In Good Hands

We are in Houston. We make the long trek back to Anchorage, tomorrow. Aubrey had her heart looked at Monday. That wasn't much fun, but went much faster than the last time we were down here. She was pretty groggy the rest of the day and slept a lot, but was back to herself today. We met with the doctor early this morning. His first comment to us was, "I think she has gotten a little better." He gave us a long explanation and showed us how things look better even though her septum has gotten thicker. She is responding favorably to the medicine she is taking. Her heart isn't working quite as hard to squeeze as it had been previously. He could even tell a diffenence in the sound of her murmur (I was quite impressed that he can remember what it sounded like before and distinguish between them.) We are to just keep doing what we are doing for now. She'll keep taking the same dose of the beta blocker three times per day and we don't need to do anything different unless she begins to develop symptoms (pale color, sweating, shortness of breath.) We will make an appointment with the Anchorage cardiologist for a month from now and then again in about 3 or 4 months. Then come back down in December. We are glad we came down, and also glad we don't have to come down for another 6 months (It's a really long trip.) We are so thankful to have family here and that Aubrey is seeing this doctor. We are in good hands.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our Anniversary.  We have been married 4 years now.  We are so blessed.  God uses trials for a good purpose.  Brian and I are, without a doubt, closer and our love is deeper as a result of walking this journey together, hurting together, hoping together, and seeking help and comfort from the Lord together. Praise God.  I couldn't imagine going through all of this with anyone else.  

Aubrey is officially into everything now!  She has proven to me this morning that I need to do a good job of baby-proofing the house with a new perspective on what all she can find.  As I was attempting to pack for our trip to Houston, I found 3 wads of paper in Aubrey's mouth, then a penny (about to go in,) and, worst of all, she was chewing on a safety pin!  AAAAH!  She is now able to go from a crawling position to a sitting position and to stand up in her crib.  She crawls now, but still prefers the army crawl when she is in a hurry.  She has 4 teeth (two on the bottom and two on the top) and I can see the next two top teeth ready to pop through.  She loves to eat, especially when she gets to feed herself.  She seems to like pretty much everything I give her.  She had a blast with her grandparents last week.  And I am sure she will be glad to be back with them tomorrow as we go down for her check up at Texas Children's Hospital.  Monday she has her echo and Tuesday she has her appointment with the doctor early in the morning.  Brian's high school reunion happens to be this same weekend, so that will be fun.

This picture is from Memorial weekend when we took Aubrey on her first backpacking trip.  She did great, but her mommy got cold and took her home VERY early in the morning!  

8 Months Old

Our little girl is 8 months old now.  She is doing great.  Right now she is enjoying a week with Grandma and Grandpa Buck visiting.  She had her first experience fishing and clam digging down on the Kenai Peninsula.  Her Daddy caught his first king salmon on the Anchor River.  She is all over the place--she has perfected the army crawl but only crawls on hands and knees a little.  I am sure it won't be long.  She is used to being with Mommy most of the time and is starting to have a little separation anxiety when she goes to the church nursery or if Mommy just gets too far away.

Brian and I had our hearts looked at and are relieved to know that we have nothing to worry about and no need to limit our activity or do anything different than we are doing.  The Cardiologist told Brian his heart was "above average" for his age as far as fitness, and he was a little disappointed that it wasn't "excellent!"  I had a tiny little hole that she said was really common (25% of the population has one) but she didn't expect me to ever have any kind of complication with that.  

We have a busy few weeks ahead.  After this trip with Grandparents, we have 4 or 5 days at home before we head down to Houston for Aubrey's next appointment at Texas Children's on June 24.  Then just before the 4th of July, Julie's parents and Aunt and Uncle arrive for a week or so.  Brian is working on a really big project at work that has him very busy all day long and won't be slowing down any time soon.  With all the soccer, softball, and visitors, it seems like a pretty normal summer for the Bucks!  Day to day we would still never know Aubrey has HCM except that we have to give her the medicine  3 times each day.  We found a new little device to put her medicine in that makes giving it to her really easy.  That is kind of a relief.  We will probably wait until that appointment on the 24 to update the blog again.  Thanks for reading!

One Month Update

We went to Minneapolis this weekend to witness our dear friend Robin marry Ernie Parker.  It was a very fun outdoor wedding.  They planned lots of family activities including a scavenger hunt and bocci ball!  The park was also an educational farm, so Aubrey got to see some cute farm animals.  The hotel had a nice pool with a HUGE hot tub.  Aubrey really enjoyed swimming.  And we all enjoyed the Mall of America!  

Yesterday, Aubrey had her first check up with at the cardiologist in Anchorage.  It has been one month since we were in Texas.  We were very encouraged by what the echo showed.  The pressure gradient was much lower than the first time she had her heart looked at in Alaska and the number was very consistent with what they found in Texas.  The bottom line is that the medicine seems to be helping and the disease hasn't progressed over this past month.  He also thought that her mitral valve regurgitation had decreased some (most likely because the pressure in her heart had gone down.)  That is another good thing.  The doctor increased the dosage of her medication since she seems to be tolerating it well so far.  We are very pleased.  

Aubrey Ella is growing and developing new skills so fast these days.  She is so close to crawling--she does get around pretty well using an army crawl technique.  She will get up on hands and knees and take a couple of steps before resorting to the belly crawl.  She stood up in her crib the other day--that was so exciting and scary all at once!  She LOVES to walk around if anyone will hold her hands.  She takes very deliberate steps and the faster we make her go, the bigger her steps get (not faster!)  She is so much fun.  We have been enjoying getting outside more.  She really likes playing in the grass.  She is up to 27.5 inches tall and weighs 17 lbs.  She fed herself some graham crackers yesterday like a pro!  

We are enjoying our time together as a family so much these days.  We are doing well and constantly remind each other to keep trusting the Lord.  We have many unknowns in our future--I guess the future is always unknown, but ours is different from the plans we had imagined so it feels a little scarier at times.  We have a lot going on for the next couple of months.  Grandma and Grandpa Buck come to visit for the first part of June and Grandma and Grandpa Krause come at the beginning of July along with Julie's Aunt and Uncle.  Our next appointment in Texas is in a month so we'll be traveling again very soon.  Our softball season has begun and we are also organizing a soccer team that is starting soon.  On top of all of our activities and visitors, Brian is very busy at work and will soon be traveling more for that.   Thank you for taking time to read and catch up with what is going on with us.  

"Ma Ma!"

Aubrey made my Mother's Day!  She started saying "Ma Ma" a couple of nights ago.  We even were able to capture the instant replay on video.  We had a great Mother's Day weekend in Girdwood.  

Spring Time

Life is good.  We are enjoying long days and warmer weather.  Aubrey and I try and get out each day for a jog, walk or bike ride as long as the weather holds.  There are finally buds on the trees and even little bits of green grass here and there.  Aubrey is on the verge of crawling--she gets up on her hands and knees and rocks and occasionally takes a step or two forward.  She can now scoot on her belly towards whatever she wants (usually a phone or paper.)  If we hold her hands she loves to walk around the room.  Her steps are huge for such tiny legs and very deliberate.  Brian and I are both enjoying her so much these days.  

Brian wants me to mention a little "incident" we had last week.  We paged the cardiologist because we thought Aubrey had a seizure or something.  What happened was that we were playing and I laid her on the floor next to Brian.  All of a sudden, she started flailing her arms and legs and shaking her head back and forth for a couple of seconds.  I scooped her up and all of a sudden a bunch of yellow snot came out her nostrils.  Apparently what happened was that the snot completely plugged her nose for a moment (babies can't breathe through their mouths.)  It scared us all.  

Brian and I are having our hearts echoed on Thursday to see if either of us has HCM.  We won't find out the results until Monday when we talk to the cardiologist.  Aubrey's next appointment is later this month in Alaska.  The cardiologist here will echo her heart.  June 23 and 24 we have appointments back at Texas Children's.  We have just connected with a family in Texas whose son has a similar diagnosis.  We are really looking forward to learning more from them and having a connection with someone who can really relate to what we are facing.  

A Tooth!

Yesterday we noticed Aubrey is finally cutting a tooth!  People have been telling me she is teething for months and it is finally true!  She doesn't seem to be too bothered by it.  She has been drooling a lot for a few months now, so that isn't really much different either.  We discovered that a really fun new toy is the clear plastic cups they give you on the airplane.  It was double fun for us because we can watch her mouth as she chews and sucks on it.  We thought we saw the beginning of a tooth through the plastic on Friday and then yesterday I felt her gums and there was definitely a sharp little nub.  Guess we'll have to start brushing her tooth soon!