Seraph visit - happy :)

Seraph looks much better without the lung-tube.  Her voice is soft, but sweet.  Her vocal chords are out of practise, but not damaged.

Her eyes are pretty glossy.  She has lots of healing to do.  She's breathing better enough to keep the tube out, but they're watching her closely.  She's on the high-flow oxygen.  They'll ween her off it slowly and then she'll be home.

We missed having her home at Thanksgiving.  She will be home for Christmas.  She wiggled and squirmed the whole time we were there.  and the very best part--we got to hold her!!  Haqon sang her songs and she settled right down.

Picture: me and Angel

...was just playing with my camera phone.  I'll try to get a better comparison picture of Angel for ya in a couple days ;)

Seraph's House

Bear: Are we going to Seraph's house today?

Seraph Extubated :)

They took out the tube that went down her throat and into her lungs.  She's breathing too rapidly, but they're going to give it 24 hours to see if her breathing rate settles down.  The more worn out she gets...the faster her breathing rate gets.  They might have to put the tube back in.  

but hopefully...hopefully she's done with it.  She hates that tube.  Now that it's out, her voice box is working again and she can suck on her binky :)  She's on high flow oxygen.  She still has a lot of recovery to do before she can come home, but taking the tube out is a huge step in the right direction.

Mommy is happy :)

Happy Birthday, Delightful Finch :)

We had a delightful day centered around our sweet Finch.  We're so happy that she's in our family.  She is sooooo independent!

Today, the cake was topped with miniature marshmallows.  Every time we brought the cake close enough for her to blow out the candles, she grabbed a handful of marshmallows and stuffed them in her mouth!  

We opened presents and played at the park until our noses were too cold.

It's been a crazy 2 years.  We were still living downtown when she was born....in a 1 bedroom house.  We moved into our current home just before her first birthday.  At her first party, we didn't even have our furniture moved in yet.

She was born with really dark hair and red cheeks.  The first day Strong Bear met her, he only spared her a glance before finding mommy and then playing with the hospital drawers.  Now Bear doesn't go anywhere without saying, "Finch, come on!" or asking "Where's Finch" when she's taking her nap.

Beautiful Rabbit treats her like a princess.  She can do no wrong! (except that she doesn't give good presents yet!) Lately, Rabbit lets Finch wear some of her shirts as dresses.

Finch's favorite song is "Can't Stop" - RHCP.  She runs and twirls to dance...and pats her tummy during the start.  She loves reading books.  She likes Dora and counting books.  She's an excellent mimic; addicted to her Binky; willing to be put in her crib for naps and bedtime; loves to pat the twins heads and give them their bottles/Binkies; finally willing to let us hold her hand now that she saw her cousin, Butterfly, holding her mom's hand. She's finally tall enough to open (and lock!) doors. She'll try any food as long as you say "mmmmm, yummy" when you present it to her.  She likes showers and baths. When I put her hair up, she says "all done, all done, all done" cuz she wants it to be over.

She gives sweet, careful kisses. She has a very kind heart.  She has to find out why someone is sad and make sure they're going to be OK.  She sometimes pretends she doesn't understand what you're saying so she won't have to clean up a mess or give up some cookies.

Yesterday we went for a walk around the lake.  Finch and Bear were throwing pebbles into the lake.  It was time to go.  After many warnings, I finally said, "OK, mommy's leaving now...you'd better run if you want to catch up.  Bye bye."  Bear came running - almost ready to cry, "wait for me, wait for me!" Finch waved and said, "Bye bye" and turned away.  She picked up 2 more rocks to throw in the lake.  Bear hesitated.  ...and ran back to play with her.  bah...I had to go scoop her up and dump her in the stroller so we could leave.  She giggled and gave me kisses.

When she's sad and you ask her if she's OK, she never says "no."  She either says "yes" and then stops crying or says "Binky" over and over until you find her Binky and pop it in her mouth.

She brings you her shoes when she wants to go outside and says "shoes." She likes throwing powder in the air....and sculpting with butter.  (thankfully not at the same time...yet)

Finch talks a bit....and somehow gets nearly everything she wants just by wanting it. ...and we love her to pieces :) 

Seraph

She's responding well to the antibiotics.  Her blood pressure is back to normal.  They've weaned her off her blood pressure meds.

Seraph -

They put her on antibiotics for an infection.  They said the soonest she could come home is in two weeks.  She's already been there for two weeks...so we're pretty bummed about it.  They said it'll probably be 4-5 days before they take out her breathing tube.

We're grateful that we haven't caught any of the colds that are going around - cuz then we wouldn't be able to visit her.

Thanks for all your prayers and support.  

Minor Surgery

The right side of Seraph's Diaphram seems to be taking a vacation.  Today they'll make a small incision and use a few stitches to keep it down out of the way.  Then her right lung will be able to fully expand.

She's 3rd in line for surgery...so I'm not sure when exactly they'll take her in.  It's very minor compared to what she's already been through.  It should only take an hour or two.

Seraph

Slowly.

She's getting better...ever so slowly.

They're taking her in for some tests today to see if there's anything physical that's slowing down her healing process.  I should know more tomorrow.

Yesterday I woke up with a toothache--shooting pain as I tried to eat oatmeal!  Happily, my dentist squeezed me in and I was feeling better by noonish.  :)

We took Beautiful Rabbit and her friend to see "Into the Woods" last night.  They did a great job.....and the girls got to meet Cinderella.

Seraph Update

Seraph is getting better, but slowly.  They have yet to extubate her.  They don't want to take the tube out too soon.  She's having trial runs where it doesn't breath for her.  The heart and lung machine makes you get very bloated.  She's still too bloated...they have her on several diuretics to help the swelling gone down.

Naptime!

Hey, it's a nice, dark, quiet spot....as long as no one turns on the disposal :)

Seraph's doing great :)

Her surgery went well.  She's sleeping comfortably today.  

During the surgery, the nurse comes out every 30-60 minutes to tell you how things are going.  Haqon decided that next time we need to tell the nurse to just walk in the room with a thumbs up if things are going OK.  A whole eternity can pass in the time it takes the nurse to walk across the room, squat down, politely ask how you are doing, and then go into details on how your baby's surgery is going.

She looks great.  I didn't take pictures this time.  She's in a crib instead of a glass box this time.  She has all the tubes and wires as last time, but she's 3 times as big....so they don't overwhelm her nearly as much as last time.

Angel & Seraph

The twins - 4.5 months old :)

Pictures!

Seraph's Surgery Re-rescheduled to TUESDAY 11/11

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Seraph's Surgery: The Glen Procedure

Tuesday, Nov 11th, Seraph is scheduled for the 2nd stage of the Norwood Procedure (aka the glen procedure.)

She is 4 1/2 months old.

They'll remove the artificial shunt that was inserted last time.

They'll rearrange the blood vessels that bring blood back to the lungs.  (The vein coming down from the head (superior vena cava) will be detached from the heart and attached to the artery that goes to the lungs to get oxygen.)

So, after this surgery, all the blood returning from her head will go straight to her lungs instead of going back to her heart and then being pumped into her lungs.

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In her next surgery (2-5 years old) they'll rearrange things so that the blood coming from her lower body flows straight to her lungs, too.

My other post on Seraph's heart defect and the surgeries she'll have is found here.

For more information on the Glen Procedure, click here.

We expect things will go well.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  It's hard watching someone so tiny go through so much.  I really think she's going to be OK.  We expect she'll be in the hospital for a week or so. ...and then back home feeling better than ever :)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

I think I sleep-walked through most of today.  P&J took the opportunity to fill the tea kettle with beef bullion cubes.

I went with Beautiful Rabbit to parent/teacher conferences.  We were a little early so we danced in the gym.  There were 2 face cards stuck to the ceiling.  Rabbit told me the story behind the cards - it involved a magician!  She said she often eats under the 10 of diamonds.

We had fun spinning each other.  Her teacher had wonderful things to say about her.  Then we snuck in a treat before heading home.

my pillow is looking awfully nice....

Seraph Update

Seraph had a sedated echocardiogram today.  It was quite a mess driving to the hospital in the snow.  Luckily, Grandpa offered to drive me.  It was crazy snowy on the way and crazy icy on the way home.  (black ice - yikes!)

Everything went well for her echo.  The sedation clung to her and I ended up staying up with her all night.  She had trouble keeping down her formula, so I switched to pedialyte.  She's doing better now.  It was so cute when she woke up - she stuck out her tongue an gave me a HUGE smile.

She's such a cutie!

I Voted :)

I think the "I voted" stickers they hand out at the polls are a cool idea.

Good Morning!

The first words out of Strong Bear's mouth this morning:  "Is grandma and grandpa home?"  He only had to go half way down the stairs before he knew:  "awwwww...grandma and grandpa not home yet"

On the 2nd Day of Nov my true love gave to me...

Seraph Update :)

She had surgery in the cath lab on Oct 30th.  The surgery went well.  They finished quicker than expected.  They said she's good to go for her open heart surgery on November 11th :)

Seraph recovered well, and we brought her home that same day.  She's had some minor water retention...but other than that everything seems normal.