Happy Mother's Day :)

We're home!  It took FOREVER to get through discharge, but Seraph is home and everyone is sooooooo much happier now!

 Look - drinking from a bottle!!  I still can't believe it.  Can't wait to show her therapist tomorrow :)

 Peekaboo!

 The kids visited gma's house (they can't stop talking about the trampoline) while we picked up Seraph.  We barely fit into the van with everyone.

 Taking the girls' new wagon out for it's first drive!  The girls LOVED it.  The loved that they were facing each other, and loved seeing the neighborhood.  Strong Bear came with us and loved pulling the wagon. Then some neighbors gave us cake!  Really yummy fantastic cake - chocolate with raspberry frosting...it was nummy!

On the way home with the cake, I asked Bear if we should share or eat it all ourselves.  "SHARE!!!" - What a sweetie :)  (Don't tell him I called that...he thinks only girls can be called 'sweetie'.)

We're home!

Seraph is Home!!

Seraph came home last night.  Angel kept giving her kisses.  It was soooo cute!  Rabbit couldn't stop squealing.  Bear patted the twin's heads and told them they're sooo cute.  Finch showed the girls toys.

Every time I look at Seraph, she's smiling.  It's nice to have her home :)

Seraph Home

We don't have news from the cardiologist yet, but someone pointed out I forgot to mention Seraph is home. The heart cath went well. Her pulmonary veins look good. The surgeon was surprised they'd ever worried about them. (Thank you for all your prayers and fasting.)

Seraph came home early, early, early Saturday day morning. She has been cranky the last few days. She is still recovering...but with a bit of Tylenol, all her smiles come back. She's been kicking her legs a ton today. So, I think she's starting to feel better.

Her color looks better than before the surgery. The surgeon plugged up some extra blood vessels that she'd grown. Her heart and lungs are working more efficiently now.

Seraph at the Park

Turn your sound on - she makes cute baby noises :)

Seraph is coming home Tonight!!

Baby Angel and her Grandpa waiting for miss Seraph to come home :)

Seraph is such a happy little girl. I can't wait til you can all meet her :)

Look at the mouth full of teeth!! She has 2 molars on their way in, too. And she's still a happy girl! (OK, the tylenol helps) She also loves to suck on washcloths.

She loves playing with her toys, too. One of the nurses said she's the most self-entertained baby she's ever watched. That's my girlie!

About Palliative Care...

I'm sorry, I've been using "palliative care" and "hospice care" interchangably.  I was confused.  Hospice care is one possible type of palliative care--the one that most people are familiar with. Contrary to what I've been telling everyone,  Seraph is NOT on hospice care.

Seraph is home on palliative care.

"Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) specializes in the relief of the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness.The goal is to prevent and ease suffering and to offer patients and their families the best possible quality of life. It is useful at any stage of an illness. And it can be provided at the same time as treatment that is meant to cure you." - getpalliativecare.org

Mommy Finch....

Baby Angel got her first tooth today!  Poor grumpy girl.  The only thing that calmed her down was watching Baby Seraph.  So, eventually, I dragged the swings over next to each other.  Delightful Finch was in heaven playing with both of them.

Seraph watches Angel closely. Today Seraph watched me pick Angel up and hold her when Angel cried.  I'd kiss Angel's fingers then we'd both giggle.  Then I'd kiss baby Seraph's fingers and then giggle.  Seraph smiled.  Then I'd rub Angel's arm and then rub Seraph's arm.  (Seraph doesn't like being held....and she's not sure if she likes being touched.)

Seraph was OK up until the point where Angel started grabbing Seraph's arm and leg. (who can resist grabbing a wiggly baby's leg?).  Then Seraph started looking distressed.  Being a mommy-mom, I immediately boosted Angel up so she could play with the animals on the mobile.  Then Seraph didn't have to worry about being touched, but still got to watch baby Angel.  Seraph LOVED watching Angel play with toys.

My favorite part of the night was just before bedtime.  The twins sat by me - Seraph in Angel's chair and Angel sitting unaided on the floor (her newest trick).  We put on a CD (thanks to Beautiful Rabbit's cousin) and then the kids + Haqon danced wildly around the room.  Then they played the jump off daddy's back game.  Seraph took it all in. It felt happy.

Shared Woes...

Last night Seraph had pretty bad reflux around 11pm.  The only thing that helped her feel better was her daddy marching in place carrying her in her car seat.  Don't ask how we came up with that one - Daddy's are magic that way.

A few hours earlier, Seraph was complaining mildly and baby Angel was complaining, too.  It was stressful hearing it in stereo.  It seemed a little weird, but my sleep-deprived brain never figured out why.  Haqon pointed out that Angel wasn't grumpy, she was just copying Seraph.  It was like having an echo in the room. It was much cuter once I knew what she was doing :)

Peaceful

Thanks for all the warm wishes - it's been great to be all together again.

Getting Reaquainted

Angel was telling Seraph a bedtime story!

I'm sooooo tired...and also happy :)