Photos!...And some excuses

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

In my defense I've had a lot going on. It's football season, so we're away on the weekends a lot now. Brent and I also celebrated my 30th in Boston and Cape Cod. Then several days later, my neighbor friend and I threw our 2nd annual block party. And that doesn't include the photo shoots for Audrey I was obsessing about planning. Then next weekend, I'm co-hosting a twins baby shower at my house. And in the last month I've also had another echo...oh, and the month prior I was admitted into the hospital for 4 days with pneumonia. So yeah, just a tad busy.

But more on all of that in future posts.

One of the things I'm most excited about are the family photos I just had done. Aside from the random, drunken Christmas Eve photos I have with my family (see, you thought I was exaggerating), we haven't had any done since Brent's and my wedding 5 years ago (holy cow, it's been 5 years!). And now that we have Audrey, it was definitely time.

My friend Brooke with Brooke German Photography took them, and I love them.

Four generations shot (one that isn't in the hospital!):

Those are just a few of my favorites, but it really was hard to pick.

And a month earlier than that, we did some 7 month photos with Top Spot Photography.

It's shaping up to be a picture-heavy fall, and I couldn't be happier about it.

6 months

I don't know how Audrey is 6 months, but she is. Time is flying. She's 18 lb. 8 oz. and 27.25" tall – 90th percentile in both. Yep, she's my big girl.  :)

Happy 4th!

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th!

Aside from the pinwheel, Audrey was definitely not a fan of the day. She spent most of her day napping or being cranky.
 

I'm still working on removing the wallpaper in the hall bath. What I thought would be an easy task, turned into 3 times the challenge (aka: 3 layers of wallpaper). I'm finally on the last layer though, so the end is in sight!

Audrey picture time!

I can't believe how big she's gotten. She's now rolling and grabbing and always wants to be doing something.

Brent, Audrey and I also went up to Omaha several weekends ago to meet our new nephew, Marcos. I can't wait until they start playing together!

Third times a charm (another health update)

I had my third-opinion appointment yesterday, and let's just say it was a major success. This was my first visit to a cardiologist where I didn't cry afterward and then mope around for the rest of the day.

Dr. M specializes in pregnancy and the heart. This includes women with my condition (post-partum/peri-partum cardio myopathy) as well as women with previous heart conditions who want to get pregnant and post-partum heart care. He was extremely informative, and Brent and I felt extremely at ease with him.

He also gave me the fabulous news that he thought I was doing great (even if my heart's ejection fraction is still extremely low). He said the fact that I was feeling good and being active, spoke volumes...and the best thing for PPCM is medical therapy and time.

Starting last night, my "medical therapy" changed. I'm on a new beta blocker (one that won't lower my blood pressure), this way I'll be able to steadily increase my dosage later on. My ace inhibitor has been doubled, and then I'm on a new medicine as well.

I'm excited for the change, and once again have optimism in my journey, which is definitely the best medicine.

Featured!

I'm so thankful to tell my PPCM story on my friend Amanda's blog today. When I originally wrote my my journey for this blog, I kept it simple and stuck with the facts of what was happening to me. I'm honored to be able to rewrite my story, and most importantly, educate others about this pregnancy-induced form of congestive heart failure.


In other exciting news, Audrey's nursery was featured on Baby Lifestyles earlier this month.

PPCM breaking news!

A new study was done about PPCM and the findings are huge!

Here's the basics:
- PPCM is now confirmed to be a vascular disease (not enough blood vessels are produced for both mom and baby at the end of pregnancy, which puts too much stress on the heart)
- PPCM is more common in women with preeclampsia
- PPCM is more common with multiples
- PPCM is a 2-trigger step disease (the blood vessel issue is the first trigger, the second trigger is still a mystery).

I know this might not sound like a lot, but it is. Finding any sort of link between women with preeclampsia and PPCM is major. This means whenever a woman diagnosed with preeclampsia complains about not getting enough air or some other congestive heart failure symptom, doctors will actually consider PPCM as a possibility.

I wish I was given this consideration when I went to the ER the first time. Things could have been different.

And on that note...a health update.

I had my 3 month echo and it didn't go so great. My cardiologist wants me to get a pacemaker. I'm in the process of getting 2nd and 3rd opinions. My first appointment is next week.

I joined a PPCM support group on Facebook last month, and they have been both supportive and educational. They were all pretty concerned with the fast pace my doctor wants to go, because the "p" word typically doesn't come up until 10-12 months...since I am improving (it's just going at a snail pace).

If both doctors tell me a pacemaker is the way to go...then I will. The thought of a pacemaker used to really scare me, but the thought of death is even scarier – so a pacemaker doesn't sound too tragic anymore.