January 6, 2010

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:20 AM, EST

You are an angel without wings
You are a princess without a crown
You are a star that has fallen down
And I'm happy
Little miracle child
Little gift from God
Little sister of mine

Avonlea (11yo) is working on a song for Geneva and has started with the lyrics above.

Happy 6 month birthday Geneva!!! I can't believe it's been only six short months ago that she was born and yet it seems as though she's been with us forever. Thank you Lord for our time together!

Geneva continues to grow and is close to the 50% for weight and 75% for height! We have so many praises. Her left ventricle looks great and is about the same size as the right. Her aortic arch repair looks good. There doesn't appear to be any scar tissue causing issues. Her pleural effusion hasn't returned. Her mitral valve is still on the small side but is growing.

My prayers are for continued health and growth and that her aortic valve will grow and surprise everyone so much that there will be no explanation for her healing but to give glory to God! I know He can do great things but I also know He has a plan and it may not be the same as mine. If I begin to think too much about the future, I find myself at times getting anxious and I continually have to run to Him to find my comfort and peace. The thought of my doll having to endure another, and more complicated surgery, tears me apart so I am praying and petitioning the Lord that when we go back to her cardiologist in February, her valve will measure at least a 9. Harry and I will be looking into and asking about various options if she does need a Ross-Konno procedure so we can narrow down our decision should it be a possibility.

I'm sorry that we don't have more recent pictures. I've tried loading some but the file sizes are too large and I don't know how to make them smaller. Feel free to email me if you know how to do this. :-) I'm technically challenged. I would love for y'all to see how much she's grown.

Geneva now loves to bite me while she is nursing and see my reaction, blow raspberries, roll over from front to back and vice versa, try to combat crawl and laugh. I love the way she watches my lips and furrows her brow and thinks so intently about how my lips are moving and forming words and sounds. I can't take a drink of water without her trying to grab my cup. We've found that because of the extra skin on the back of her neck, she can't wear some things her size that need to be buttoned and has to use a larger size bib. She did lose a spot of hair in the back and it's coming in a much lighter color and very coarse texture. Before my mother passed away, she told me my hair was the same way and I was blonde for several years.

As I go through some seed catalogs, I dream about taking Geneva out to the garden next year and having her helping me plant the following year. Weston loved to go out to the garden and get the snow peas and cherry tomatoes right off the vines and eat them like candy.

Thank you for the continued words of encouragement and for prayers. Please continue to lift us up and ask for complete and total healing for Geneva.

Much love,
Stephanie and family