Are you ready for some Football?

I cannot believe that football is here.  Seems like just yesterday I was talking about high school baseball and caught up in spring fever.  Maybe I just can't believe it because it's still 100 degrees outside. Literally.  Football weather is crisp and cool.  But ready or not it is here.  My husband participated in a jamboree with 8 teams yesterday (congrats on the win).  Below is a pic of their new uniforms they got.  How fine are these?  If you are gonna play ball you need to look good too! Do you love the white helmets?

                                        Cedar Creek vs. Homer at Jam at the Joe (W 22-0)

                       The Hubby coaching-Not sure what he's doing her but it looks intense.

                     Aiden wasn't able to attend but we still dressed up to show our support!

More importantly, there are 6 days until perhaps the best non-conference game of the year kicks off (Well, let's hope it lives up to the hype).   It is #3 vs. #4 in a showdown in Cowboys Stadium.  Unless you live underneath a rock, you are well aware of the trouble that LSU Quarterback Jordan Jefferson has gotten into.  He has been suspended from the team indefinitely and Jared Lee has been named the starter.  I am very disturbed by this and think it's purely selfish to not be thinking about how this will affect your team when you choose to go out to a bar.  On top of that, Russell Shepperd will also not be on the field as he is suspended for the first game.  This game could be a total disaster or Jared Lee will be named some kind of hero for carrying his team to victory.  He will be sporting a slimmer frame this season and let's hope his confidence and accuracy have also improved during the off season.   Unfortunately, I won't be there but I will be watching and probably praying we pull out a victory.  Let's hope good ole Les pulls out some tricks from that hat of his.  Geaux Tigers!!

Oh, and the jokes have already started.  My husband received one on Friday: 2 LSU football players are riding in a car.  Who's driving?  Baton Rouge P.D.-LOL. This is only the beginning I'm sure.

Aiden's Room and 1 Month

I have been so busy and so behind that I have forgotten to post pics of the nursery.  It has definitely been a work in progress but finally has come together.  For some reason, I knew from the get go that I was having a boy.  So there were a few things that I had picked out from market before I officially found out the sex.  I did delay in ordering it but in my mind I had a picture of how I wanted to nursery to look.  I love elegant nurseries and wanted something just very soothing. Even though babies respond to colors early on I couldn't help myself from leaning toward soothing blues and taupe's.  So here are a few pics. There are still a few things I would like to do eventually but I haven't found the right accessories.  The nursery will just have to develop as he does.

 The bedding was custom made from HauteBaby in Dallas and the glider/recliner by Best chairs (storytime series) is one of the most comfortable chairs I've ever sat in. Up close, it is upholstered in a paisley to match the bumper pads. My personal favorite part of the room is the chandelier. Not exactly masculine but he's a baby. The rug, safari animals and rug were all ordered by my mom.

How adorable is this painting by Rachel of The Peek-A-Bootique? She made it to match my bedding.  I got the hooks from Hobby Lobby and hung them myself underneath the canvas.  I just couldn't resist taking a pic of Aiden to show ya'll how he sleeps (and no I do not lay my child down to sleep in a crib with the pads in.  This was strictly while I took the pics)

The crib is by Bratt for Restoration Hardware and I love this ceramic pacifier holder my aunt gave me.

The dresser was Ben's grandmother's that I had made into a changing table.  And how adorable are these shoes my mom gave me?

On a separate note today Aiden is 1month old! I can hardly believe it.  I guess time really does fly when you are running around like a crazy person trying to get a newborn on a schedule.  Some days, I don't know where my mind goes.  Like yesterday, I was so tired and wanted to make peanut butter brownies for our monthly Supper Club.  I forgot the peanut butter mix that makes the brownies rise.  So I made peanut butter fudge instead (and then I chose to leave it at home)!  I look forward to seeing my baby boy grow.

Weight: 9lbs.

Height: 22 inches

Milestones: On Aug. 17th he actually looked at me and smiled and knew who I was.

Started 1 tsp of rice formula on Aug. 16 to help gain weight.

Feeds every 3-4 hours during the day.

Sleeping 5-6 hours when we put him down at night.

Clothing Size: 0-3 month/Newborn (we haven't grown out of any outfits yet)

And We're Back

I know many of you already know what's been going on with Aiden but I am more or less writing to document our journey over the past week.  After 2 return visits last week to the pediatrician we were admitted into the PICU at St. Francis on Friday afternoon.  When I had arrived at the ped office Friday, my impression was I was just there for a weight check.  I had been on that Thursday and Aiden hadn't gained any weight.  After talks with out pediatric cardiologist we decided to increase his milk intake to 3 oz. and add Neosure, which is a supplement to help babies gain weight.  Therefore, I just knew on Friday when we returned that he would have gained an ounce. 

I arrived at the office and unfortunately Ben couldn't go with me because he had gotten a kidney stone that morning and was in severe pain.  When the nurse weighted Aiden I almost died.  He had lost 2 ounces over a day with the supplements I had been giving him.  When Dr. Slusher came in she immediately called Dr. King.  Over the past several days his breathing had increased and that along with the weight loss are 2 of the vital signs of heart failure.  When she came back in the room, she told me to go to the PICU and be prepared to pack your bags and be airlifted to Oschner in New Orleans for surgery.  As soon as I got in the car I broke down. Ben met me at a gas station, hopped in the car with me, and we headed to Monroe.  Even though it wasn't an emergency, we had our friend who is a CECP coach with Ben and full time sheriff escort us to the Ouachita line so we could get there faster. 

Ben did really well until all the nurses started hooking him up tot he machines and poking at him.  Since he was in heart failure, they couldn't get an IV or any blood to come out of his veins and for the first time since he was born we saw real tears coming down his face.  It was horrible to be that helpless.  Another Xray was done and this time it did show fluid in his lungs. Dr. King was out of town but was constantly checking in on us. I just can't say enough about him.  He was immediately started on Digoxin which is for heart failure as well as Lasik which is a diuretic to help the blood flow out of the heart and away from the lungs.  Because his respirations were so high (over 80 breathes a minute), we could only feed him about an ounce every 3 hours from a bottle so he wouldn't aspirate.  Could you imagine how mad you would be if you could only have like a cracker every 3 hours? 

Saturday came and went and he seemed to be doing better. Early Sunday we had another Xray.  There was still some fluid in the lungs but not as much.  Dr. King got back from out of town and made his way up to St. Francis to check on us.  He then started Aiden on medicine to calm his blood pressure and prevent backflow of the heart.  It typically takes 72-96 hours for the heart failure medicine to work so we knew we weren't going home any time soon.  He informed us that Dr. Lucas from Oschner would actually be in town on Tuesday and he wanted us to meet with him to talk about surgery.  Thankfully we were able to move into a room that had an actual door on Sunday which allowed us to get some sleep instead of a space with just a curtain that you close for privacy. 

Monday we repeated an Echo cardiogram to see if the size of the hole in Aiden's heart was still the same  size and it was.  I didn't really expect it to get any smaller since the 10 days when we first saw it.  By the end of the day Monday, Aiden's blood pressure was so good that he got to come off one of the medicines.  I also learned how to give him his medicine since I would be in charge when we got home. His breathing continued to decline to about 50 respirations a minute.  They have never been that low since he was born and some of the time I wasn't sure if he was breathing because I was so used to hearing him gasp for air and being able to see his chest move up and down. 
Tuesday was a waiting game.  Dr. Lucas got tied up and couldn't make it up here so Dr. King released us and we will meet him on his next visit to Monroe.  Him and Dr. King did talk and came up with the same consensus.  If the hole in the heart starts to close within the next couple months, then we have bought ourselves at least a year from having to do any surgery.  If it doesn't and he put on weight, then we will probably have to do surgery.  He forewarned us that the first year is the toughest.  After that, things get easier and you learn what to look for and how to manage the complication.  Looks like we will be seeing Dr. King alot this year.  In his own words, "we are going to give God a chance to fix it first and if he doesn't then we will."

I want to just take a moment and say how much I appreciate all the support and prayers that we received.  Ben and I were seriously overwhelmed and we can't say thank you enough.  We felt all your prayers and believe they worked.  To have gone from being told to be prepared to have surgery this weekend to maybe getting to wait a year can only be the grace of God.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Thanks again.

                    Hooking Aiden upto the monitors and trying to start the IV

                                                       Finally getting to eat more

                    We had to go home and get the Sleep Giraffe. Clearly, it worked!

It's True What They Say

Before becoming a parent, I can't recall how many times someone has said, "They grow up too fast," or "I remember when you were just that small."  Well, they were right.  Today my little man is 15 days old and already he is getting so big.  Last week, he had grown 3/4 of an inch and gained 11oz.  Today (6 days later) he has grown another 1/4 inch but unfortunately lost 4oz.  I can't believe how fast he is growing.  Although, I did read that your child will grow 1/4 inch a week somewhere during the first year of their life.  I guess I just couldn't fathom that thought. 

I've had several inquires about his progress so I will start from the beginning and fill you all in and ask for your prayers that God will heal him on his own.  The Friday after we were discharged from the hospital we had a follow up appointment with the pediatrician to check on his jaundice that was so bad while he was in the hospital.  During that visit, the doctor told us she heard a heart murmur and referred us to see Dr. King, the pediatric cardiologist.  Usually, it can take many months to get into see him but fortunately we were able to get in the following week. We went ahead and got our chest x-rays and last Thursday made our way to his office.  During this time, we had countless people tell us that their child had a heart murmur and that everything was fine.  This is a true statement.  Even Dr. King said all babies have a heart murmur and on top of that there are over 1,000 different kinds of murmurs.  Therefore, you really have to know what you are looking out for.  During his visit, he had an Echo cardiogram and an EKG.  The nurse practitioner came in to listen to his pulses and get our general information and then Dr. King came into see us.  Let me say how impressed I was with him.  I had always heard great things but this man seriously is a genius.  He has invented 9 procedures for children and before the results had even come in from the Echo he had made the diagnosis based off of the x-ray and EKG. 

So here is Aiden's diagnosis.  Basically he has Congenital Heart Disease which means he was born with heart problems.  He has 3 things wrong with his heart.  1. PFO-this is an atrial septic defect in which there is an abnormal opening between the right and left atria. 2. Supervalvar Pulmonary Stenosis-this is a ventricular septal defect where there is a narrowing of the lower ventricle making blood flow difficult.  It is of some concern and they may have to put a balloon in it to open it up later.  We are watching it for now.  3. Ventricular Septal Defect (aka VSD). This is what concerns him the most.  There is a hole in his ventricle causing higher pressure in the left ventricle which causes a shunning of blood from the right side to the left.  Usually, if there is a hole it is okay.  However, his is 6mm which is very large.  A grown human would have a hole around 1.25mm.  So what do we do?  In his own words we give God a chance to fix it first.  Alot of times the hole will close on its own.  We do have 3 years to wait it out.  If it doesn't close then we will go in surgically and repair it.  This affects 1 in 1,000 babies and of these affected 1 in 100 have the ventricular defect rather than the aortic septal defect which is much more serious.

As of today, we had a 2 week appointment with Dr. Slusher and Aiden's breathing really concerned her.  We had a second chest x-ray which thankfully came back normal but he had lost 4 oz.  This is a major concern because babies that have VSD often can go into heart failure if they have trouble breathing and/or are not gaining weight.  When I heard this I became very panicked but heart failure in babies is not the same as in adults.  It is treatable with medication and goes away. We go back to the doctor in the morning and Aiden needs to have gained 1 ounce or we will have to consult with Dr. King about next steps.  We are hopeful for the best!  Please pray for us.