Baby Braden Petska: Big 2 Day Check-Up

All good things to report from our appointments :) Yesterday we arrived at CHW around 9:30am for Braden's echo. The worst part was the sedation....nasty meds to make him fall asleep. During the echo we were able to catch up with Dr. Ghanayem and talk with her for a bit. After the echo, we were given the thumbs by Dr. Cava that his heart looked great. There's still some minor tricuspid valve leakage, but that is expected with the anatomy of his heart right now. It did improve from his last echo, which was great news to hear. The doctors were very happy with the rest of the echo also. The overall function of his heart, all things considered, was excellent. His heart continues to grow and function the way they expect and want it to.

Today was a big testing day where we had to return to CHW. It was a Cognitive and Developmental Test. They ran him through a number of motor skill dexterity tests. Stacking blocks, lifting hoops, putting pegs in holes and other interesting things. The cognitive things were interesting too. He had to figure out how to get a bunny toy out of a clear box, get things by using sticks to pull things to him. Braden tested at the high end of average on the motor skills. If he would have taken more than two steps he would have surpassed average ratings (he still gets a little scared after taking a few steps and sits down)! The cognitive part he did very well and and scored in the above average range. He continues to impress everytime we go up to CHW. Yeah Braden!

On Monday we got to see one of Braden's favorite nurses, Melissa, who was in the PICU with her son Grayson (after having heart surgery himself). Melissa was Braden's nurse when she first came back from maternity leave. She was definitely a huge help answering a ton of "at-home-care" questions before we left CHW last year. We were also able to visit with our friends the Watson's and their daughter Maddison. We were able to deliver our very first Heart of Gold Charity gift basket to them . It was great to see them in such good spirits. After a week of surgery, Maddison is recovering very well. She is still having some heart rhythm issues and hoping that with time and prayer, it will improve. Please continue to keep our wonderful heart families in your prayers.

After the testing today we saw some more of Braden's favorite 4th floor nurses - Jenny and Jen (go figure) and got to hangout with Research Guru Lisa for a good part of the day. Braden passed out lots of cute pictures and business cards to them! Oh, and we almost forgot to mention a little visit from Gabe. His mom brought him and twin brother Jed by to say hello to us yesterday as they made their way to an appointment.

Heidi and Christian were in over the weekend and they took us to the Sox/Tigers game Saturday night. Excellent game with a nailbiter finish. It was a very quick visit, but it was great to see them and have Braden spend some quality time with his Auntie Heidi!

Braden's first pumpkin farm visits were over the weekend and snapped some fun photos: