Late Tuesday--June 10

Today was a mixed bag, that's for sure. On the eve of when Clare is to restart her feeding, she was examined by a cardiologist (as you may have read was going to happen) and he told me that she has two heart defects--one called a PDA and another called a VSA. For the latter, he seemed unconcerned--preemies often have these defects and they usually resolve themselves. For the former, he said that she will probably always have it, and since it isn't as pronounced, would be more of a risk to fix than it would be to leave. Still, it does place her for future risk of stroke later in life. We were wondering if it was the cause of her edema, and the cardiologist said it wasn't.

A student of mine had the same conditon, but more pronounced, and had to have the open heart surgery to repair it. Here's to hoping that medicine continues its incredible advances and she can have some sort of laser cauterization to fix it, like daddy's vocal chord warts. In the meantime, dad and mom will certainly be encouraging her to participate in some sort of endurance sport if she can, to strengthen the heart and the rest of her cardiovascular system.



Clare met her maternal grandmother and great-grandfather today. Grandma Narda and Great Grandfather Phil happily greeted little Clare as the bundle of joy that she is. Narda held her while she slept and demonstrated good pacifier skills.