Thursday, August 21, 2008

All is good!

Cole did wonderful today and was back to himself by dinner! He slept most of the day from being knocked out for a while not to mention from the Tylenol with Codeine too! He hasn't taken it since we left the hospital so he is not in any pain. I asked and he said his ears hurt a little but not enough for medicine.

It is now officially Cruz's birthday today. I cannot believe my little boy is two! Makes me sad but can't wait to see what he does or says from day to day. He will be our adventure for sure!
Happy Birthday Cruzer!


My mom stayed here today with Lindsay and Cruz while we were at the hospital with Cole so she had some "Grandma" time before she left for Georgia. Hope your doing ok on your own Bill!

Lindsay had another great day. She has started a routine of falling asleep at about 11pm and gets up around 7 or 8 am to eat, get meds, and then back to sleep for another hour or so. BEAUTIFUL!!! Works great so that I can take a shower and get the boys fed and dressed for the day.

Keep the prayers coming because the hemi-Fontan will take place before we know it!

With Love,

Suzie



PS Happy Birthday Pam! Belated now.....:-)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tomorrow....

Tomorrow is the day for Cole to get his adenoids out and tubes put in his ears. Should be a simple procedure but still put him in your prayers tonight that everything goes well. We are stocked up on popsicles and will go get ice cream if that is what he wants instead. He was asking allot of questions about the surgery today and he asked if he was going to feel anything and why he couldn't just watch a movie while they were doing it. Cute kid! Gotta love him! Well, he found out that he would be put to sleep for a little while by putting a mask on him and the stuff that he would breathe in would make him sleepy. His response was, "oh, that's perfect because I'm going to be tired anyway because we have to get up so early". The things that kids come up with.
Lindsay had another good day and had some visitors too. Great Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Carole stopped over for a while. She and I hung out at home today while I sold some travel. Trying to sell as much as I can before October so that I can take more time off without that worry of money. But then again, when don't we these days?!
Still praying for weight gain and no more hiccups. We are on a good run so far!
Until tomorrow-
Love, Suzie

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Update from Friday's appointment

Lindsay's cardiologist said that everything looked great and her weight gain is impressive. We are looking for the next surgery to take place in October. Probably mid sometime but a date might be set in three weeks when we see him again. Yes, that is only two months, or less, away!!! A little scary but yet a little exciting because I want this second one over with in order to sleep a little better at night. Don't get me wrong, I will still be up 4 or 5 times a night checking to make sure she is still breathing!!
Lindsay had a few outings this weekend! We went to, you guessed it, Target and we went to Natalie and Jordan's birthday parties. Lots of fun and good to get out and finally show her off!
It's late and I should be in bed since Miss Lindsay will be up in a little bit to eat and then go down for the rest of the night.
Heart Hugs and Love,
Suzie

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Before and After.........


Before the immunizations.........













And after. Poor baby had three shots today and was not happy about it. But then again, what kid is? She has had a couple doses of Tylenol tonight for discomfort, but other than that, trooper as usual. The exciting thing is that we can go places now! Still being extremely careful about where and who is around her, but more freedom for us!! WHOO HOO! I can actually go to Target without planning the whole day around it!
Lindsay weighed in today at 9 pounds 5 ounces and she sounded just great. We are going to the cardiologist tomorrow so hopefully everything still looks good on an echo. That's our prayer for the night.
Our next visit to the pediatrician is at 4 months providing everything goes smoothly.
In other news, Lindsay's U of M heart sister, Carlee, went home tonight. Another WHOOO HOO!!! Jason and Amanda called us on their way home to tell us. Although I was contemplating about driving up in the next couple of days to see them, I would rather this option instead for sure. Keep eating Carlee and maybe their next surgeries will be at the same time!
Another good day for the Dean's and so far so good for the month of August. Next on our plate is her appointment tomorrow and then Cole's surgery on the 20th. Please pray that those two things go as they should.
With Love,
Suzie

Monday, August 11, 2008

Looking back......

Our little Princess is 2 months old!



Although I think you can gather that one by looking at the new little ticker that I put over to the right! WOW! I can't believe she is two months already. It seems like we have been through so much, at times it feels like we have had her for longer! We are so proud of our little sweetie. She has been such a fighter and we cannot imagine our world without her. We have grown more than you know and have more knowledge of medication more than I ever wanted to know! Our family is complete for sure and we cannot wait to see what is in store for her next. She is smiling allot more which definitely melts the heart. You wish you could hold time still when she does that! We are just blessed in so many ways despite all of the downs. Thank goodness for more "ups" than "downs"!! I just want to take the time once again to let everyone know that we appreciate every one of your prayers, calls, cards, and especially the meals!!! We actually have to pop into reality this week and cook! We were absolutely spoiled with all that you have done for us and again, are blessed to have wonderful friends and family to take care of us. Thank you so much Shannon for doing such an awesome job taking care of things. What on earth would we have done without you?!! We love you!

Well, after the holiday weekend, it is reality again for me. Back to work! Need to pay bills and save a little before Lindsay has her next operation. The girls and UT&T have been absolutely incredible taking care of things in my absence and I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. They are wonderful girls and extremely lucky to have them working for me! I love all of you! Here are a few pictures from yesterday. I hope you enjoy them! Check out those chipmunk cheeks!

With love,

Suzie

Friday, August 8, 2008

So far so good

We had an appointment today with the pediatrician and all looks good. Looks like the antibiotics are working for her infection. She has been more like herself the last few days and starting to even eat a little more at one time. She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces today. We were thrilled with that! She is actually starting to outgrow her newborn outfits. That's right, she is still in newborn size things. Maybe one more week and then we will have to move on to the next size. Kinda makes me sad but the faster she grows, the faster we can get to that critical second surgery. Trust me, that can't come fast enough!
Anyway, here are some pictures that I have taken within the last few days. Love the one of Cruz? He used to sit in that seat too. Kinda big for it now huh? He was so proud to sit in it. So cute!
Does anyone get the idea that she spends allot of time in her car seat? Well, ever since she was diagnosed with reflux, that has been her bed. It just works perfect for her to have her head elevated to reduce the chance that she throws up. So far so good. She hasn't done it once!
So, that is our update from the last few days. Hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful summer. We are getting out in the sun as much as we can. :-)
Heart Hugs and Love,
Suzie

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

25 more days!!!

OK, this photo is for my Uncle Dan. He has been waiting for me to sport Maize n Blue but of course I had to do it "Lindsay" style. So, I hope you like it! The countdown has begin until the first game of the year and I can't wait! (Can you tell that "football mode" is about to transpire here?)
Now, that we have had a little fun, I will tell you about our day. Got a call from the cardiologists office this morning concerning Lindsay's blood test and urine sample and we have discovered that she has a urinary infection (UTI). So, that could explain the increase in sleep because she probably just didn't feel the best. We started her on good ole amoxicillin and we go to the pediatrician now on Friday to make sure she is healing up from that. Man, if isn't one thing, it's another. However, not complaining. :-) Did I mention it is good to go with your gut on things before? ;-)
Overall, today was good. She has been awake a little more this evening and hoping for an uneventful night. Prayer of the night: that the medication works for her infection and that she continues to eat and keep it down. So far no throw-ups since we left the hospital.
Sweet dreams and heart hugs,
Suzie

Monday, August 4, 2008

Now we can sleep better tonight....

Today we took Miss Lindsay to the cardiologist to get her checked over because she was sleeping well more than her normal. We found ourselves checking on her in the middle of the night even more than usual to see if she was still breathing, hence not getting hardly any rest at all. Dr. Loker came in special for us on his day off because the other cardiologist was on vacation. He was able to take his time with her and really do the once over on her echo to make sure everything was functioning the way it should. Her heart function looked as good as to be expected considering what she went through a couple of weeks ago and her lungs were clear. THANK GOD!! He had Lindsay go for some blood work as well to check for any type of infection, but otherwise, everything looks great. She just might be catching up from her last episode but we couldn't live the way we were and obviously Dr. Loker was concerned about all of the sleeping so he had us come in for the visit. Let's pray for no infection and that she starts to liven up a little and play more in the next couple of days. Otherwise, we need to go back for a visit. The other thing that concerned me was that she was getting tired eating and that is certainly not her normal. Instead of taking 3 ounces in about 15 minutes, she has taken 3 ounces in about 30 minutes. She just took breaks more often. Tonight was a little better on her feedings so maybe she just had a few lazy days. Anyway, glad we got in to see the doctor and we will cross our fingers that the blood test comes back normal.
We had a great weekend other than the lack of sleep and look forward to actually getting her out of the house this weekend. Just for a couple of hours anyway. She hasn't been anywhere except for her doctor appointments and to my mom's house. So, I think we will take her to her first car show. For those of you that really know my husband, it has been absolutely killing him that he hasn't been to any big car shows this year. So, for his sake, let's hope we can make this one.

Keep praying and that she continues to improve everyday. Our goal: Keep gaining weight! She weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces. That is wonderful considering that she weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces when we left the hospital a week ago last Friday.
Thanks for checking in and ready for a good night's sleep knowing the echo looked great.
Love, Suzie

PS Just wanted to let you know that Cruz is saying Lindsay's name now! It comes out...."LILY"
How cute! He will be 2 on the 21st of this month. Time sure does fly!