Heart Update

This summer was filled with lots of different appointments.  I tried to schedule everything before school started up again to make life a little easier: well-child checks, dentist, orthodontist, eye doc.  But Matt's cardiologist couldn't get us in for a check up until today.  So, here it is the end of the third week of school and already Matt has missed half a day for a doctor's appointment.  Oh wait, I nearly forgot last week when I had to check him out early to get a cast on his arm.  Man.  There's nuthin like starting the year off just right, eh?

Matt and Josh on Matt's baptism day
July 2012

Today's appointment actually went pretty well.  If you don't remember, Matthew has Pulmonary Atresia and there's a pretty descriptive post about it you can find HERE.  Last summer Matt had an MRI and you can relive that adventure HERE and HERE.

First we had to do the obligatory EKG.  Matt got all the stickers all over his torso.  When the nurse went to pull them off, they all stuck a LOT.  Poor boy was stuck in that place between laughing at the absurdity of the situation and crying out in pain.  Luckily, he chose to laugh and the nurse said, "Just wait until you have your 'man hair.'"  I can only imagine how much more the EKG stickers will hurt in ten or fifteen years.  Yikes.

We went into the echocardiogram room and Matt and Millie happily watched Over the Hedge while I tried my best to read the echo myself.  Yeah.  That didn't happen.  I've seen many of those echoes over the years and still have no idea how to know what's going on.  I always come out of that room determined to go back to school to become an echo tech so I can be much less ignorant than I am.  Maybe when I have all the kids in school.  Eh, probably not, but it's a nice thought.

The doc came in with a medical student.  I love it when the students come in.  Matt's heartbeat is so unique that it's kind of fun to watch for that look of, "Holy cow, what was that?" when they listen to his heart.

The final verdict came back that Matt's heart seems to be as good as it was ten months ago at his last check up.  The next step is for another MRI next summer.  His pulmonary valve has significant enough leakage that his right ventricle is at risk for enlarging too much and causing permanent damage so that will be evaluated after the MRI.  That information alone could cause Matt to need his next valve replacement.  Or if he becomes too sleepy and lethargic.  Otherwise his heart is good enough to avoid surgery until at least next summer.

Once again the doctor mentioned that they are beginning to use catheters in lieu of open heart surgery for valve replacements.  Matt could be a candidate for that, especially if we can get him to hit a growth spurt of two before the next replacement.  The doctor's practice has already been a part of 15 or 20 replacements with that method.  They try the catheter first and then go to open heart as a last resort.  I can't tell you the relief that is to me.  No one can ever tell me that miracles don't happen in this day and age.  The use of this procedure is proof enough to me!

Recent Videos

I realized recently that I've begun to fall into the stereotypical "lots of pictures of the older kids and hardly any of the younger kids" trap.

So, I've been trying to take more pictures but also make some videos of the kids, particularly of the littler girls.

Here are the latest in the series:

Millie is meditating.  (I love Emma's near-teenage comment of being in a "Nerd-fest".)

And....

Can you name that movie?

I tried to upload the one of Sarah laughing.  If you haven't seen it, I'll try to upload it again sometime.  It's worth seeing, but might be too big for Blogger.  Darn it.  

But these girls keep me laughing!

The Daily Prophet: Off To Hogwarts!

The Daily Prophet

First Years Hie To Hogwarts

On July 31, Hogwarts welcomed the next generation of First Year students.

The students were playing at the park when their invitations to Hogwarts arrived.  They were delivered by a particularly handsome wizard who drove his enchanted motorcycle to the park.  A few minutes later the students were picked up by the Knight Bus and brought to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies.

First stop, Gringotts Bank.

The goblin that greeted them was dreadfully scary.

Next, they picked up their wizard robes from Madame Malkin's shop.

Finally, they stopped by Ollivander's Wand Shop to pick out their very own custom made wand.  They met Mr Ollivander's apprentice Rufus Ignacio Podmoore (or RIP as we call him) and had to try and test their wands to be sure they had the right one.  After all, "it's really the wand the chooses the wizard, of course."

After they got all their supplies, the students headed for Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross and boarded the Hogwarts Express.

(There's no photo of the Hogwarts Express, but many Muggles refer to it as a Ford F250.)

They rode the train and finally arrived at Hogwarts!

Then the fun really began.  The Sorting Ceremony placed the students in their new Houses.

Somehow, a strange phenomenon occurred and all the new First Years were sorted into Gryffindor.  The Gryffindors' received their House Badge and gold and maroon scarves.

Then it was time for the first day of school.  The first class was Potions.

Professor Snape was absent, having been accused to terrifying too many First Years in years past.  So Tonks the Auror filled in, just as she had during the Sorting Ceremony and at Madame Malkin's Robe Shop.

The students were all shown how to make the Felix Felicis potion.  Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom had previously come and assisted Tonks in making the potion.  The clear, bubbling liquid was meant to turn gold.  It worked for everyone, but Emma, whose liquid turned green and must have been prepared by Neville.  Luckily, she didn't die when she drank it!

 The also learned how to take Mandrake root powder and make the Mandrake Restorative Draught.  Although the Mandrake root powder was white and the students added yellow dandelion powder, the draught itself turned to a purple state.

Cameras are not allowed in the Divination room, but the students headed up to the attic where they learned to read their futures.  Using unicorn milk, different colors of tea, and dragon saliva the students read their fortunes and many discovered apple shapes, signifying great feats of education in their near futures.

The final course of the day sent the students back to the lower levels of Hogwarts for their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Professor "Mad-Eye" Moody taught the Gryffindors how to identify real dragon saliva from fake dragon saliva, a real problem in some areas of the world.  He showed them that rubbing the dried saliva on his fingers created smoke.

Afterwards, they went outside to learn what happens when you set Thestrel dung on fire.  The photographer was unable to capture that moment on film.

Finally, it was time to head to Hogsmead for a trip to Honeydukes Sweet Shop for lots of treats, The Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks for butterbeer, and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for Muggle magic tricks.

The day ended in the Great Hall with a feast and a private showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers' Stone.

The house elves had quite a task of cleaning to do after all was said and done.  But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and are ready for the upcoming school year.



Where I got my ideas:

• Butterbeer labels
• Signs and Mandrake Restorative Draught
• Chocolate Frogs
• Gryffindor Scarves
• Wands
• Felix Felicis Draught
• Detect Real Dragon Saliva
• Divination Unicorn Milk 
• Gryffindor Badges
• Wizard robes: I can't find the link I used but I took 2XL men's black t-shirts, cut them down the front and put a piece of Velcro on the collar to keep the top closed.
• Sorting Hat: my awesome sister made that one.  I have no idea how she did it, which is why I asked her to do it in the first place.
• Acid pops: Blow Pops which were wet and dipped in Pop Rocks.
• Every Flavor Beans: Just a bunch of Jelly Bellies.
• Gringotts money: I used buttons and spray painted them gold.  I found some little bags at Walmart in the baby shower section.
• Invitations: I printed nearly word for word the letter Harry received in the first book on some parchment.  The Hogwarts symbol I found online.
• Muggle magic: Kits I found at the dollar store.

Dramaland, The Story

Once upon a time in a land not too far away, lived a woman named.... oh, for the sake of convenience let's call her .... Shelly.

Shelly was a mother with five kids.  Her children were good kids.  In fact, sometimes she'd get compliments from complete strangers over their wonderful behavior.

But sometimes something strange would happen.  It was a phenomenon that Shelly could never quite explain.

Sometimes, without warning, Shelly and her children would suddenly transport from their current location to a place she often called Dramaland.  All of their surroundings would remain the same.  The trees were still the same.  The weather was still the same.  The people were still the same.  But one thing was different.  One thing was very much not the same.

The drama.

The family drove down the street.  It seemed to be a typical evening.  The summer sun set behind them as they made their way home.  All seemed normal.  Until.... "Mom!" screamed a voice from the back row of the van, "that truck didn't turn on his blinker when he went to pass us!"

Oh no, thought Shelly, here we go.  Dramaland.

"They should get a ticket!" yelled Kid One.

"They should be arrested!" hollered Kid Two.

The Dramaland Police Force suddenly appeared out of nowhere equipped with their Tasers and beanbag shotguns to take down the criminal who didn't signal as he passed our vehicle.

And then all was back to normal.

A little while later, Shelly sat in her living room as Kid Three came running into the room.  "Mom!  Mom!" he yelled.  "She broke it!"  Shelly looked quickly at her son to discover what happened.  But before she could, she felt a little spin in the air around her as the TV continued to blare and Kid Five's baby swing continued to slightly rock.

Not again, Shelly thought.  Dramaland.

She saw the Lego car in Kid Three's right hand and a single Lego piece in his left.  Although Kid Four accidentally stepped on the car that had been left in the middle of the floor, all of the Legos in the house became Dramaland Legos and they disintegrated into fine bits of plastic that swept up into a colorful gust of wind and blew out the door only to be lost forever.

 Dinnertime finally arrived and Shelly set out the food for the children.  Kid Four reached out and grabbed a hot dog.  A siren-loud wail erupted from her.  "Mom! It too hot!"  She threw her head back and emitted another scream, calling upon the Powers of Dramaland.

It's going to happen, Shelly thought.  Dramaland is going to kill someone.  Someone is finally just going to explode.


And Shelly did.

Josh and the Croc

I was flipping through the pictures on my phone and found one that needs to be documented.

On our anniversary we went to Scottsdale for the evening.  We stopped at Outback Steakhouse for dinner, went to the movie theater to watch The Avengers, and then stayed at a hotel.  Of course, the next day we went to the hospital and had a baby, but that's a different story.

We went to the restaurant and the hostess took us to a booth.  I asked Josh which side of the table he wanted to sit on and he said, "I know I can't sit and look up at that thing on the wall behind you."  I looked up at the wall and saw the crocodile.  Josh was shocked that I hadn't noticed it sooner.  But what do I care if there's a stuffed croc on the wall?

Unfortunately for Josh, he did care.

My husband is incredible.  He's a big, strong stud that makes me laugh and often brings me flowers.  But if he has any weakness it is this.... he's afraid of crocodiles.  

He thought he would be okay sitting with his back to the croc on the wall.  But almost immediately he began squirming.  The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as his imagination convinced him that the stuffed wall ornament was about to crawl down onto his back.

I don't want to make light of Josh's fear.  I know it's real.  He can't even watch crocodiles snapping on TV.  But he's a good daddy.  Once when Abby was about a year old she sat on his lap while they watched television together and a crocodile snapped at the TV camera.  Josh nearly jumped off the couch, but before the croc could attack from the TV, he held Abby up over his head to protect her from it.  See?  Good daddy.

I find this fear cute and completely endearing.

I love Josh.  

And I love that we had to move tables within about two minutes of attempting to sit under the crocodile on the wall.  

Bless My Heart

There's this new phenomenon I've begun to experience.  My heart has been blessed.  A lot.  And not just by my children, but by total strangers.  The conversation usually goes something like this....

Stranger: Oh, your baby is so cute!  Is she your first?
Me: No, my fifth.
Stranger: Your fifth???  Bless your heart.

Sometimes I feel obligated to expound on this.  Yes, I have five kids.  Yes, by today's standards that's a big family.  Yes, we meant to.

A few weeks ago my mom helped me out by taking the four big kids to her house (two and a half hours away) and I spent five days with just Sarah (Josh was working each of those nights so I didn't see him for more than an hour each day).

I love my sweet baby Sarah.  She's so wonderful to be with and snuggle with.  She's just a great baby and I love that she's a part of our family.

But I discovered something.  I missed the chaos of my big family.  The quiet was so peaceful, but a bit creepy.  I have not had many moments of peace and quiet in my home.  And so it's no wonder I like having lots of people around.

I grew up with two sisters and two brothers.  I often had my friends over throughout high school and beyond.  The first apartment I ever moved into I shared with five other girls.  Josh and I lived in college housing... twice.  My major required a lot of people working together, often yelling and trying to out-do each other.

Our apartment window for Homecoming 2007.

And now I have four daughters and a son.  And we're pretty sure we're not done yet.

So thank you, strangers, for blessing my heart.  I am blessed.  And I'm glad for it.

Introducing.....

Sarah Rebekah Louise

It's been nearly a week since our world has expanded with utter perfection.  So it's definitely time for me to update the blog and get this angel's pictures out there for all to see.

We went to the hospital at the butt-crack of dawn (5:30 am) and began the wait.

Finally I got wheeled back to the OR and the fun began.  The nurses were impressed with the fact that Sarah was Baby 5.  In fact, I've spent the last five days telling people that she's not our first but our fifth and then listening to them mutter under their breaths, "Bless your heart!"

I think if they could've gotten away with it, the nurses would've had a pool going for Sarah's weight.  I told them that our other kids ranged from 7 lbs 9 oz to 8 lbs 4 oz.  So someone asked me what I thought she'd be.  I guessed the high 7's and then added, "But I swear she feels like she's 10 lbs!"  They all laughed and pretty soon Sarah made her debut into the world.

Matt says she looks like a zombie baby.

The doctor laughed as she announced that she thought Sarah was 8 lbs.  The baby team said they thought she was at least 8 lbs.  So when the announcement of her weight was made I thought they were all joking.  Bu they weren't.  Our Sweet Sarah weighed in at 9 lbs 0.1 oz and 20 3/4".

It was probably right around this point of the day that the reality of Sarah began to sink in.  For nearly two years I've struggled with actually getting a baby and keeping her.  But my pregnancy went smoothly, her birth went smoothly, and she's so wonderful that I couldn't be happier.

Josh and my mom convinced me to stay in the hospital for the full four days my insurance covered so I could relax and recover as much as possible.  Recovering from a third c-section is hard work and I'm so glad I stayed.  I got to come home on Mother's Day and spent the day with my feet up (literally.... they are swollen bigger than ever) and got to spend the day with my beautiful family and even my mom.

I couldn't be happier.  I love all my children and watching the miracle of life reminds me of how many blessings I truly have.  I'm hoping this moment of rejuvenation lasts for a while!

Birth Day and Personalities

It's very late at night, but sometimes the call to write won't wait.

As of this moment, the countdown to Baby is at 10 days.  A week and a half and our Sweet Sarah will make her way into the world.

Of course, she's laying sideways, it's fricken hot outside causing me to sweat profusely, I can't wear shoes because my feet are too swollen, and my temper-fuse has been shortened by another six inches.

But other than that, I'm so excited to see this baby.  I can't help but think of Emma, Abby, Matthew, and Millie as they all came into the world.  I've decided that the day the child is born indicates what the child is going to be like.

Let me give you a few (four) examples....

Emma

Emma was born six days late.  I was anxious for her to come, but a little relieved she didn't show up in the middle of the blizzard that hit us four days after her due date.  I was so worried about the road conditions, so I begged Josh to stay home with me the day after the blizzard.  We lived in the mountains, around 9000 feet in elevation on back roads behind Pikes Peak, so you can understand why I was a bit paranoid about the whole road-conditions-thing.  However, April 12th came and we lazily laid in bed talking about our OB appointment scheduled for that afternoon.  We were going to need to decide what day we wanted to schedule an induction since I was so late.  We both fell back asleep... until my water broke.  Josh and I went outside to get in the car when we realized that it was still buried from the blizzard two days ago.  I laughed as I held my knees together, trying to keep my broken water from making a huge mess so I could help dig the car out of the snow.  Luckily, a neighbor heard of our plight, took pity, and plowed the driveway for us.  Nine hours later, Emma graced us with her presence.

Emma and me

How does this equate to Emma today?  The girl has no problem being late.  To anything.  The day we left for Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera, she slept until it was nearly time for us to be out the door.  She loves the snow and the mountains.  It seems to take her forever to get things done, but she does them and she does them well.

Abby, however, was a different story.

Abby

On her due date (at 3am) my water broke.  Josh was at work so I called him to come home and take me to the hospital.  We lived in the same mountainous area, but a little further from the hospital.  I was a little worried when Josh came home and took a shower before driving me down the mountain.  We got to the Springs and I was already dilated to a 5.  Things progressed fairly quickly over the next few hours until 10am when they just stopped.  My OB was called to assist in a c-section and since I wasn't going anywhere he went to help.  Suddenly, Abby was coming.  She was coming and there was no stopping her.  We called for the nurse who called for the doc, but he was still in the OR.  Instead, she grabbed some kid from the hallway and put gloves on him.  I swear he looked like a kid, maybe he was an intern.  Or maybe a kid.  I don't know.  He didn't even get a chance to put his fingers in the glove properly before he began trying to keep Abby from falling out and onto the floor.  Everyone kept yelling for me to not push.  Hello?  Have you ever had a baby insist on being born before?  There was no stopping her!  Their pleas of, "Don't push, don't push!" were answered with my response of, "I can't help it, I can't help it!"  Luckily, my doctor did make it just in time to catch her.

Abby and me

And that was Abby.

And it still is Abby.  She's up on time every morning.  I don't think she knows how to sleep in.  She can be ready for anything on a moment's notice.  But more apparent and obvious is Abby's, how should I say it?, insistence on doing things the way she believes they should be done.  Obstinate, some might say.  Not me, of course, but other people might.

Matt was yet again a different story.

Matt

I was induced a week earlier to ensure he'd be born in Denver where his cardiologist could have immediate access to him after birth.  But the cord was wrapped around his body and every contraction strangled him.  I was rushed into an emergency c-section.  Unfortunately, the cord was so tight the doctor couldn't cut it, so he stuffed Matt back inside, turned him around to loosen the cord, and pulled him out a second time.  Matt was flat-lined and the OB handed him off to the NICU team saying, "Jump start this baby."  It took a while but Matt recovered and went on to spend 16 days in the NICU, undergoing two heart procedures to begin addressing his heart problems.

Matt and me (this was the closest I could be to him the first time I really got to see him)

Today, Matt has undergone more stress and fearful conditions than anyone else in our family, but he takes them in stride.  He hangs in there.  He does what needs to be done, but happily accepts the help of others around him.  He's sweet and laid back, regardless of the conditions around him which has its good and bad points.

Millie

Millie was a planned c-section.  I waddled down the hallway and hopped up on the bed in the OR.  Within a few minutes of medications all in place and Josh entering the OR, Millie was born and all was well.  No drama.  No blizzards, no boy-doctors from the hallway, no blood transfusions for me (Matt's birth was harrowing for him AND me).  Just a baby being born three days before Christmas on a day in Montana where the high temperature for the day was -5*.

Millie and me

Like her brother, Millie's a bit laid back.  She has no real concerns, even though she is only 3.  She will happily sit still and snuggle with me, dance around and sing, or color and draw pictures for hours.  Singing calms the soul, and Millie loves to sing.

This all makes me wonder: how will Birth Day go for Sarah?  Will we be able to gauge this little girl's personality on the hour(s) involved in her birth?  Hmm... I guess we'll see in ten days.