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! 

Nolan is 3 months old today!

 Hey everyone! 

Nolan is 3 months today! He is getting so big. Growing and changing everyday! Brent went on a hunting trip to Oklahoma and was gone for four days. He could not believe how much Nolan had changed when he got home! We have great news! We went to the cardiologist last Wednesday and Nolan's blood pressure and oxygen saturations were much better. We did not have to change any medicines this time. The cardiologist also said that we may be able to wait a little longer than we thought to do the second surgery! Which she is thinking more like February now. That's really great! That means we have more time for his left ventricle to grow. In her professional opinion it will not grow although it has a little bit. We believe in miracles and the power of prayer! If it doesn't grow we will have a procedure called the Glenn. As for now, Nolan is doing great! He now weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces and is 24 inches long! He can lay on the floor and reach for his toys and he loves to talk. He has also started teething already! We are still working on a schedule and working on putting him down more! We hold him and love on him all day everyday and he loves it! But I have to go back to work in November. It's going to be a little rough on both of us I believe. He will be in great hands though (with my mom and his daddy) and hopefully we will be sleeping by then!  Also, we can finally get his shots! After the surgery he had a blood transfusion so we had to wait on the shots. But we will be able to get him out and about just in time for flu season ha ha! Our whole family was told to get the flu shot to protect him. I will update after his next appointment! Please pray that his blood pressure and oxygen sats are still good! Also pray that his left ventricle grows! Thanks y'all!

Joshua 1:9 

P.S. I wrote a blog on September 30th and forgot to post it. I posted that one tonight too. 

3 months old today!!! Go Nolan! 

He loves to sit and talk! 

He loves football! 

He tries to sit up on his own! 

He is excited about Halloween! 

He likes watching football with his big brother!