Hospital admission

Hey everyone, 

Nolan has been doing great since his surgery 3 weeks ago. He no longer seems to be in pain at all. Praise god for that. There is nothing worse in the world than to see your baby hurt. He loves his feet these days and blowing bubbles! His post op check up went well. We had a wonderful Christmas after that. Santa was really good to hud and Nolan. We went to the pediatrician Monday and she was very pleased with Nolan as well. We had our first follow up with the cardiologist this morning. On the echo she found that some blood was pooling in his ivc. Long story short he has what they think may be a small blood clot in his ivc (this is the major vessel in his heart that was moved during his last surgery.) This is not very uncommon after the procedure that he had. We are in the hospital at batson until at least Saturday to start him on lovenox shots ( a blood thinner). he is in great spirits just hanging out and watching sports center (his favorite show). Please pray that he gets his IV started with one stick. It's always hard on all of us to stick him. They will be here any moment to do that. And please pray that the clot resolves soon. He is so tough and we have faith this will all be fine. Thank you in advance🙏🙏🙏

Joshua 1:9 

       Wagon ride yesterday! 

       Playing with his feet

          Watching sports center

Headed home!

Hey Everyone! 

What a week this has been. We are day 8 post op and we are headed home! Praise The Lord! We spent six days in the pediatric ICU and 2 days on the cardiac floor at Batson. Brent and I stayed at the Ronald McDonald house while Nolan was in the PICU. It ended up being the same room we stayed in for the month before Nolan was born! I felt right at home. The surgeons,anesthesiologists, doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers and everyone else involved could not have been better to us! We had a few rocky days with Nolan that scared us to death, but he is doing so well now. It's amazing how dramatic of a difference you can see in a sick baby from one day to the next. One week ago,I would have never imagined we would be going home today! I didn't even beg to stay (like I have in the past ha ha) we are going home with 4 meds and some oxygen. That's it! We can handle this for sure. I never imagined at 30 years old I would be sleeping in a crib, but it happened last night. We are all looking forward to home and our own beds tonight. Thanks everyone for praying for Nolan. Please continue to pray for him as he recovers at HOME! 

Joshua 1:9

Some of my friends from the summer on the babies who went home bulletin board at the Ronald McDonald house. Was so heart warming for me to get to see that! 

    Nolan and his daddy holding hands! 

     My first time to hold him in a week! 

His sweet nurse whitney made him an awesome rattle for the PICU where he couldn't have his own toys! We loved her even though he prefers maroon and white! He even slept with this rattle in his hand. 

          Trying to share his bottle! 

Nolan and I going to his room. He loves those wagon rides! So do we! 

             Baby boy headed home! 

Update 12/13/13

Hey everyone! 

Just wanted to do a quick update this morning. Nolan is still in the PICU and recovering. He has been off the ventilator since Tuesday, which is great! This was a major major surgery and it's just taking him a bit longer to bounce back this time. His surgeon assured me this morning that he is on the right path, he just needs more time and some fine tuning of his meds. He is definitely a tough little baby! He has been opening his eyes and watching a little sports center (his favorite) and holding on to my fingers (my favorite). Just wanted you all to keep the prayers flowing for our little man! I know he will continue to improve today! 

Joshua 1:9

                Nolan and Santa! 

Nolan update

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a quick update before I head to see Nolan! The surgery went well Monday! It was so LONG! He is still In the PICU recovering. We were able to take him off the ventilator yesterday afternoon and he is now breathing on his own! He is not sedated anymore but still on a few pain meds. He looks better and better by the hour. Thank you all so much for the support and prayers. I can't stop thanking God for all he has done and is continuing to do for us!

Joshua1:9

 

     Playing with his feet before surgery! 

Second surgery in the morning

Hey everyone! 

We are headed to Jackson right now. Yucky weather but we are thankful that there is no ice! Nolan's pre-op appointment went as perfectly as we could hope for. His vital signs were the best they have EVER been. The picc team got his blood drawn in one stick. He got mad but he got over it really fast. Thank you for praying. I know it is helping. We also got into the Ronald McDonald house this time. Another great blessing. This morning Nolan has been as happy as can be. I know he is strong enough for this. We are ready to have it behind us now. We have to be there at 5:30 in the morning and they should take him back around 7. Handing him over last time was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Please pray for our strength. Another thing that's difficult is not being able to feed him after midnight. Please pray that he sleeps like he did last time. I don't want him going in upset because he is hungry! I'll try to update some way tomorrow. Thank you for praying. 

Joshua 1:9

Swinging while I got ready this morning! He thinks it's fun to hang out like this 

              First la cabana trip 

Big week for Nolan!

Hey everyone! 

We have been so busy. Sorry I haven't updated sooner. I went back to work November 10th. We all handled it much better than I thought we would! We have been decorating for Christmas on my days off. Nolan loves Christmas decorations! He wanted to grab everything at Paul Michaels and all the Christmas decorations in every store we visit ha ha! He is a fun shopping buddy! He also learned to roll completely over the other day. While I was at work! He has been rolling to his side for quite a while but couldn't get over his arm but now he has it down pat. He enjoys reading books now(being read to.) He is just really full of personality these days. We had him baptized at church on December 1st. It was such a special day. Brent was baptized as well. I was so proud of both of them. They honored my mom that day for her retirement from the mothers morning out program. It was just a really sweet day for our family. Afterwards, we had family and friends over for lunch. We are so thankful for each of you who were there for us on such a special day! So now the time has come for Nolan's second surgery this coming Monday, December 9th. This surgery is more complicated than first one was. This one is an actual open heart surgery where they will be rerouting some major vessels. We are very nervous and not looking forward to what he has to go through. But we don't have a choice and it has to be done. We have been praying for Nolan and his surgery team as well as strength for ourselves to support him through this. We have complete faith that God is going to take perfect care of him. I certainly have my moments of break down and cry. Brent never knows if ill be happy or sad from one moment to the next. But The Lord has blessed us time and time again through this experience with Nolan and we know he is with us. We go tomorrow for pre-op. Please pray for Nolan to not have to be in too much pain through this part. Blood work is no fun. We are going to come home for the weekend and then go back to Jackson Sunday afternoon. I'll try to update when we get there Sunday. We have to be at the hospital really early Monday. He is the first case that morning. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you for being there for us this far. It means more than we are able to express!

Joshua 1:9 

                 First walmart trip! 

       

                   Bulldogs won!!!

Appointments and surgery

Hey everyone! 

Nolan is 15 weeks old today! We took him to the pediatrician last week. She said he looked great. We were able to get 3 of his 2 month shots that day. He took it really well! He was talking and smiling at me then she stuck him! It was so sad  but he only cried about 30 seconds! Made me feel better. He never got fussy or had fever that night so that was a blessing. We have one more shot to get, we would have gotten it today but there was a small mix up. We will get it soon. We saw the cardiologist today. Nolan did so good. He fell asleep on the table getting his echo done which was so awesome. They were able to easily get all the images of his heart that they needed. I know the good Lord was with us because Nolan would never let me put him down and just fall asleep ha ha. The cardiologist decided it was time to schedule surgery. He will have the Glenn procedure done on December 9th. His left ventricle hasn't grown enough. I have faith he will handle this one as well as he did the first one. Please keep us in your prayers. I still plan to go back to work this Sunday. Going to be a big deal for us! 

Joshua 1:9

                Superman! 

          First 5k! 

        He is so fun to play with!