Happy "30th" Birthday Gina!!!

My friend, Gina, and I have been friends since high school. I have had so many fun memories with her over the past 15-years with cheering together, rooming together, getting our real estate license together and maintaining our "girls night and weekend" get-togethers. Gina is an amazing person and I feel so fortunate to have her as my friend!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA!!!

Big vs. BIGGER!!!

1-week before Kate was born.....



.... Yup, still have 12 more weeks!

Okay.....so I have admit that this pregnancy has been pretty smooth (very little nausea, decent energy level, etc.). However.....I have had a GINORMOUS (sp?) appetite lately. And, it doesn't help that I have been eating out 2 out of 3 meals a day!!! So, that has weighed me down (literally). So, I decided to take a picture and compare it to when I was pregnant with Kate and see if I am as big as I feel. Well, that picture proved to be true. I took this picture last night and compared it to a picture I took at Kate's baby shower 1-week before I delivered. I try not to weigh myself during pregnancy (I don't even like to look at the scale at the Dr's office). But, after seeing this picture I was a little curious. Let's just say.....it's not pretty. I have already surpassed what I gained with Kate and I still have 3 MORE MONTHS to go. Many people warned me that the 2nd pregnancy is much different from the 1st and I'm starting to believe it!!! I have a feeling this is going to be one BIG baby girl!!!

Get Well Soon, Kate!!!

We feel so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing friends and neighbors. A couple of nights ago, we came home and to our surprise, we had an envelope full of these sweet "get well" cards from some of the kids in our ward. I was so touched by all these sweet messages. Through the many things we have experienced over the past 18-months, I have learned so many valuable life lessons. I've always felt that it is easier to be on the giving end of service, rather than the receiving. We have been shown many kind acts of service and I sometimes feel guilty for my inability to "re-pay" everyone back. However, I have seen how this has greatly blessed my life and hope that in the future, I can give back to others in need. A good friend of mine once said to me that the Lord gives us opportunities to serve others not only to bless the lives of those being served, but also to bless our own lives. So, by allowing others to serve us......it is allowing those serving to receive blessings.
Mr. Froggy is always a great pal to have around!
I love this picture of Kate

My Great Find!

Since spending so much time in the hospital, I have found myself doing a lot of on-line browsing. I happened to come across these sofa pillows at Restoration Hardware and fell in love with them. Actually, I think I was more in love with the price. Did I pay the original price of $39 per pillow??? Nope......instead I paid a whopping $4.99 for each pillow. You've gotta love a great steal!!!

The Royal Treatment

Not many people can say that they have an "Uncle Buck"

This has been such a great week. Kate was able to come off the vent on Tuesday and transition to CPAP. She has done so great. I think she is just happy to FINALLY get that tube out of her. For the first couple of days she was off the vent, she was just on straight CPAP. The last few days, she has been able to come off for a few hours on a high-flow nasal canula. She really likes the break. I had to laugh though.....I got to the hospital this morning and the queen was on her throne.......(aka Kate in a chair in her bed). It was the funniest thing I have ever seen! She is still pretty weak, so it's good for her to be able to change positions. She is so sweet and is such a little trooper. Here are a few things Kate loves:

*When mommy reads her favorite book, The Jester has lost his Jingle

*Having her chin tickled

*Being able to look at Mr. Froggy

*Giving high-fives to Steve, her respiratory therapist (with a little help from Steve)

*Blowing bubbles with her CPAP mask

Go Kate Go!!

Because Kate is so feisty, the tape holding the ET tube comes loose quite often so she has to have some "sleepy drugs" so they can re-tape it.

Thanks Aunt Jalene for the cute little doll!

Sundays are always nice here at the hospital. Not only is it nice and quiet, but we also have the opportunity to attend the hospital church services. Even though the meeting is just 1/2 hour long, the spirit is so strong.

So, we had the care conference on Thursday and things went really well. We discussed the option of a Tracheostomy as well as replacing Kate's pulmonary and tricuspid valves. While there are some benefits that could come from both of these operations, there are also many risks involved because of how weak she is right now. Bryan and I both feel that if we can get her off the ventilator and back to being on CPAP, she will be able to regain her strength so the heart surgery will be less of a risk. Kate's pulmonologist and cardiologist feel that if she were to have the Trach immediately, they would like her to remain in the hospital for 6-weeks to recover and then evaluate her heart to see if she would be ready for the procedure. This is a very fine line because we don't know 100% if the Trach will make a huge difference. Plus, being in the hospital for that long is not great for Kate's development. We've taken this medical advise into much consideration and with much fasting and praying, we both feel that if Kate can come off the ventilator and transition onto CPAP successfully, that we can take her home and allow her to gain strength and grow without having to have a Trach. There is the possibility, though, that she may not do as well as we hope, but she will definitely let us know. We feel that we at least need to give her one more shot. As we have come up with this plan, we have felt much support from all the doctors and medical staff....which we are very grateful for.

In the past couple of days, Kate has made some significant progress. We are working on getting her off the ventilator and it looks like she will be ready to come off it tomorrow (we're keeping our fingers crossed). Now she is off all her sedation meds she has been one FEISTY girl!!! That's one side of her we like to see :) We believe in miracles, as Kate has been a miracle in our lives. We love her so much and she is what keeps us going.

Finally an Update - Sorry :(

Everyone is always commenting on how they wish they could see Kate's personality when she is not sick and in the hospital, so I made this poster and included some of my favorite pictures of her.
One of our favorite nurses, Angie, loves to pamper Kate. This is the first time Kate has ever had her nails painted. I must say, she has some great nails (unlike her mom).

Someone has some "grumpy pants!"

Yes, I have been a "bad blogger" lately so I thought it's about time to post another blog. I feel like our world has stood still for the past couple of days (or should I say weeks). We can't seem to figure out what is going on with Kate. Last Wednesday when she went down to the Cath Lab to get a more accurate view of the pressures in her lungs and heart, the results showed that Kate really doesn't have Pulmonary Hypertension (which they originally thought she did). So, medication really won't help the problem. They also found that Kate's heart hasn't significantly changed since her last Echo cardiogram back in October (which is great news that the function has not digressed). But, we still can't seem to figure out what is causing all of these issues. A team of doctors and specialists are having a conference tomorrow morning to discuss Kate's situation and see if they can come up with a plan for her. We have kinda been at a stand still this past week waiting for them to collaborate. We have a meeting set up for Thursday to discuss their feelings and make a decision for what will best benefit Kate. As I have mentioned before, she is still too small to go in and have her pulmonary valve replaced, so a surgery at this point is pretty much out of the question. Plus, they don't think that fixing the valve would make much of a change for her heart at this point.

It has been extremely frustrating for us because Kate is a unique little baby with a unique condition that no one can seem to figure out. However, she seems to keep fighting her way through all of these obstacles. One option they have presented to us is a Tracheostomy. We crossed this bridge back in August and felt like a Trach wasn't necessary for her to in improve her breathing issues and Kate proved that to be true. This option has come up again and we are still not 100% convinced that this is what she needs. We feel that the best medicine for her would be to get her out of the hospital and back home so she can re-gain her energy level and continue to grow. The bottom line is that no one knows indefinitely what is the best option. So, we are holding out until Thursday when we have all our options out on the table and then will hopefully be able to make an educated decision to help Kate's future care.