And now we begin to give back

Well we are now officially three weeks post op. Mighty Max has been doing really well. He still seems a little fussy but he has come a long way in two weeks. He is drinking a ton of milk and already gained two pounds since his surgery. We saw Dr. Doshi last week and everything looks stable. She did mention that his tricuspid valve (valve that separates the right atrium from the right ventricle) was leaky but we are hoping that it improves over time as the ventricles adjust to their new configuration. Now we see what everyone meant when they said Max would need cardiac care his whole life. There are many things to watch for even after his full repair! During this visit we also brought Molly and Luke for complete cardiac work ups. Siblings of kids with a congenital heart defects have a 10% chance of having a heart defect so we wanted to rule everything out. The good news is they both have completely normal hearts! Our next cardiology appointment for Max is in three weeks which is the longest we have ever gone in between appointments since his en utero diagnosis back in January.

Happy 3 months to this little love

We are home and adjusting to life as a family of five but Brad and I already want to jump in the heart family world to make a difference. On Sunday September 18 we plan on walking in the OC Congenital Heart Walk. For local people we would love for you to join us on team Mighty Max for a mile walk around the Irvine Great Park. Sign up here. And for everyone else please consider donating to the cause. All the money raised goes directly to the Children's Heart Foundation and the Adult Congenital Heart Association. Donate here.

Our team shirts!

Also at the end of October we will be walking for the fourth time in the CHOC walk at Disneyland to raise money for Children's Hospital Orange County. We have always walked for Team Riley for our niece that contracted bacterial meningitis and continues to fight on but this year we are walking for team Courageous Cousins!