School days

Ok, so I've been slacking off a bit. The girls are now in school so I do have a bit more time to myself. Aislinn is in kindergarten and Tristen is in 2nd grade. They are both loving school so far and come home with some pretty funny stories. They ride the bus in the morning like 'big girls'. They look so cute in their school uniforms waiting for the bus to come, too! Here are some pictures of them on Thursday in khaki and white and on Friday in navy blue and white.







I got this one of Aislinn at her desk when I walked her to her classroom on her first day. Oh boy, did I cry when I had to leave. It's so bittersweet watching your baby grow up and trusting them in someone else's care. I know she's in great hands, though.


The countdown to Linden's birthday is still on. 8 days to go until LINDEN is 1!!


Oh, and Linden had her first experience with a lollipop and I wanted to show y'all. It was so cute and she was so sticky. Ha.




Thanks for reading!

Bianca

Cardiology update

So we had a cardiologist appointment this morning. I had my neice, Mackenzie, watch the older girls (so that we wouldn't have a three ring circus going on) and my mom came along with me for support. We were very hopeful because Linden has seemed so much healthier in the last few weeks. The nurse weighed Linden and she gained 400 grams (14 oz) in 3 weeks which is a good weight gain for her. She now weighs 15lb9oz at 11.5 months old. Her pulse ox, EKG, and blood pressure all were good as well. When Dr. B walked in he jokingly said "Well, Mama's hair and nails are done, everything must be going well." I guess I looked like a hag before. (Ha! Just kidding!) He said that her pigtails were adorable and that she really looked fabulous. He listened to her heart with his stethescope and said that she sounded better, too. Awesome! She then had an echo done by her nurse Jackie. When Dr. B came back in the echo room, he studied Linden's results and said that she indeed did have 'mild to moderate' MR (mitral valve regurgitation) compared to her 'moderate to severe' MR in April. One of the ways that her drs in Boston tried to explain what could have happened was that possibly because of the two different machines being used here in La and there in Boston that they got different sets of pictures. UM NO! With my completely unprofessional eye, I saw for myself today on Dr. B's echo machine (where he found the MR in the first place) that her results from April and today are very different! I could see the two large jet of blood in the one from April and in today's they show that the jets are much smaller now, although they are still there. Dr. B apologized to us for sending us so far from home and said that he felt 'stupid' when he heard that she didn't need surgery. I told him that it was NOT a wasted trip at all and not to feel stupid. He and the drs in Boston all saw the same thing. God just chose to heal Linden's heart without her having to go through another surgery ;)

And she's off of Digoxin [and Lasix] now! Still on Sotalol (for SVT), Enalapril, and Asprin.

Thinking about things

On a message board that I frequent (hey bggb!), we were posting about being a parent of a special needs child. It's obviously not for everyone. Before Joe and I were married, we talked about having another baby one day. I had a feeling about how our baby would be, but I didn't want to tell him because I was worried that he would think I was weird or silly. I ended up talking about it with my mom. I told her that I felt if Joe and I would have a baby together that something would be wrong with the baby, that the baby would be different. It didn't necessarily scare me to not want a baby with the man I was going to marry, however. It was so much on my mind that I felt the need to tell Joe, so I did. He kind of looked at me like 'huh?' and arched one eyebrow. I didn't make a big deal about it and never mentioned it again until many months later. May 20, 2008 to be exact. That was the day that we found out that we were having baby girl #3 and that she had a heart defect. The previous week, my routine bloodwork had come back with an elevated risk for Down Syndrome, so at this ultrasound he was looking for specific markers which could indicate a higher/lower risk for Trisomy 21. He found that she had a short nasal bone which was a pretty positive indication for a chromosomal abnormality. He insisted that we have an amnio, but we opted out of that due to the risk for miscarriage. It wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't make her heart defect go away or change anything about her. We wanted her no matter what.

Joe brought up what I said many months earlier and strangely enough, it brought me more of a sense of peace rather than sadness. 3.5 months later when our precious girl came into this world in the middle of a hurricane (I had to be cleaned up while Joe held a flashlight for the nurse!), I felt completely validated in how I felt. I felt like Linden was always supposed to be here, with me. I felt like I had been chosen to be her mother long before she was even conceived. God is always in control. He sees the past, the present, and the future. He knew everything that was going to happen to Linden thus far. He knew that she would touch people. Linden may not always fit perfectly in this world, but she wasn't created for this world. I truly believe that she was sent to us so that God could perform this miracle and show us that He's still here. He still loves us.

We're seeing the cardiologist tomorrow morning for the first time since Boston. Please pray with us for continued good news.

Something nice to read is The Creed of Babies with Down Syndrome. (I do not know who the author is.)
My face may be different
But my feelings the same
I laugh and I cry
And I take pride in my gains
I was sent here among you
To teach you to love
As God in the heavens
Looks down from above
To Him I'm no different
His love knows no bounds
It's those here among you
In cities and towns
That judge me by standards
That man has imparted
But this family I've chosen
Will help me get started
For I'm one of the children
So special and few
That came here to learn
The same lessons as you
That love is acceptance
It must come from the heart
We all have the same purpose
Though not the same start
The Lord gave me life
To live and embrace
And I'll do it as you do
But at my own pace


Bianca

Our family!!

Here's a recent picture of all of us. I'm going to write a blog later on tonight, so be looking for it tomorrrow!!