Hey baby girl! Can’t believe you are almost one! Seems like only yesterday I was spending a very pregnant Christmas roughly the size of a beluga whale. Everyone says you are so sweet! It always surprises me. Not because you aren’t sweet (because you really are) but because everyone you meet is so unanimous on that subject. So funny to have something like that so apparent in a baby. Without further ado, your
Milestones: You are taking steps when you hold your hands! You love doing that. Hard on our backs, but worth it. You are finally pulling up, but only onto momma if you want me to pick you up. Such a momma’s girl (and I love it!) You are still army crawling to get around, but the pediatrician says you might just skip regular crawling entirely, and that is ok. You are not cruising yet, but you stand well while holding onto something and have even let go and stood for a few seconds! You call us momma and dada, and shake your head “no” whenever we ask you a question. You’re still working on “yes.” You also are really good about stopping whatever you are doing if we tell you “no.” Much better than your sisters. You also can say “nana” for banana. Again, you are clearly a brains over brawn kind of baby. You just started pointing at things, and it is all kinds of cute. I love the pointing stage.
Likes: Food! You eat everything with gusto, and we just have to decide when to cut you off or you might just burst. You eat whatever we eat, which is much easier on me. Your Grandaddy! You light up whenever you see him and hold your arms out to him. You have got him wrapped around your little finger. You love your bottle and guzzle down your eight ounces at every feeding like a champ. You still love sucking your little thumb, and it is my telltale sign that you are sleepy. You love your sisters and I love that they make you laugh and keep you entertained in the car since you can see both of them from your car seat. You love your walker and wandering around the house getting into things you shouldn’t.
Dislikes: Still your car seat, but your entertaining sisters help with that. You hate baby food and get mad if we try to feed you some. You do not like it if your sisters take toys away from you and will army crawl right up to them and hit them or bite them to make your disapproval known. Feisty little thing! Fighting with your sisters at 11 months. Grrrrrrreat. And some days, you just need to be on momma’s hip all day to be happy. You do not like being held or rocked to sleep (unless it is Grandaddy holding you) and prefer to just be put to bed in your own crib.
In other news, we finally had her cardiologist appointment. Scott came with me, which was a great comfort to me. Wren hated all of the poking and prodding, even though the staff was so good and did their best. Toward the end of the three hours, she would whimper if she even caught a glimpse of a stethoscope. The results of the echo were a mixed bag. Her heart is showing no signs of stress and isn’t thickening or swelling. However, the narrowing in her pulmonary artery is getting a little worse. The doctor said it is certainly not bad enough to require immediate surgery, but they are going to need to continue to keep an eye on it. We will come back to have another echo done in six months. We saw a different doctor, and this one was more optimistic that it could get better and not require surgery. Well, at least he allowed for that possibility. He said if her heart does show signs of stress and she needs surgery, the older she is the better. We were happy to hear that she is healthy and thriving otherwise. She continues to gain weight well and is now 18 lbs and in the 33rd percentile. That is much better than the 5th, which was where she was when it became apparent I needed to wean her. I am hoping she can climb back to her original 50th! She is on the right track. We are so proud of our sweet little bird. She continues to thrive and beat the odds. She is such an inspiration to me. Please continue to pray for her! And I am so grateful for my husband. He is our rock and his strength and courage are unparalleled. I would be a mess without him.
I will leave you with a few shots of her two older sisters waiting patiently for me to unload the car. Toddler patience is so rare, I had to document it.
Ruth was disinclined to smile. Thank you for all of your prayers and support for little Wren! They mean the world to us.
Tales from the Mommy Trenches 
She’s so precious! I’m so glad you got a reprieve for 6 months and will be praying that the echo will show she won’t need surgery. My youngest had surgery at 2 months old for the placement of a G Tube and handing him over to the surgeon was so hard. I can’t imagine a heart surgery. But, my SIL is a doctor and she says that surgery has progressed a lot and heart surgery isn’t nearly as big of a deal as it used to be even a few years ago.
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Thank you! That makes me feel so much better:)
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I have been anxious to read about Wren’s condition. It’s great to hear that so far she’s doing well or even better. Will pray that she won’t need surgery after all, cause I can only imagine how hard that would be for you to go through!
Had “only” to endure a “House M.D.” like diagnosis marathon including a skin biopsy with my daughter in early spring and that was way enough for my heart. Went in with her to hold her hand and of course I passed out. Sort of. At least the doctor and the nurses had fun on my expense 😉
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Oh no! I hope you two are doing ok! I know, you try so hard to be courageous for them, but it is impossible! You wish it was you instead!
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she’s fine 🙂 they wanted to do a backup-check to finally confirm their diagnosis resp. rule every other possibility out.
the worst for her was being on quarantaine until they ruled the infectious stuff out. and not being allowed to go to kindergarten for almost a whole month.
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Well done to Wren, she is definitely a fighter it seems, clever too, Boeta still does not say yes, but okay is more or less the same, he did all the standing stuff similar, and gave his first steps a week before 1. All three of the girls are the cutest and we just pray with you that the little darling Wren will not need surgery, but she will overcome even that we are sure, with the love and support she enjoys from all her family.
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Thank you! Your words are always a great comfort to me.
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