Update on our visit

We ended up getting to the hospital really late due to traffic. After check in we got the two normal every visit chest x-rays. Mariska was not very happy about the x-rays this time.

At her check up they did the normal weight and height checks, blood pressure/heart rate, and O2/heart rate, so nothing painful. The scales from one doctors office to another is a little off. She's 25inches and 13lbs and 9oz. Doctor Williams said shes on the 6%tile. So she's tinnie tiny.

The nurse couldn't get her O2 stats above 75. She hovered around 72 with Oxygen so it was kind of weird. So had the doctor give it a try. When Dr W. came in we did her stats with out O2 the funny thing is he couldn't get them below 90!!! (she was 92) which are normal hearts range. He had us at first just put the canula on top of her nose, after he saw the numbers he was thinking that maybe she was getting air, so I turned off the tank and unplugged the tube. She went stayed their for a while then went down to 88 and stopped at 89. He said the number to hit to loose the O2 saw 80. So we no longer have the "kid around our necks that we have to buckle into a set in the car"! I was almost crying, it was such a happy moment.

We took off the canula before we left the room! For the very first time since birth she has nothing on her face!! I now have to look harder for her and Sam when they walk around I cant just follow the tube to them, hehe, but its something that its better missed then having to use every day. It was nice to feel like we had a normal healthy baby as we walked around, haha what ever that is - She is our normal and we wouldn't trade her for anything in this world. Misky we are so proud of you!

We wont go back for a check up for 3 months! that seems like such a long time.

Shes sleeping now its been a good but long morning for all of us, its hard on kids for them to miss a nap. I feel like she sleeps too much sometimes. I did some reading and its pretty close to normal so I'm just paranoid. I feel like I hardly ever get anything really done or finished even with all of her naps. haha.

I cant believe how fast shes growing, and how far we have come. We we're looking at some of her new born pictures she was so small, I forgot just how small she really was. Now we look at her and allll we see are these two enormous cheeks. Its funny.

Hope everyone has a nice day and can enjoy some of this lovely weather outside.

Hugs
Melynda, Sam, and chunky cheeked Misky

Card Visit on the 28th @ 8:30am

Ok so I know that it is the 28th right now. I just remembered to post and let every one know whats up, and I wanted to check on some of our heart friends.

I think today might be the big day that we can finally come off that darn oxygen. I would be nice to not trip over it all day and to see Mariska's cute little face with that darn tube blocking the view. If we don't come off the O2 Then that's ok too. We're only on 1/4L so its just enough to blow and make tiny bubbles if you put it into water. I have we have unhooked her for a little while, like when we go for our walk to see all of Grandma and Grandpa's plants and flowers. I just pray that I'm not doing anything really wrong by not always having it on her. We check her O2 stats at home just for the fun of it now and then. She can been anywhere from 74-87 most of the time shes about 82 with out O2. So hopefully she will pick it up so she doesn't need it anymore.

Every time we go to a card appointment I always have this fear that shes going to have to be back on a feeding tube and if that happens then all the nightmares that came with that will allllll come back, the memories are enough to scare me for a long time.

I'm really not sure how long we are really going to be on her 4 med. I know Aspirin is will pretty much be forever (good thing its super easy to give her now) But the other three I'm not sure about. They might just say hey we want you to stop those and start some other ones. uhg I know I should be happy that there is something we can give he to help her out, but some days I just want to cry after I make her take them. Shes happy once I pick her back up and every thing is back to normal.

We're not going to see Dr. Pulver he is on vacation again I think. So it will be Dr. Williams. We saw him on the last visit as well so maybe now he will feel good about changing the amount of the meds and maybe to away with the O2. Dr. Pulver told me before the surgery that we're most likely looking at 6 weeks of being on O2. I had to really pull a time frame out of him. I know they dint like to give any sort of time when something will happen, but its nice to know what they are planning on so we can be prepared as well.

We had a great weekend we went to Sam's sisters house for dinner on Sunday his parents also came. We went and fed the ducks at the duck pond (forgot the name) and went for a walk. We went to the same pond a few weeks ago I have the pictures on my camera so when I take them off I'll post them on here, along with that funny story. It was nice to spend time with family.

We're planning on have Sam's sister Helena watch Mariska later today, I forgot about this card visit so I'm going to have to change the time. Sam and I don't get out with out Mariska to often, But we shouldn't now that we're parents. It will be nice to spend some alone time with Sam and just get out of the house.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now that its later then I wanted to stay up. Going to the hospital for anything now seems like I cant sleep the night before. I'm going to work on that.

Thanks for visiting.

Melynda

Texting chain letter...

My brother Tyler wants to send out a txt chain letter. We thought it would be kind of fun to see how many people recieve the text. when I asked him why he wanted to start a chain for he said:
"cause I think everyone should get a chance to

read her site. It is very touching and makes you really think about life."

So.. Thanks tyler for all the support your awesome. Anyone coming from the chain letter feel free to leave your comments we love to meet new people that we can share experiences with.

Links

I just noticed that a lot of my links havent been working. I fixed the problems so they should all take you to where you want to go. :)

Darn that http://http// You can only have one if you want the link so work, so now every one has just one. I'm going to get some sleep now it has been a long weekend. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. To all our heart buddies and their family we're thinking of all of you and your in our prayers!

Mariska's newest thing

It all started when Sam would try to feed her what ever he was eating... like letting her lick pickles, strawberries, and sharing his water, and all the other things that I had to stop him on, haha.

Yesterday it was the worst. I was drinking water from a glass and she starts to scream, wiggle, and squeal. It was so funny. Every time I bring the glass up she follows it with her head, and smiles like give me some ohhhh please give me some. So I put it to her month, shes sticks out her tongue and goes crazy. Now I cant get a drink of water with out her wanting one too or bending her head upside down so she can see where its going.

I'll work on getting a picture to show what I mean. Its so funny.

6 months Old Today!

Mariska on Mothers Day! With her daddy Sam, being the silly goose that she is.

I can hardly believe it, Mariska is 6 months old today. Sam and I have been so blessed with our little precious angel for 6 wonderful months! She has brought so much joy and love into our lives. I wouldnt change her in anyway, shes ment for us and is perfect.

Last week the shot went well, We lucky had Patrick so we were a little more clam about the blood draw, this time he had a little bit of a hard time, but got it pretty fast. I pray that shes not going to be a hard stick forevery, hopefully she will grow out of this with time. This was our last shot for the study. We'll go next month for a visit then we'll be all done. I'm still not sure if we'll find out which shot she was getting, the normal or the "super shot" this one helps against eye, ear and other infections. I'm going to be kind of sad, I have really enjoyed our nurse that been over the study.

Mother's Day. We were planning on going to church all together as a family for the first time. I got ready and saw them both so sound a sleep I let them sleep in, it was nice to have some time for me. It was a wonderful First Mothers Day, the weather was even great. Sam's helping me get all my pictures together (they are in 3 different computers) so I have every thing I need for the scrap booking. Oh when I got home from church I just hugged Mariska, it was hard to see all the other normal babies with their mommy's and me not with mine. I just hugged and kissed her all over, she even let me do it for a long time. She's so silly. I think she missed me too. I was glad we didn't take her, there were still a had full of choughs and colds, so it worked out. I think we'll wait a few more weeks before we start to bring her, once everyone has their spring cleaning done and killed all the winter buggies. We put her in a little purple dress she looked so cute.

Its been so busy its been hard to get every thing done. I feel bad I haven't updated the blog for awhile, since my sister called and told me she needed me to update it I thought I would get it done. I've been so tired, its strange I think maybe it because I'm still getting up with Mariska at night to feed her, and my mom and I have been how do I put this, having our differences, I love her but man some days we just need a time out. haha.

For her 6 month mark we took her to see her ped. What a nice half birthday! huh? Poor thing. Shes now weights 12.8 lbs 10%th. heigth shes 25inches 50%th. and her head is 16 inchs not sure on the %. We're very excited/surprised/happy that Misky is on the growth charts just like any other kid. He also said that shes a little behind on the physical part of development (like rolling over, sitting by her self...) shes 4-6months on that, but said thats normal seeing how she had the muscles on her chest cut for open heart surgery, so they have to gain strength again. So a lot of her developments she'll learn in a different order. He said that shes ahead on her mental(/everything else) development shes 6-8 months. How awesome is that? I'm fine if when shes older if she can out smart someone before she can out run them.

Shes acting a little clingy today, but that's normal for her after she gets shots. Other then that shes doing really well.

I'm watching the neighbors kids while they go with my parents 4-wheeling. It should be fun. We'll see how that goes we might all wish we were out there getting sore and dirty with them. Their going to stay here since its kind of a pain to take Mariska and her O2 over there. Its just for a few days so hopefully it will all work out and no one routines change too much. wish us luck.

Melynda

Happy Mother's Day!

Mommy I Love You

Mommy,

I love youFor all that you do.

I'll kiss you and hug you'Cause you love me, too.

You feed me and need meTo teach you to play,

So smile 'cause I love you On this Mother's Day.

-Unknown

Going to PCMC today.

Its that time again for the synigest (sp?) shot again. I think this might be the last shot this visit.

Just part of out never ending journy to PCMC. If we dont see a Doctor atlease once or every other week It seems really odd. Misky's got a lot of poeple watching her back. What a lucky little girl.

I'm still kind of a sleep so I'm going to go back to bed. Darn this Digi scrap booking, hehe I woke up to feed Mariska and started downloading things, and here I am again doing the same thing. It will be good to have Sam home today, Maybe just maybe I'll sneak in a nap.

After the Hospital I think we're planning on going to see Sam's Grandparents. They have to be the sweetest people I know. I truly hope we make it there and nothing from the sky or the road stops us. Wish us luck. :)

Ohh Mariska is starting to really fill out. Her little arms are even getting a little somethin somethin on them. YAY for Misky. I'll try to up date you later today on how it all went.

Melynda

My heart aches

One of Mariska's heart buddie's has gone into heart failure. Little Yale has been threw so much since the beginning of this year when he was born. He had the Hybrid procedure done (this is only half of the first surgery that Mariska had)

They took him by helicopter on May 1 around 3am to sick kids. There car is in the shop still so his mom has to take the bus. Please pray for him and his family that They can find and fix what is wrong. He has to have surgery immediuadly. His mom hasnt posted anymore, so I'm not sure if he has had the surgery or not.

When I read this news this morning (yesterday now) I just cried. I am so gratefull we have been blessed with our sweet Mariska and that she is doing to well. The reality hit me that I could lose her any time. This goes for anyone, no one has a time stamp on when its their time to be with our loving Heavenly Fathre. Its just such a harsh way to have things keep reminding you of how delicute life really can be here in earth.

Please pray for their family with us, that they will have a speedy recovery and be back home with his loving parents.

Melynda, Sam and Mariska