now, it's just a waiting game and lots of doctors visits...in the mean time, we play with him alot. He's starting to have more episodes during the day of awake time when he does active play and tracks with his eyes and responds to our voices. He's so cute! He loves his little Baby Einstein gym and swing (thanks Becca, Rachel, Carrie, Andrea, and David).