One year ago today, Baby D. underwent open heart surgery to fix not one, but two holes in his tiny heart. When he arrived in January 2014, he was four months old and so very little… the size of a newborn. We thought it was due to severe malnutrition but soon discovered it was due to congenital heart defects that no one knew about. We were told he would need open heart surgery but at the time, he was too young and small. When he turned six months old, we were able to schedule the surgery for the next month. With the help of several dedicated volunteers (Kaley, Linnea, Elizabeth, Melanie, and Katrina to name a few), he had isolated, one-on-one care before, during, and after his surgery.
A year later, we can say that he has made a complete recovery! He is now 19 months old and absolutely WILD. He has more energy than I have ever seen in a baby and we joke that it is because he was so weak for so long that he is making up for lost time! His favorite hobby is beating up on the younger babies, and he's become quite the agressive little thing too. He LOVES to eat but hates to chew. As you can tell from his picture though, he doesn't miss a meal… He's a chunk! He still isn't talking, and from the time he was a little baby, he has screeched and squealed and screamed to make his opinions known. He still does it but now adds some finger-pointing too! Health-wise, he is one of our healthiest babies! When colds are passed around, he rarely gets them. People who come to Casa de Amor and don't know about his heart surgery are always shocked to learn about it as you would never know it by looking at him (except for seeing his scar). He doesn't seem like he had such a tough start to life. He has so many little quirks and is just an overall weird and funny kid!
So far, it's still unclear what will happen in D.'s future. Papers have not yet been processed for his adoption but we're not sure that a family reinsertion will take place either. Keep him in your prayers, that a decision is made quickly and he will one day live with his forever family!
No comments:
Post a Comment