Busting a Gut at Stuart Little

Nineteen Months!!!

Classic: smushing face on the glass.

Sweet baby profile

Oh mom!

Daddy spraying water at the window. Very funny!

So, I'm really starting to panic a little. 19 months totally snuck up on me & this boy is becoming more & more a toddler & less & less a baby. We are SO proud of him though. He's doing a great job putting on weight. 22.7lbs this morning on the wii : ) Doing lots of science experiments with his senses, like listening to a song alternately putting his fingers in & out of his ears, blowing air out of his nose with his finger in & out of his nostril, flipping the pages of his book close to his face & of course, eating his books (& chewing the paper like gum). He's learned how to take the pieces out of his wooden puzzle & wiggle it to get it to fall back in it's spot (though he'd rather bang the pieces together). Making more speech sounds, many times at the top of his lungs very late at night - he LOVES to goof off with everyone in bed at night. It's really amazing to watch his little mind go. Not walking on his own yet, but when he realizes he can he's going to take off. Daddy (Abba) is still his best buddy & Mommy his best girl - just the way we both like it!

Cute Pics

Here are some pictures I took of Dizzy today. This boy is just too cute!

Doing Great

Thanks to my aunt, Amy, who sent this picture frame down from NC.

I LOVE the verse, that's exactly what we

teach Andrew about how he was made.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him, captures his essence : )

Andrew snuggling his daddy Friday night after his cath.

Saturday after getting home.
Andrew's new thing is to go into his room & shut the door.
I have a video monitor so I let him.
I moved all his toys out of the living room & made his room more a
toddlers play area than a baby's room [ : ( he's getting so big!]
He'll play in there alone for as long as I let him.

Mailing some letters.

Well Andrew is his normal self again. He was happy to get home yesterday & slept great last night so, other that 3 band aids (over the cath sites - just about an i.v. size poke) it's almost as if nothing ever happened. We'll see how he reacts next time we go to the doctors.

Home Sweet Home!

Explanation

In case you noticed, I changed the blog title to Miracle Heart. Well, here's the scoop. Andrew & I watched Prince Caspian twice this week & I always let the credits run because Andrew loves music. Well, the line I put under our picture struck me (makes me think of our Andrew & what we hope for him) so I had to find the song on YouTube. And here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol3o494lPII

p.s. The Chronicles of Narnia movies are awesome : )

Awesome News!

Dizzy's doctors just came to give us the low down on the cath. Basically, Andrew rocks! They were not able to stent up that lower left pulmonary vein, but Andrew has developed one decent collateral on the lower left & some small ones in the upper so he estimates approx 30% of left lung is doing oxygenation work. When blood was forced into upper lung there were little veins to drain. This is great to keep Andrew from developing pneumonias. They did stent up his Glenn which needed to be enlarged simply because he's grown so much. What else, his ventricular function very good, in fact they are taking Andrew off Digoxin (whoo-hoo). When we go back to see Dr. N in the clinic in 3 months he will probably stop the Enalapril as well (ah yea). He worked a little on Dizzy's left (fat) leg, but there is some definite blockage there. He was able to get through some smaller vessels, but not balloon the larger. He feels the issue is mainly cosmetic though & doesn't bother Andrew too much. He mentioned using some compression stocking type of things to help. Jessica, I say that means he has to wear the froggie leggings you bought him, but Steve insists on a more masculine alternative. The doctor also mentioned that the oxygenated blood is flowing to his body normally.

We cannot thank you all enough for all the prayers, not just today, but for the past 18+ months. This boy truly does have a miracle heart & we praise God for him.

Cardiac Cath Updates

1:30pm

Waiting for the doctor to come out & talk to us. Andrew tolerated the procedure very well. Will provide details after we talk to doc.

12:20pm

Still in cath lab. Dr. N finally got access through both groins & left neck. No liver, yea! Right now they are taking pictures & measurements throughout Andrew's heart. Pretty cool if you think about it. I figure Dr. N is our cardiac navy seals of sorts. Thankful for him & the cool technology that allows for this stealth op. Anyways, not sure how much longer, depends on what they find. Thank you for continued prayers!

11:15am

They just called me from the cath lab to give me a hourly update. The cath Dr is getting started; working on gaining access - an issue with Dizzy since he's had so many lines. We're praying they can get in a femoral vein so they don't have to go through the liver. Andrew's vitals have been great, very stable so we're thankful for that.

10:15am

Andrew is back with anesthesiology getting ready for his cardiac cath. They got him to sleep around 10am. Little feisty thing fought it with all he had, but we were able to stay with him until he was out so at least he wasn't alone with strangers. There are several things the Dr is going to look at & lots of possibilities for addressing any issues they discover once he gets in there, so it's hard to tell exactly how long it will take, between 2-4 hours. We'll update as they update us. Thank you so much for all the prayers!

Getting ready for cath

Daddy had him set up like a king to watch a video.

Backyardigans, of course.

Blue eye astronaut

Machie's is the best cause you get to do all kinds of fun things
like take a bath in the sink!


Keeping an eye out.

Well, we are getting ready for Andrew's upcoming cardiac catheterization Friday morning. It's scheduled for 9am. If nothing else, it will give us an inside look of Andrew's heart & vessels. We are also hoping that his lower left pulmonary vein will be open so they can perform angioplasty & stent it up. The Congenital Heart Institute (cardiologists & surgeons that take care of Andrew at APH & clinic - we highly recommend them) provided us with an online info program that generally explains the procedure and it said share with family so... if you would like to check it out go to:

http://www.my-emmi.com/

access code: 11725405507

Andrew's DOB: 12/23/2007

click begin

Of course, it's general so the anatomy is not specific to Andrew, but still it gives a good idea. We appreciate prayers for safety through the procedure & positive results. We are hoping everything goes as expected & be able to bring Andrew back home Saturday.

Oh yeah, if anyone has pop top for us to take to Ronald McDonald House, we'll be droping some off while we're there so just get them to us by Thursday evening. Thanks!