Slatosky Family

2011-02-06T11:05:00.002-07:00

I again start with an apology for not posting for so long!

In my last post I mentioned concerns for my mother. She was able to have her issue mostly taken care of. She will need to be seen by doctors for the specific issue at certain time intervals, but she is out of immediate danger. She does still have unrelated pain, which could use prayers- and still peace and strength.

We are doing well here. Joey is enjoying preschool, and Jules is as well. I travel for classes some days of the week, so we have had to choose a daycare (and preschool) and it's worked out wonderfully. The kids are both excited to go there, and excited to come home. I am hoping to avoid having them in daycare more than 3 days a week, but we will see where classes lead.

Juliet is doing wonderfully with her health. She is a hyper little girl, and she is also a snuggler. It's nice to watch the kiddos run around and wrestle.

Classes are going well. I have Biology 102, Applied Calculus and English 102. Next semester I'm trying for Chem 111, ecology, speech and maybe statistics.

Matt is working as usual, and enjoying some video games. He's been trying out the Rift beta and Black Ops. I am still playing WoW and enjoying it!

We've also still been enjoying cooking delicious food, such as the flat iron steak Matt cooked the night before last. YUM!

2010-10-25T13:26:00.002-06:00

Sorry I have not updated in a long time, I have been quite busy with school. All are well, except I ask for prayers for my mother, for healing. I do not wish to go into details on a public blog, but if you wish to know details you may contact me privately. Simply pray for this: For her to have an easing of pain, for her to have full and complete recovery and for peace and strength.

The kids are doing great, Joe is in Preschool and enjoying it greatly, and can make it most of the way through his ABC's, though doesn't recognize all the letters when he sees them. Juliet is a very active and intelligent girl who astounds me each day with new concepts, but is very bullheaded and demanding. They are both shining stars in my life, and I love watching them develop into who they are. Juliet and Joe are both in love with dragons that are handmade by their Great-Aunt Simone and given to them by her and their second cousins. They like to snuggle up with them and watch How To Train Your Dragon. My hubby and I are working hard, me with school and home, and him with all the stress and strain of work.

We enjoyed a day at ISU for the Science and Engineering Fair. The kids were a bit young for it, but I could tell they definitely had fun and learned a lot. We also watched the Chemistry Dept's Chemistry Magic Show. Mixed results with the kids, fascination mixed with fear (mostly Jules was afraid of flaming balloons, but totally fine with other explosions). Flaming Gummy Bears, also fun!

I have a Biology 101 exam tomorrow, and have to get back to studying, so there is my brief update!!

2010-08-09T12:27:00.003-06:00

I have started a journal for bible study:

http://slatslj.blogspot.com/2010/08/for-my-first-study-i-wish-to-make.html

In it comments and such are totally welcome on what I have written :D

I'm terrible about keeping such things up to date, but maybe one on the bible will help me get better about it.

As for life: things are going well, I've had a crazy summer and more craziness to come.

Kids are great, and they enjoyed a nice trip to WA and OR for three weeks with me, and we missed their daddy greatly while gone. We had loads of fun though! We saw family, and I have lots of pictures. Before that we got to see Matt's parents and brother and his family in Island Park.

^ Joe and Jules enjoying the company of an octopus at the Seattle Aquarium

There are a lot more pictures, but I am just putting these here for now. I'll make a picasa album of the best, and link it. There were a lot of things we did which still need to be taken off the camera.

I do not have pictures of our time at Detroit Lake, sadly- aside from a couple fuzzy ones taken on my phone. We had a great deal of fun on the lake.

We also went to a waterfall, I do have pictures of that with me, just not uploaded to picasa.

We will be leaving on a camping trip to Redfish Lake soon, and from there I will go to Sacremento to spend time with my Mom's side of the family. Looking forward to it!

Easter Collage, 2010

2010-04-16T13:25:00.001-06:00

2010-03-18T16:12:00.001-06:00

2010-03-17T22:07:00.002-06:00

In which I get into the ring and fight pneumonia.

2010-03-11T10:57:00.002-07:00

So. I was in the hospital Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Via the ER.

Here's what happened:

Last Monday I had a bit of a cough.

Tuesday it was a frequent cough.

Wednesday was Juliet's appointment, and I had pretty frequent cough and wore a mask.

Thursday my cough went spastic, and I started feeling wonky.

Friday I developed a fever and said "OK. Time for Community Care."

- They ran a couple of tests, and gave me prescription cough medicine and said to come back if it got worse. They gave me a rocefin shot to try to fight any possible bacteria causing the issue.

Saturday my fever reached 103 and my fingers had turned blue once. Mind you, I'd never seen my fingers turn blue even when freakishly cold. I found it mildly fascinating and vastly scary. I started seeing spots. Community Care prescribes antibiotics and an inhaler, and says to come back if there's no improvement. As a parting gift they give me another rocefin shot mixed with anther, stronger antibiotic. Now my bum hurts on both sides.

Sunday- bright an early I'm in again. Still feverish, barely functioning, coughing constantly and throwing up. The last meal I'd had was cottage cheese and pineapple on Friday morning, and was getting rapidly weaker. Dehydrated. This time the doc said "This is beyond us, or what can be done at home. Go to the ER!"

Yay. ER. Now. By this time I'd developed a migraine from all the coughing. Every alarm, beep, holler, every flickering of light sent me reeling. Imagine a gal curled on a hospital bed, coughing, trying to hold her head together at the same time. At least it felt like I had to hold my head together. Coughing causes some pain, but not much. Really, none of the pneumonia issues were causing pain, they were simply draining me, melting me away. The migraine on the other hand, added an element of severe pain. I asked a nurse for something for the pain, and she gave me dilaudid. For an amazing (hour maybe?) the migraine pain was gone.

The docs drew all kinds of blood for tests, got fluids going, and scratched their heads. They said I had an infection SOMEWHERE, but my lungs looked clear. They'd eliminated all the normal pneumonia culprits and were on to more exotic stuffs.

They moved me out of the ER to continue treatment upstairs in the regular rooms because they'd finally gotten me stable. There I remained, with a migraine being relieved by dilaudid and little ability to rest. When my doc came in in the morning (tuesday) he gave me a medicine that cleared up my migraine. It was PURE BLISS to have that nasty thing gone. I could sit up, even watch tv a little!

Wednesday morning the doc said that the tests were still out on Legionnaires' Disease and Whooping Cough. He said that it sounds more like Legionnaires' (wha??). He also said that my treatments are working, that what is being done now can be done at home if I wish. Goodness did I wish to get out of the hospital!

So now I am home. Still not sure which type of pneumonia I have but I'm getting better. I just have to watch out for any fever or whatnot. I am weak as can be, I sound like a car with bad breaks mixed with a barking dog. My kids are with their Grandmom and Grandpap. My hubby is taking care of me like an absolute hero.

And again, dear God. I am begging. Give me a BORING year- healthwise. I am really tired of this, and I don't know how much more I can take. As it is I may have weakened lungs for the rest of my life. I'm on umpteen different kinds of medicine, and all I want is to be strong for my family. Please, I'm begging!

A story, and an update on Juliet.

2010-03-05T10:17:00.003-07:00

She was a vivacious, beautiful, passionate woman who lived life to the fullest. She hated that her skin had wrinkled, that her skin began to sag, that her vision faded and her hearing was almost gone.

She lived in a box, hearing only muffled voices, thinking people were not even interested in her opinion anymore. She said "Why don't you talk to me anymore?" even though we wanted to- we were tired of yelling*.

She was stubborn. She did not want to wear a hearing aid- that's for OLD people- and besides, what she heard was overwhelmed by the ringing in her ears.

She has survived two amazing men in her life, and her closest friend is her daughter. She holds her great-grandaughter close, who bears a matching scar to her own, down her chest, reminding her that even her own scar is a thing of beauty.

She earned her scar when she was 75*. Far too old for a major heart surgery. Many doctors told her there was no hope. She should just enjoy her final times with her family.

One doctor saw hope. He said it could be done, and it was. She earned 13* more years with her bravery. Then, in the year before she left, she held her great-granddaughter with a matching scar. A scar that not long ago would have been forfeit, as nothing could be done.

As her time drew near, emphysema and a broken heart finally catching up to her- her kidneys shutting down and her liver losing function, the doctors- including the one who had given her her extra years- said that all that could be done had been done.

Her daughter could not believe it. Her daughter needed her mommy there- her mommy who had been her companion in dark hours and joy. As her daughter leaves the room she turns to her son: "Please let me go." Her elder living son is strong enough. He's seen so much, his heart is tender, but more logical than her youngest child. She knew her daughter's heart would simply break to hear she wanted to go home, to see her eldest child who had passed on so many years before, and the men in her life that she had so adored.

She had been given the richness of hearing all of her children's voices in those days. Her daughter had done the hardest possible thing to do- calling her brothers to say that they should travel to see their mother, one last time. Even so, her heart refused to admit that this was really the end of her mother- how can someone who lived SO FULLY be going? What will I do without her?

Her son cried. The doctors had heard her say the words as well, and they knew that this was the time. Her daughter wept when she was told her mother's words.

A short while later, the room grows quiet. Her daughter has gone to eat, her son in law and her granddaughter's family all gone away to have a sandwich. Her eldest living son sits by her side.

She feels it is finally time to let go. She did not want to let go while her daughter was there- ever showing her intense love for her only girl, and there is no better hand to hold her than one of her precious boys.

Her breathing changes. She begins to leave. Her eldest living son calls her daughter and everyone else back. Everyone surrounds her and cries their farewells. Her great-granddaughter does not understand, she lets out a baby girl whimper.

Someday it will be explained better, but for now her Granny sleeps. Her mommy cries, her Nana howls in pain, her great-uncle weeps, her Pop-Pop holds Nana and tears run down his cheeks...

____________________________

I wrote this, a sort of memory of my grandmother's death. I know it may not all be true, and facts which I'm unsure of have asterisks. All others are subjective, memories of my own, and my memory is not always the best. I have been known to remember things that did not happen, and things that happened as being different than they actually were- so please take it with a grain of salt. This is purely a reflection of my emotional understanding of my beloved grandma's last day- and by far doesn't encapsulate the whole of that amazing woman. She was ... so amazing! She was strong, willful and vibrant.

She loved Christmas. She loved Vegas and the Beach. She was a California Girl. She was supremely generous (that was why she loved Christmas- she LOVED giving gifts!). I miss her so much....

_______________________________

Aaaand Juliet!

Juliet had her sedated echo on Wednesday. We traveled to Salt Lake City and stayed at a hotel overnight, then headed to Primary's in the morning. I sat with Jules while she was sedated and her daddy took Joey on a tour of that awesome hospital. As usual, she was taken care of so well!

The results: *drumroll*

NO sedated echo for TWO years! The doc forsees no issues with her surgical sites, and said that the only thing he sees is what is normal for the TGA repair (One of the vessels is a tich wider than it should be) but that is not a big deal. He said that if it were to turn out to be an issue, it wouldn't be one for quite some time, and that the chances of that are very very slim based upon what he saw. He said that the problems that could arise (narrowing around scar tissue etc) are not present and that she's doing GREAT! Praise God! I am thankful every day for the whole team that treated her. They are artists! *jumps for joy*

In a year she'll have her normal checkup down in Poky, and then when she's almost 4 we'll go down again for the next echo.

The only forseeable reason to go to salt lake before then is if it's decided that she needs surgery on her urinary tract (the urinary reflux) and it's better for kids who have had heart surgery to be sedated by those familiar with their needs. She's not had a UTI in a very long time, so I'm betting she won't need to have that done.

2010-02-09T13:01:00.002-07:00

February 7th - 14th is CHD Awareness week

* Sometimes during early pregnancy, a baby's heart fails to form properly, resulting in structural abnormalities known as Congenital Heart Defects. Although some defects are genetic, in many cases the cause is unknown.

* Nearly 1 out of every 100 children born, are born with a CHD! Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths, and the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States.

* In the United States, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.

* In the last decade death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by almost 30% due to advances made through research. However, only one penny of every dollar donated to the American Heart Association goes towards congenital heart defect research.

Copied from Hollie's Blog.

Juliet has her next cardiac checkup soon. She'll have to be sedated for it.

We've all been sick. The kids have been snot running down the nose, hacking and crying sick. I've had some kind of severe UTI that has left me with quite a bit of flank pain. Matt is getting sick as well. We're praying for it all to be over soon.

My mom and dad have moved to Oregon. They're sort of still in the process, but they're both over there in an RV for now. We're sitting one of their dogs- Roxy and a kitty- Cassie.

I think that's all I can really type for now. Exhausted.

TAPIWLL Pt 1

2009-12-23T20:40:00.005-07:00

Take a picture, it will last longer.

As I go through things which have come from my parents' house (as there were things which I had never taken with me when I moved out) I find things which hold nostalgic value but I know I will never wear again. I shall post them here and to facebook to preserve their personal value and to tell stories.

The above shirt was one I got for attending a conference for Texas Association of Future Educators. Somewhere I have the speech I delivered for TAFE which was very well rated by the scorers, but did not win (the one that did win was a direct plagiarism of a story from Chicken Soup for the Soul). I find to this day that I still want to be a teacher- hence my return to school next semester.

Morris the Cat. I loved this shirt. It was a sort of evolution of my love for kitties and my willingness to wear them on my person. Now I am far more likely to wear something with a simple vaguely-feline shape on it. Nor do I have many kitty decorations in my home. We do have two living, breathing ones that decorate our furniture most of the time.

When I was in High School I was engaged to a nice guy named Robin. He was going to Mississippi State and wanted me to go there too. This was a shirt from the Wesley foundation there. Thankfully, I went to UofH, and then events conspired to place me with my darling husband. Robin is married as well, and last I heard was doing well :-)

My friends and I were 'into' Sailor Moon in high school. I was Serena (middle) and Steph was Luna (purple kitty at bottom) and Lisa was Raye (Upper left). The other folks were a bit variable. You know how high school friendships are, odd and complex. Fun times, Fun times.

Ok... well there were a few more shirts (over at my facebook page) which have other stories, but these were the main ones.

2009-12-18T13:32:00.001-07:00

Ugh!

2009-12-01T13:45:00.007-07:00

Well... Our hard drive crashed and all the pictures saved to the computer and not online are lost. This really upsets me, and goes to show that procrastination is BAD.

Points of interest in our lives lately:

*Jules is scheduled for a sedated echo in the first week of March.

*Joe and Jules make a terribly devious duo when they work together to cause mischief.

*We had a fantastic stay in Island Park for Thanksgiving.

Mom and Dad Slatosky- They invited us up for T-day.

My Mom and Dad. It was hard to not have Grandma there. It was our first Thanksgiving without her.

Matt and I.

The Kiddos.

*Pray for my Mom and Dad as they make a transition in their life- and that my dad's interview goes well.

*Pray for safe travels for Matt's Mom and Dad as they travel to NZ for their 'winter' fun. :-)

*Pray for me to lose weight. I'll do my end, and I ask your prayers for the other end. I'm on Metformin now, as I have insulin resistance. I'm working on adjusting the sugar intake in my diet (though it's already a lot lower than the average American's) and am trying to get back into working out. The medicine has made me feel very weak, but I am feeling like I'm recovering from the dosage adjustment.

*Pray as always for Juliet's continued good health, and for Joseph to have fewer (painful) rashes.

*Pray for us as we go into our first Christmas without Grandma.

Arg!

2009-10-19T08:09:00.003-06:00

It seems I always get side tracked when I am determined to update our blog more frequently. In recent news:

*Juliet is doing great! If she's caught the H1N1 virus she shows no signs of it. We know it's been going around in the area, and we've been exposed to it. Either we have not picked it up, or we're rockin' our immune systems.

*Matt has been busy busy busy with work! He's got a lotta deadlines and such this month, so pray for his sanity please!

*We're going to a Halloween party hosted by the HDBA, and an old friend might join us with some of her new friends. Fun fun! Our kiddos may be in the care of my parents if they are feeling better-

*Please pray for my parents, as my dad recovers from neck surgery and my mom is suffering from mysterious sinus symptoms. Her sinuses are causing her a great deal of pain, and the doctors aren't really helping much.

*Joe is up in Island Park until tomorrow! He's having great fun with his Granmom and Granpap (Matt's parents). Hopefully when he gets back we can introduce new forms of discipline to try to get his behavior on track.

*I'm going back to school! I've decided for sure that I am going to major in biology. Once I get my bachelor's I'll go through an accelerated education course to teach secondary education. This was my original goal when I was in high school, and not much has changed in nine years as far as what I think I'd be good at.

At some point soon I plan to finish my previous series of pictures from our trip this summer. After that I shall no doubt have other pictures I can post from Halloween and such.

Major update continued [The Incident with the Bird]

2009-08-26T14:36:00.019-06:00

such a beautiful place. We very much enjoyed our stay there. We walked along the beach at night, we went to shops, we had barbeque burgers, we ate at some very nice restaurants.
We played in the waves with family.

We took the kids to a playground by the public beach.

And then there was an incident with a seagull. We were enjoying some breakfast on the balcony when I (stupidly) fed the birds some food. One of the little buggers became VERY BOLD.

He even took some food right from my fingers, and I was not expecting it, so I got a little pinch. No blood or anything.

But we got some seriously cool pics.

WHAT YOU LOOKIN' AT? WANNA PIECE OF ME?????

Julie-belle snuggling her kitty.

One night several of us went to the beach and the kids played in the room. When we got back they were passed out.

And my poor daddy scraped his foot badly on the shore when he was tumbled by a wave. The waves were pretty intense, and this got pretty badly infected. Thankfully our next stop was seeing my Aunt and Uncle in Placerville. My Aunt is an MD, so she was able to help. More on that tomorrow (or Friday).

Major update [Picture Heavy]

2009-08-25T12:15:00.039-06:00

Ok. I know this will take a while. *sits comfortably*

There are a lot of things I wish to post about today. Hopefully once I am 'caught up' I will get in the habit of posting more frequently. *Sips Lemonade*

Pictures to tell a story:

We went on quite a long trip to California recently. We were celebrating my Grandma Nonie's life. We visited many places that she loved and spent time with family (one of her favorite things to do). The above picture is traveling toward Nevada- as Grandma LOVED gambling.

We stayed at Primm, Nevada. Some of my favorite memories with my Grandma take place here. We'd travel from SoCal to Stateline and there was always plenty for me to do. What with crazy rollercoasters and an awesome arcade. Not to even mention the pools.
Here we captured a PRICELESS look on my hubby's face:

"Me? Ride Desperado? LOLWut?"
------
Next stop: Disneyland. Now this was not so much a part of the memorial trip as a chance for us to do something with the kids that will probably not happen again until they are MUCH MUCH older. My parents graciously provided for all of us on this trip- including Disneyland. Amazing generosity!
We stayed at a low priced (but amazingly beautiful) hotel nearby and spent most of a day in the park.

On our way in, Joseph caught a little snuggle with Donald Duck. Donald looked sad that he didn't want to hug him, so Joseph decided he wanted to make him feel better.

"Why do you have such a big nose?"

Joseph did not quite understand why we had to stand in lines. This picture was taken just after we rode Alice's ride and were in line for It's A Small World

Somehow the local critters were turned into hedges there.

So

Much

Fun.

We were so busy having fun that we did not get very many pictures.

Mom and I escaped to ride the 'fun' rides. As in the rides that are actual rollercoasters ;-) We waited in a very long line for Space Mountain. We also rode the Matterhorn. Later on JOSEPH rode the Matterhorn with Nana and Pop-pop. Can you believe that!
Later on we got tired, and there was so much more that happened... it was so very fun!

-----
The next day we headed to LAGUNA BEACH!

First I shall put in the pictures of the memorial we had at Pacific View Memorial Park.

Grandma's Ashes. This is a picture of her when she was much younger.

Here we all are (Left to right): Dad, Mom, Uncle Randy, Me, Juliet, Aunt Valerie, Kim (top), Julia (bottom) Aunt Carol, Kyle, Joseph, James, Emily, Aunt Lynn, Uncle John. Ellie is in her mom's lap, but you can barely see her (her mom is Aunt Valerie). Matt is not in this pic because he was behind the camera.

We miss her very much.

The cemetary is simply gorgeous. And it does have a view of the pacific ocean.

My Cousin Emily and Joseph had great fun together:

My handsome daddy.

Ellie with roses.

Julia with flowers

Julia praying.

Juliet 'improving' the arrangement on my Uncle Gary's grave.

Matt and Julia

Kyle and Ellie

Grandma's Gravesite, and the flowers we all brought for her.

The graves are: Uncle Gary, My Pop-Pop, Grandma. Then there's my biological grandfather and his wife.
-----------------
back to the beach!
We stayed at the Capri Laguna and enjoyed many wonderful days playing at the beach.
Playing at the beach makes little children tired:

Joe was unsure of what to do when he was being fought over by two beautiful girls.

One of The Beautiful Girls and her Beautiful Mama

The view from our room:

To BE CONTINUED: The rest of the trip, and what has gone on since then.

Semi-Update

2009-08-10T22:45:00.003-06:00

I really should post a longer post at some point soon, many many pictures and lots to say! But for now I give you this: Juliet is walking! She's getting so good that I suspect she'll be walking more than crawling within a few days. She's just amazing!

2009-08-01T18:55:00.002-06:00

Paul Cardall created an awesome video and Juliet is in it! She's in the names that start with a J :-)

2009-07-14T12:04:00.002-06:00

I found this over at forevernevernalways

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I am saved"
I'm whispering "I get lost!"
"That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are too visible
but God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority.
I only know I'm loved.

-Author Carol Wimmer - Copyright 1988

It is so true... So many times I think when people hear me say that I'm a Christian, that it means I am going to judge them, that I'm thinking I'm superior to them. It's so not true! It means I'm unable to live without my God. It means I'm weak and I need His strength. It means I'm flawed and I fail. It means I need to know I'm safe in His arms. It also means I'm capable of SO MUCH love.

2009-07-07T16:27:00.001-06:00

So, here are some pictures from the birthday party! Also included are pics from the weekends and such surrounding the party. Happy Birthday to my Joseph (turned 3 on the 25th of June) and my Juliet, who turned 1 today!

2009-07-07T09:39:00.004-06:00

This week's theme is a Favorite Photo. Here is one of mine:

I love this picture because when Juliet was that age, it was very rare to have them both look at the camera. She was freshly off of oxygen and a feeding tube. He was enjoying being able to touch and love on his Sissy, and I had just woken up from one of the few nights that I actually got to get a lot of sleep....

In other news, I am going to try to post my pictures from their birthday after I
Clean this (computer) room,
Set up a turtle tank,
Clean the living room,
Laundry....
So who knows when that will be!

What a few weeks!

2009-07-06T15:41:00.001-06:00

Wow. We did a lot! We went to Lava, we went to Island Park... We had a lot of fun since I last posted- and most of all we had the kiddo's birthday party!

Pictures to come!

Birthdays!

2009-06-12T16:25:00.005-06:00

First: Happy [early] Birthday to my DADDY! His birthday is tomorrow and I am ever so proud of my dad.

He rocks.
That is him, tired and weary at the hospital holding his grand-daughter as she was kept alive before her surgery.

He rocks.

In other birthday news! The kiddos are having a birthday party together:

I am so proud of that invitation, you have no idea.

I made it entirely from pictures and digital scans of scrap paper and ribbons. The blotted out portions tell you that if you want to come you can comment and I'll give you details in some way that is not quite so public.

**also: my twitter feed appears terribly broken. If you have any idea why, please comment! Much appreciated**

** Also, redux: *facepalm* I cannot believe I made a mistake like that on the date. If only I'd noticed BEFORE I had them printed. I will have to decide if the mistake is worth the $4 to have them reprinted. That should read Thursday, July 2nd 2009

One of 'those' posts.

2009-06-04T08:53:00.002-06:00

I don't often do these, but here we go!

A - Age: 27
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Animal dookie.
D - Dog's name: Peanut
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee. Lots of Coffee
F - Favorite color: Purple. Specifically lavender.
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'8"
I - Instruments you play: Used to play the Clarinet.
J - Job title: Stay at home mom right now. I do also work part time at Apple Athletic in exchange for membership.
K - Kid(s): 2
L - Living arrangements: Pretty house
M - Mom's name: June
N - Nicknames: Does "Honey" count? Though Matt does call me "Sweetness" as well.
O - Overnight hospital stay: Too many to count? Ok.. so ... I'll do reasons: Car accident when I was 12. Kidney stones when I was 9 mos pregnant (2 wk stay) with my son, and then after his birth a few days later. Kidney infection. After giving birth to my daughter. After my daughter's heart surgery during the room-in. Hehe...
P - Pet Peeve: Improper use of apostrophes. "G**d**n it" being used. "Jesus F*ng Christ" being used. Towels rubbing together.
Q - Quote from a movie: "All you need is love" Moulin Rouge
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: Do in-laws count? I have no blood siblings, but I have an amazing brother and sister in law and their families.
T - Time you wake up: Depends. Did Joe fall asleep on time or later?
U - Underwear: ?? What kind of question is that? I wear a nursing bra.
V - Vegetable you dislike: Bitter lettuces. LOVE spinach, romaine and now mountain spinach.
W - Ways/Reasons you run late: Always kids. Don't run late all that often though.
X - X-rays you've had: Um. Hehehehe... Leg, neck, abdomen, and MRI of head.
Y - Yummy food you make: Spanakopitas!!!!!
Z - Zoo animals you like: All the big cats.

We took some pics recently that I'll post.

We're going to be on TV

2009-05-29T21:55:00.004-06:00

Ok, so we're going to be on TV. Seriously! On Sunday, sometime between 9:00 and 9:30 AM we'll be interviewed by KIDK Channel 3. It's all part of the Telethon they are having to raise money for the Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation. We're delighted and all, considering Primary Children's Medical Center staff saved our daughter's life.

Here's the simple diagram I came up with to explain her defect, and how they fixed it. :-D

Rest in peace....

2009-05-26T18:55:00.003-06:00

Well.... My grandma has gone home to Jesus. This picture is of the first few moments that she saw her pooch- Bonnie- the day before her passing. She was an AMAZING woman who was always so generous and kind. In this picture: FOUR generations! Grandma, my Mom, Myself and my daughter. Four whole generations of women! Amazing, eh?

We were there for her last moments. It was very hard, and I contemplated walking about five miles after it was all over, but opted to just sort of walk in circles. Heh. Life is so full of so many things, and I can say my grandma Nonie lived a VERY full life. 88 (ALMOST 89) years of amazing life.

*toast* Here's to Grandma!

2009-05-19T18:32:00.008-06:00

Please pray for my Grandma (Margaret Drummer) who's in the hospital right now. Her oxygen saturation is extremely low despite being on 12 litres of O2.
Here are some pictures of her:

Dozing on Christmas day
Snuggling her Joey

Snuggling her Juliet

2009-05-18T09:58:00.002-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

So. My "Not Me! Monday". I've already started out with my imperfect mama stuff- My son woke up at 8am and I just let him stay in his room and kick the door with his feet and play with that sproingy doorstop. I even pulled Juliet into bed with me because I knew what would happen if I let the little monster out- CHAOS for the entirety of the rest of the day. So I enjoyed my noisy respite in the early morning for just a LITTLE longer and then let him out. He then came in and jumped on my bed and started hollering "Nummy? Nummy? NummMY PRREEEEEZE!!!!!" Ahhh... Chaos.

2009-04-28T13:37:00.004-06:00

On Sunday, April 19th my Great-Grandma Susie passed away.

She was an amazing woman and the sort of woman I hope to be as I grow older.

I wish I could have brought my children to see her, but I know she enjoyed pictures of us. She was a prayer warrior, and I know that she absolutely RAN into Jesus' arms when she went home. She was not fearful of death, and knew that when her time came she'd be in the best place she could possibly be. Here's to you Gramma Susie!

New Video!

2009-04-27T15:49:00.001-06:00

Crazy week...

2009-04-09T17:43:00.006-06:00

My kiddos had quite a bit of socializing this week.

Last Sunday Juliet learned that Oreos are yummy.
On Monday she learned they are not as much fun once your body is through with them.

On Tuesday we went to a bible study with Alese, and took the dogs for a short walk afterwards. Peanut attempted to strangle herself, which resulted in our now knowing that she and truck beds do not mix. She's ok, but it was a bit scary.

Momma came by and took us to JC Penney.
She bought Juliet a beautiful dress for Easter, and a cute suit for Joseph.

On Tuesday night we went to another bible study for the young married folks at our church. This is what Juliet wore:

She proceeded to look cute while attempting to electrocute herself with an electrical outlet. I pulled her away about 20 times before she got the idea that I did not want her to play with it.

My dad needed to have a procedure done in an attempt to help relieve some of his chronic neck pain. We visited with him and mom at Mountain View while he was waiting.
(Please don't be upset that I posted this, Mum, I love the pic! You are so beautiful!)

On Wednesday our church's Mom & Me group had an Easter egg hunt for all the young'uns. There was much fun, and much delicious food!
On Wednesday night we enjoyed Passover dinner (Seder) with our church. It was a very neat thing to learn about all of the aspects of the meal with the fulfillment of Christ. The lady who coordinated it did an awesome job, despite a larger turnout than expected.

Today we joined a couple of other moms and their kiddos to color eggs, and hopefully tomorrow we get to do it again with my mom!

2009-04-02T20:43:00.002-06:00

Please pray for Veiyah Karg as her doctors seek a diagnosis to what could be an issue with her brain. Pray that if there is something, that it is fixable or even something that just needs time. Please also pray for her to recover from illness and be able to go back home.

Please pray for Stellan and his fight with SVT.

I found a neat update on a blog I follow that included the following video

Coolness!

2009-03-31T10:24:00.003-06:00

I never watch E.R., but I watched this episode! Perhaps someday Juliet will go to Camp del Corazon herself. Sometime this month-ish Juliet will have her next cardiac checkup. Please pray that all is well!
And now, pictures!

Konni and Juliet
And slideshow goodness:

2009-03-23T13:30:00.001-06:00

Mmmm... Naan.

2009-03-17T12:16:00.002-06:00

I love cooking. It's just so fun! I got a new breadmaker with our tax return, and a pressure cooker ($15 on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond!). I acquired some storage devices for my different kinds of flours. I love it! So much fun!

Our pooch is doing well in our family. Joe is learning that he needs to be nice to her, though, as he has decided that he must tell her what to do, and if she doesn't do it he should hit her. We're teaching him that she doesn't understand everything he says and that if he hits her she won't WANT to come when he calls. He's learning pretty quickly that he 'catches more flies with honey'.

Peanut is so very calm and patient with Juliet. Jules will try to use her fur to gain a handhold to climb on her, and she just pants. Both kids are growing so fast! Juliet is very very mobile. She can get from one end of the house to the other in a snap and has learned how to climb all manner of objects. Her favorite object to climb is a pantleg.

Joe is speaking in full sentences now. We don't understand EVERY word, but he uses proper grammar and everything! It's amazing how kiddos soak up language.

A new show just started on TV: Kings. I find it fascinating... I mean there are spoilers in every hotel room and a lot of homes. It has an unusual pace and style to it. Here's a clip: God crowns a new King

Us, with a dog? CRAZY.

2009-03-09T11:29:00.003-06:00

We went out to eat at Dixie's Diner here in IF. The kids loved it :-)

So we have a dog now. I'm not kidding- really, we have a dog!
Her name is Peanut and she belonged to some friends of ours who were not able to keep her when they moved. She's beautiful and does really well on walks!
Here are pictures:

2009-02-15T15:42:00.002-07:00

Please please pray for Veiyah Karg. kargfamilyupdates.blogspot.com

2009-02-04T12:05:00.005-07:00

2009-02-03T14:34:00.004-07:00

My hubby says there is no such thing as a good picture of him. He is wrong ;-)
Happy Valentines Day to the man of my dreams.

2009-01-30T19:23:00.002-07:00

Well. I've been working on 'getting to know' the tablet and it's so cool! To the left is something I've been working on. It's about halfway done. The subject matter is a character from World of Warcraft known as Alexstrasza who happens to be one of my favorites in the game. I will do an accompanying one of her in her 'Dragon Form'.

This is about halfway done. It's elongated because I was working on it in my malfunctioning monitor which squishes images, while playing World of Warcraft in the main monitor.

Other things going on: I've been doing a lot of cooking from scratch. I have been making bread in the bread machine my Mom gave me, and have delighted in trying new things. Today I made croissant shaped dinner rolls using a sourdough-tomato-feta recipe. They came out fabulous! I have been making sourdough from a mother I started using bread yeast and beer yeast. It makes for a nice tangy/sweet flavor.
I'll post pictures of the delightful rolls soon.

2009-01-26T14:41:00.003-07:00

So! My parents gave me a wacom tablet. As you can see I've been trying it out. It takes some getting used to, but I did the above entirely with the wacom and photoshop. I used the basic 'paint' properties of photoshop and layering to do it. I feel I could make that really look good with a bit of time and some filters. So exciting! Thank you Mom and Dad!

Also- our Joseph has a staph infection. Ugh! Of all things, it's MRSA! I guess it's becoming more and more prevalant and it must be because my hubby and I are pretty darn neurotic about germ warfare. I've worked as a CNA before, and in food service. You don't just 'turn off' washing your hands all the time. Matt has always been slightly germaphobic. Even Joseph is a bit of a freak about being clean! That's saying a lot for a 2 1/2 year old! I guess you pick up things from your parents though ;-) In spite of all that he's got MRSA and we've got to have him on antibiotics and be very careful about cross-contamination to our dear Juliet.

Snow.... stopped?

2008-12-30T22:22:00.004-07:00

We got a break in our snow! This is what it looks like around here right now.

Here's our lovely house. Note the height of the snow piles in relation to our house...

And Juliet, ready to come inside after a couple hours of shopping!
We also got to eat out! NUTS! We haven't eaten out since she first came home from the hospital and my parents watched her while Matt and I went to Outback Steakhouse. We went to Jalisco's for lunch and she did so well! She even ate about a smidge of refried beans. She sat up in the high-chair and played with napkins the whole time. She also squealed a lot and it was a tad embarassing when she'd screetch loudly enough to make our ears hurt... :-)

2008-12-26T21:44:00.002-07:00

So, those are this weeks cards. Obviously, I did not get much done :-)

Other fun stuff:

Matt's Halloween costume:

And Joe's:

I made both their costumes with a sewing machine and cheap cloth. It was loads of fun. I cant find any pics of Juliet or I, but I'll post them when I get a chance. Also, I have pictures from Christmas, but have yet to upload them. We got some really cute ones!

2008-12-23T13:38:00.002-07:00

The snow has melted off of the roofs in this picture, but the piles are about ... eh... 4 feet(?)high. This is quite a lot of snow for us so soon. I think we are definitely in for a White Christmas ;-)

Memory Verse of the Day from Godlygals: Psalm 119:18

2008-12-20T12:51:00.004-07:00

So one of the things I like to do is create Memory Verse cards. I got this from my Grandma Nancy who makes the most AWESOME memory verse cards.
This particular one uses a picture of Joseph's eye as a background. I'm going to be trying to do this every day, so I'll probably post them once a week, with all the images linked. If you want them, feel free to snag them!

Juliet is doing great today. I think she has a runny nose, but otherwise is doing well. She's watching Joe play with a magazine at the moment, and they're playing with each other through the mesh in her pack n' play. Darling!
Joe adores his 'sissy' so much! She was crying earlier and he ran into the room where she was and said "ooooooooh.... 'Let! 's OK! no owwieee! oooohhh..." Translated it means "Oh, Juliet, you are OK! There's nothing wrong (no owie)! You don't need to cry!"

He's just such an awesome big brother. Aside from the occasional snatching of a toy away from her when he feels it's actually his.

2008-12-18T08:55:00.001-07:00

So here is our lovely snow! I had been wondering when we were going to get it. Mayhaps we will have a white Christmas!

Most recent post from Carepages

2008-12-17T14:52:00.001-07:00

New site!

Posted a few seconds ago

I have started a blog at http://slatosky.blogspot.com/

I will post random updates there, possibly pictures at times.
I will post urgent updates here, so that everyone gets an email if something happens and we need immediate prayer.

So far things have been amazingly smooth sailing! Juliet is growing soooo fast! She's learning how to sit up on her own, and enjoying playing with toys. She's particularly fascinated with a big fuzzy cartoon character thing we have that makes strange noises and dances.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boobah

The funny thing is, Joe is scared to DEATH of the thing. Cries when he sees it, screams, etc. Juliet ADORES it. She hugs it and slaps at it and giggles madly. One of our cats wants to eat it. Yes. Eat it.

I will probably be able to post some video to our blog of the various interactions with the crazy purple creature.

Also, serious prayer request.

Two of our dearest friends had their son on the 11th. He passed away a few hours later, and it was totally unexpected. He was a healthy boy, and circumstances surrounding his birth resulted in his being deprived of oxygen, and there was nothing the doctors could do. Please pray for the family of little Joshua David and for continued strength for them. Please also pray for his beautiful mamma as she heals from surgery. His memorial service is coming up soon too, so please pray for extra strength for them on Monday.

2008-12-11T15:37:00.005-07:00

Posted Aug 29, 2008 12:07pm

Life has been pretty good, as far as Juliet is concerned. She is blossoming into a beautiful, healthy BIG baby ;-)

I have updated a couple of new pictures that we took- her first bath and some of our 'professional' pictures that we took in our basement and I edited in Photoshop.

Our breastfeeding relationship is absolutely excellent! She gained a pound in a week, and she has been eating very well. She actually prefers to breastfeed over bottlefeeding. Her speech therapist was very happy with her progress. Her pediatrician is also amazed at her progress- whenever we see him he puts his hands on his hips, looks at her, shakes his head and says "Amazing. She just looks so great!"

Our son, Joseph is loving her very much. He's always trying to soothe her if she's upset or wanting to hold her (only if we put her in his lap, monitored). Occasionally he does things he shouldn't, like trying to rock her in her swing faster than it's meant to go. She tends to either want to be held or be in her swing- all totally normal. We do try to hold her as much as we can, but it's hard to cook even if she's in a sling.

One of our cats, Star, has taken a liking to her. She likes to curl up next to us, touching both of us, when I pull Juliet into bed in the morning. She tends to linger wherever Juliet is, but never 'too close'.

For Matt and myself life has been chaotic. I am starting to settle into a routine each day, but something always disturbs it. The other day Matt's battery in his car died while he was out shopping. I had to pile the kiddos in the car really fast to get over there and help him out. Of course we'll have to buy a new battery- which in a Mazda is pretty pricey. Think: Our grocery budget.

Then, yesterday, the sink stopped draining and the dishwasher won't drain. I'm having to wash dishes in the tub, or one at a time very slowly in the sink (it drains monumentally slow). We may have to get disposable dishes until we can figure out what to do. My poor hubby is so stressed out by it all, and feels like we're just having one bad thing happen after another. I guess I see it differently... I mean look at Juliet! It's horrible what has happened with her- but she's doing SO well! And the battery- at least it didn't happen in Pocatello or something! ...the sink... well that pretty much sucks, but we'll figure it out.

Joseph is going to go up and hang out with his Gramom and Grampop for a few days. It'll be nice for us because it will be easier to catch up on a few things, and easier on him because he'll get more outdoors time. When I told him this morning that they are coming and he's going to get to hang out with them for a few days- he was super-excited. He was practically jumping up and down! Hehe... I'm sure he's probably been rather bored with all of his 'unstructured free time'.

Well, that's all I have for now. OH! Another good thing! I'm getting more sleep! Juliet doesn't wake up as frequently in the night anymore. In fact, it's pretty predictable. Usually she goes to sleep around 11-12 and wakes up to eat at 4-4:30. She eats and falls right back asleep. Then at about 6:30-7 she wakes up again. We both doze off a little in the bed and wake up at 9am for good. It's working out well for both of us- and Matt doesn't have to get up in the night anymore to help me, or get up because of her crying. She pretty much falls right back asleep and he snores through the whole feeding. Yay!

2008-12-11T15:37:00.004-07:00

Posted Oct 17, 2008 3:36pm

We had her cardiology appointment this week, and she looks great! Dr. Williams was unable to get a good EKG on her because the machine was not working properly, but her heart sounded great and her chest x-ray was excellent.
He showed me her chest x-ray and pointed out her intestines. He said "She's got gas! Fair warning!" Sure enough, you could see the gas in her intestine. It was rather funny (but not funny on the car ride home).

Her next cardiology appointment will be in 6 months- no need to see her any sooner! She's also been given the all clear to treat her like any other baby as far as colds and such go. Standard hand-washing and keeping her from obviously sick people. This means I get to go back to church every weekend, since it's ok if Joseph gets sick- it's not the end of the world if he passes something along to our girlie.

Sure enough, the instant I get the all-clear, Joe picks up a stomach bug! Hehe... So far it's only Matt and Joe who have it- Juliet and I seem to be okay so far.

Well, that is all for now. I have posted a couple of pictures to the gallery for your viewing pleasure! She's got excellent head control and likes to sit up and look around now.

2008-12-11T15:36:00.009-07:00

Yay! Juliet gained weight! She's over her birth weight now.
I also see a small area in her incision that has me a little worried- it's kind of white and has redness around it. The home health nurse is going to come by and take a look at it to make sure it's not infected.

I keep meaning to upload more pictures, and keep forgetting/getting distracted. My goal is to do it sometime today ;-)

2008-12-11T15:36:00.008-07:00

Wow... one sure can get busy taking care of two kiddos!
Juliet is now applied for the Katie Beckett program to get medicaid. I sure am hoping that she will qualify, because we've gotten some awesome medical bills. Lessee... One says 110,000. Another, 18,000. Another- 6,000 and yet another 14,000. I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg. I saw the 110,000 one and started laughing uncontrollably. It was 15 pages long, small font. 20% of that is still 22,000- so yeah, we definitely need medicaid or else we'll do our best paying $20 a month for the rest of our lives ;-)

We saw Dr. Groberg on Friday (thank you for the recommendation Nathan and Shanna Hardman!) and he was great. He was very informative and nice. We've had a lot of great professionals helping us out- the Infant and Toddler Program folks, the Idaho Falls Home Health and Hospice staff, the Speech Therapist, the staff at Praxair. Everyone has been very nice and informative who've been part of her home care.

Our family and church have been awesome too. The Perrys came over with some of the kids from church and pulled the weeds in our yard. It was such an immense relief, as our yard was looking simply AWFUL after being away in Utah all that time, and we'd never really gotten to spring cleanup since I was in prodromal labor for about a month before Juliet was born. They did SO much! It was such a blessing. The Perrys also brought us dinner last weekend since my hubby winds up helping me out with the kiddos all weekend instead of either of us cooking or getting much done. The Davenports brought us a HUGE lasagna dish last night along with salad and chips and strawberries YUM!
My mother-in-law has been coming over and helping out when Matt is at work, so I've got two helpers during the week- Konni and Nancy. Between the two of them I actually get to sleep in a little in the morning! Very useful after being up every hour all night ;-)

Konni helps entertain Joe, she loves to take him and play in the water in the back yard (though our pool has only just been re-setup since it got gross while we were gone), read to him and play with his toys with him.

Matt's mom helps straighten up and give me pointers on how to maintain things most efficiently and is a pro at helping out with bottle feeds and tube feeds. Between the two of them helping me I manage to spend time with Joseph pretty well so he doesn't feel like I've abandoned him for the "Beebee".

Joseph still has issues about her presence, he thinks I should come running if he cries just as I do for Juliet. He also is picking up other things she does like trying to suck on my arm or shoulder, climbing into her bassinet when it's on the floor.... We try to get him to be a 'helper' and tell him all the time that he's a great big brother (especially when he gives her kisses!) but it will take time for him to adjust.

We've got our visit in SLC on Wednesday. My mom may be able to come over on Monday to help out- but she's got a whole lot to do to get ready for a trip that she and Dad are going on. Boy do they need some time together! She was with me for all that time Juliet was in the hospital and Dad had to work. I'm glad they get time together.

Juliet's crying! Gotta go!

*edit* Weird... It read "m0ther" as a curse word and censored it! I know in some relationships "m0ther in law" is the same thing as a curse word, but not to me!

2008-12-11T15:36:00.007-07:00

Posted Aug 6, 2008 7:12pm

We went to Primary today and they decided she doesn't need her oxygen or feeding tube anymore!!!!!!!!! *squee*
Will post more later, I am so going out for a celebratory dinner with my hubby!!

*dancing*

2008-12-11T15:35:00.007-07:00

Soo.... I haven't posted in a while.
Juliet is doing well. She had a hearing test, and passed it. She's no longer on a pump for feedings, she's being gravity fed through the tube. She does not swallow, and it's hard to tell why, so they are going to do the swallow study tomorrow sometime around noon.
We've attempted breastfeeding, but I don't think she's really been hungry enough to put forth a proper effort. It's the same with the bottle feeds- she's just not doing it.

With her oxygen, she's doing better and better, but when she's deeply asleep she still drops in her o2 sats.

I learned how to put in the nasogastric tube today, and managed to do it on my first try. I've learned how to give her medicine through the tube and how to do her feedings.

So the plan is to send us home tomorrow. Crazy, huh? Hehe... I'm nervous about doing all this at home, but I know we can do it. It's just that I have about a bazillion questions for during discharge tomorrow. Of course this is all provided there's nothing going wrong during the swallow study tomorrow. We'll see!

Matt will have to leave tomorrow, regardless. If we have to stay longer without him, I think I'll go slightly nuts. I just don't know what I'd do without him... Well, here's hoping we can go home tomorrow!

2008-12-11T15:35:00.006-07:00

I don't know why it is that I seem to post updates and they don't post despite clicking 'post' two different times on two different screens. Ugh!
Anyway, We're home! We got home on Tuesday night after a grueling drive in the truck hauling an RV. My mom is such a trooper for driving the whole way home... I would have been a tight ball of nerves.

Juliet is still using an NG tube and oxygen. We have a concentrator in our home for the oxygen and I know how to place an NG tube all on my own. It's hard to do, not because it's difficult but because Juliet hates it and I think it hurts a little. Thankfully I only have to do it once a week or if it comes out.

Joseph came home yesterday with his Gramom (Matt's mom) and she's been here helping us out- even with the 2 am feedings. Joseph is very sensitive about the situation and seems to like Juliet, but is having a hard time understanding when she cries or when I need to give her my undivided attention.

Some of her steri strips (covering her incision) have come off and the healing skin underneath is visible- it's amazing how thin the mark is, and how well it's healing. She's still got the strips at the top and bottom, but there's a big gap in between where you can see her skin where they opened her chest.

She is always gazing around with those big eyes of hers. We can't decide if they are currently dark grey or very dark brown.

I'm having a hard time being home. It was comforting to have alarms to tell you if something was wrong, but here all I can do is look for her chest rising and falling when she's asleep. Sometimes she breathes so shallowly that my heart skips a beat for a second until I get closer and see that she's breathing. Last night I was in tears because nothing I was doing was helping her calm down, and she had a full stomach, as far as I could tell all her needs were met. I was on the verge of giving her some Lortab in case it was pain when Nancy came in and offered to rock her and walk her around for a bit. I'd been awake for almost three hours after having maybe an hour or two of sleep when she offered, so I gladly accepted. I just want so badly to get us to a point where she's eating normally and breathing on her own so that it is easier on us both. I can't imagine it feels very good to be force-fed.

We had a bit of a mess-up on the night that we got home. Matt was unloading the car and missed her medications in the back seat. Keep in mind that this was bordering on 48 hours awake for him after being in a bouncy truck with a squalling baby, and knowing he had to go to work very early the next morning (about 3 hours later). She was due for Lasix and Aspirin the next morning, but I didn't have any way to give it to her since it was in the truck (which was hooked up to the RV) in Rexburg. My mom can't unhook the RV all on her own- it's not a one person job.

My mom called dad and told him the situation and he left work in the middle of a meeting to bring the medicines to me. I am so thankful that he did that, and nice of his boss to be understanding about it.

Well, I'm going to go, almost time for her next feeding.

2008-12-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Another eventful day!
Her drainage tubes were removed, and she's down to one IV line, her pacing wires, her feeding tube, and her nasal cannula.

We've also moved out of the ICU!

We are in room 3087 and the number to reach here is 801-662-3087

We're up to visitors (so long as you are sure you're not sick) and it's a lot more quiet and comfortable here.

The one downer: Juliet is not doing well when she's on room-air only. Her O2 sat drops whenever they lower her oxygen, so we are hoping she'll learn to breathe more deeply without it.

The NP said that they'd probably do the swallow study on her on Monday, since it's too soon since her respirator was removed to do one today. Once they determine that her swallow reflex is working we can continue trying to get her ready to be home.

2008-12-11T15:33:00.003-07:00

Good news!
*Juliet was extubated, and is doing better without the respirator than she was when it was in.
*Her Foley Catheter was removed because she had plenty of urine output and has been getting rid of her swelling easily. She's also been taken off of lasix(sp?)
*She had two central line type tubes taken out that had been leading directly to her heart.
*WE GOT TO HOLD HER!!!!

*squee!*

Great day, praise God for his grace! She's a tough girl alright, and has a strong will to live. She's been having a lot of pain from her drainage tubes (which may come out tomorrow) but they give her morphine to manage it. She sleeps a lot, but not as much as she was before the surgery. The doctors seem pretty amazed by how quickly she's progressing. Happy day!

2008-12-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

Juliet continues to do well. She now has a feeding tube (as of an hour ago) and has been taken off of nitrogycerine and dopamine. She's also been taken off of the paralytic and is only a little sedated. She expressed her extreme displeasure with getting her feeding tube inserted, even though they'd given her quite a bit of morphine to make sure it wasn't painful. She attempts to open her eyes when I come close, but the swelling around her eyes makes it difficult and she gives up after a few tries. She gripped my finger pretty hard when I was comforting her while they were putting in the tube.

Right now she is sleeping, and that is what she does most of the time. Her chest is still closed, as her swelling has not been too bad at all. I got to see an x-ray they took to see the positioning of the tube. It's crazy to see all those different leads they have going into her body. We could see the drainage tubes and pacing wires, other wires that take readings...

I'm working on an origami electra for her pod. It's a geometric sphere and I'll be coloring each module by hand. It will be a nice little stimulating thing for her to look at when we are not here.

Again, thank you for all the words of support and all the prayers. God is watching over her and we have a great deal of hope from how well she's doing.

2008-12-11T15:31:00.002-07:00

Sleep eludes me. Hence the 12:35AM post.

I had planned on getting some sleep and then updating in the morning, but now is as good a time as any!

Juliet is doing very well. She came out of surgery just fine. As posted earlier there was a hole still in her ventricular septum that needed to be repaired, so at the end of her surgery they put her back on bypass and repaired it again. When they did her echocardiogram there was just a tiny hole left, and it is small enough that in most children such a size of hole closes on its own. Even if it doesn't heal on it's own it's not something that would cause a future surgery- it just bothered Dr Burch that he didn't get the whole thing. He explained that with how small she is, being a newborn, that it's very hard to do the repair down in that section and that they did do enough to where it would be no problem for her.

He feels confident in the alignment of the coronary arteries, so I infer that that means there is little risk for stenosis there.

Other good news! She was in good enough condition to try closing her up. Her swelling was not a huge amount, and so they closed her chest and will wait and see how things go. If the swelling increases they will have to reopen it and leave it that way until the swelling is down, but for now things look peachy. There have been no big signs of arrhythmia, so she is basically doing things totally textbook for them.

After he spoke to us we went to go eat (since it would be unlikely we'd feel like it after seeing her in her current condition). We went back to the Ronald McDonald House to eat the meal that volunteers were cooking for us (I think it was the university, I'll double check another time) and it was excellent lasagna, salad and breadsticks. We gathered up a few items to stay overnight in one of the PICU sleeping rooms and headed back.

We timed it perfectly. We got back right at the beginning of shift change and could not see our girl :-/ So we went and played Nertz (sp?) for an hour. Matt kicked our trash, just like he did when we played while waiting for the surgery to end. Card games are such a good way to take your mind off of things....

Finally we went in and saw her. I had tried to prepare myself, gone over what I'd see in my head over and over- I even imagined it would be worse than it really was. None of it helped. I don't really cry much, or easily, but I found myself crying again.

She is pale and limp, swollen (but not as much as I thought), and very chilly to the touch. There is a patch on her chest and chords coming from the patches. These are pacemaker leads. There are small drainage tubes one either side of her chest and one large one draining from the bottom. There's another tube that drains another kind of fluid (totally forget on this, they said it is kind of like plasma) and she's hooked up to something like 12 infusions through her IV's. There's still central lines going into her umbilical, and they plan to remove those tomorrow (today).

Of course, she's intubated. She's not breathing at all on her own right now, but that is because she is completely sedated and the anesthesia of course has residual effects. She's on a muscle relaxer, a pain reliever and on aspirin for blood thinning. Tomorrow they will begin slowly letting her regain some consciousness, but not so much that she can cause damage to her chords from movement. She twitches a finger or toe occasionally, but that is all.

We have taken pictures, and we will post them soon. Maybe even this morning.

My mom went back to the RV to sleep. She's been so tired and stressed from all this, at least as much as I am. She's not feeling well and has a lot of aches in her body- so please add her health to your many wonderful prayers.

The most critical time for Juliet is this first 48 hours. That's why we are staying here at the hospital, because if she goes downhill they want us right here. Scary stuff. Well... Off to try to sleep.

2008-12-11T15:29:00.004-07:00

She is off the heart lung machine and the echocardiogram now looks good. Dr Burch will be out to see us in about an hour, then we will be able to see Juliet about an hour after that.

2008-12-11T15:29:00.003-07:00

Just got an update: About 1/2 hour to 45 min until they are done, because when they took her off the heart lung machine they found a residual hole in the septum between the ventricles and are going back in to close that up. She was doing quite well with the hole there, but they'd rather not risk having to go in later.

2008-12-11T15:29:00.001-07:00

Wow... so I thought I'd posted updates, but apparently I forgot to hit the 'post' button the second time. :-/

Ok, so Juliet went into surgery at 8:30am this morning. At around 9:30 or ten they informed us that they had just started surgery and were switching her onto the heart-lung machine. A while later the PN came back and informed us that she'd been operated on for her septum defects, and they were beginning the arterial switch. The latest news is that they are finishing up the arterial switch and she should be off the bypass soon, and then they will watch her for an hour for any problems. Then it will take another hour to set her up in the intensive care unit.

From this morning: The surgeon came by and talked about possible risks. First was death, he said relatively small risk. Then there's the risk of bleeds and arrhythmia. Those are risks simply of open heart surgery. Then there's the risk associated with THIS type of surgery for stenosis, or narrowing, of the coronary arteries. The coronaries must be perfectly lined up or they may not grow properly and would have to be widened later.
Also there is a larger risk (about 25%) for a problem with the septal defect. The septum can grow in such a way as to partially block the valve and cause problems. This is either recognized right away or much later.

Well, I guess that is all for now. I will post again when they say that she is off bypass and doing well. This is the most nerve-wracking time for me, because any problems are revealed when the bypass is removed and they see how things are functioning.

2008-12-11T15:27:00.002-07:00

Last night was good. Juliet was held by her Nana and Pop-pop and we took pictures. Some of them are in the gallery. I am quite sure my mom was beyond elated to finally get to hold her grandbaby girl.

When I had skin to skin again she was not happy. She wanted to suckle very badly, but it's not permitted until after the surgery because the bloodflow to her intestines is not the way it should be from the defect and eating food can cause catastrophic bowel failure. It is so hard to see her want to eat so very badly and be unable to help.

I am pumping quite a bit of milk for her, and when she can eat there will be plenty to give her.

This morning she is doing well, very calm and unagitated. I am about to hold her for a while after giving my mom and my hubby plenty of time this day.

Surgery is still scheduled for Monday, but they are saying 8:30 am.

Kristen (who left a message on the message board) came by to speak with me. I really appreciated the chance to hear her son's story and know how well things are going with her little cutie. It gives me hope to know that he is healthy and his heart is strong, because that means my daughter could have the same outcome.
Thank you again Kristen for stopping by, and I'll be giving you a call to let you know how the surgery went.

I'll no doubt post a bunch of nervous posts on Monday before the surgery is over, but I plan to try somehow to sleep, because if I sleep, then when I wake up it's all over. Maybe it's a bit cowardly, but it may be the only way I'll be able to cope. Probably moot as I will have my mind racing so much...

My hubby seems to be holding up well, he's such a pillar of strength and I'm constantly amazed that God would give me such a gift as he is. In the midst of this I have no number to put to all the blessings in my life. Yes, this defect is horrible, but I know even more what I am bless to have in friends and family, in my husband, in my parents who have been here for us in such a huge way, in my hubby's parents who are doing so much as well, and for my Joseph who they are watching- he makes me laugh and takes my mind off of things with his cheer... Especially for our daughter, because no matter what happens she is such a wonderful blessing to have whether we have her for a week or for a very long life.

We're keeping our spirits up, and we have a lot of hope. We trust God in the skills he's given the doctors and we know that no matter what happens He's done so much to keep her with us and strong. Keep the prayers up for us, we thank you so much for the prayers and the love you are pouring out for us!

2008-12-11T15:27:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much to everyone who has already posted here that they are praying. The prayers mean so much and we KNOW God is taking care of our Juliet.

Today we woke up at the Ronald McDonald house at 8:30am. I'd not slept well last night because of a combination of worry and a painkiller that makes my heart race (the site of my epidural is very painful because of how hard a time he had getting it in). Our shuttle to get to the hospital leaves at 9AM, so needless to say we rushed very quickly to get downstairs.

We got to the hospital and headed straight to Juliet's bedside- and she looked excellent! I noticed that two of her readouts were missing from the monitor- it turns out she no longer needs to have two oxymeter readings because the pre/post O2 sat reading is not useful in her case. They are also reducing the medicine that keeps open the natural passage between her aorta and pulmonary artery. She has septal defects that are mixing her blood well enough to not have to keep such high doses of that particular medicine. Surgery is still planned for Monday and everything is looking like we are fine waiting until then.

At 11am I went to pump breastmilk and actually got enough to collect! I am very determined to give her breastmilk and the hospital is doing everything they can to help make that happen. It's the best thing for her especially in her situation. They have provided every way they can to make it easy and I am finally getting my milk in, so they can feed it to her after surgery. Right now she is nourished by a mixture of vitamins and fats that keep her going until the surgery.

From 11:30 to about 12:30 we had skin-to-skin contact, I held Juliet against my bare chest and she was very relaxed and happy there. We can't actually nurse, but this helps us both- for bonding and for my hormones in producing that immune-boosting milk.

From 12:30 until 1pm Matt did the same, for bonding, that she can smell him and look up into his eyes (as much as she does so... she is not much into opening her eyes. I suspect it is a bit overwhelming out here compared to the back of her eyelids).

At one point the alarms went off and her heart rate read at 90 (when it's been reading around 140) and her breathing had slowed or shallowed. Matt was holding her and he says she stiffened up and got really mad. The nurse didn't see, but she said taht when we get mad our heart rate drops and we clinch up and breathe less. This is probably what happened, but she's going to keep an eye out for it happening again.

Also, Matt's coworkers sent a beautiful bouquet of balloons! They were simply enormous and they are now next to her bed. There was also a cute teddy bear. People were pretty impressed by the size of the arrangement, and I had never seen anything like it. So, if any of y'all from ISU Tech Services stop by here, thank you! They were lovely and they really brighten up her space. It is her first teddy bear and she'll have it in her crib when we go home. We'll be able to tell her about all the people thinking of her and how that teddy bear was given in the hospital.

I guess that is all for now. I will no doubt have pictures tonight! I have already gotten quite a few good ones of the little expressions she gets and will have some of my mom holding her (perhaps dad too!)

The story of Juliet's arrival at PCMC

2008-12-11T15:25:00.002-07:00

Well, here is my first update. I am going to start from the beginning, and tell the story of my beautiful daughter's birth.
My husband and I became pregnant a little sooner than we'd planned. We'd wanted to space our kiddos three years apart, and when I found out I was pregnant the due date was estimated at six days before the due date my son had, which put it at six days after his second birthday.

We had an ultrasound at around 18 weeks that showed a perfectly healthy baby, most likely a girl. As my due date approached, I considered many options for her delivery including homebirth and birthing at a birth center that was recently built in a town fifteen miles from our home.

In the end I chose to deliver at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, as it is where I gave birth to my son, and they were absolutely excellent in dealing with the tiny pneumothorax he had when he was born. I figured if anything went wrong at all I'd want to be there.

My hope was to have as natural a birth as I could at that hospital and created a birth plan including all kinds of things to let them know I wanted things to go as naturally as they could.

I was showing vague signs of preeclampsia around 37 weeks, so my doctor advised that I be induced when I hit 39 weeks just in case.

I went in for induction on June 27th, and the induction utterly failed! I did not dilate at all, I didn't even really have painful contractions. My doctor was performing a c-section on a lady who was in a train wreck that day and decided after she was done that there would be no need to try to go further with my induction. I am glad that she sent me home.

I stayed home for the next week and a half, hoping for my body to go into natural labor. All my warning signs of preeclampsia had disappeared and the plan was to just keep an eye on me and wait for nature to take its course. Finally, at 2:30am on July 7th I woke up from a painful contraction. I had been having contractions for weeks, so I decided to wait and see what would happen. I let my hubby sleep and walked around the house, tried to read, and do whatever I could to take my mind off the contractions. They grew steadily worse until it was hard for me to walk,and I was feeling pretty icky.
We called my parents and left for the hospital.

I began to dilate very quickly. The pain grew worse along with my dilation and I grew very excited as I knew I would finally meet my child and know for sure that she was a girl!

The pain increased and increased, and finally around 6-7 centimeters in dilation I asked for an epidural. I did not want to have one, but the pain was so intense, and I was not managing it well at all. I knew I would be practically useless in pushing if I kept up like this, because I could not seem to control things and would just thrash about in the bed, screaming. Getting that epidural was very painful and very hard on my anesthesiologist, I simply could not hold still. Eventually I got it and began to calm down.

It took me a long time to continue dilation, and eventually was fully dilated with a bulging bag of waters. The water would not break on its own, so we waited some more and my doctor got out of a surgery and was able to attend to me. She broke my water and saw meconium.

The nurse (who was a really really awesome nurse- she encouraged me very much in trying to avoid the epidural) called down to have a NICU nurse come to the room right away, as it appeared the meconium had been there for a long time, and there was a LOT of it. My doctor had me push and in two pushes she was out. The first push brought out her head and they suctioned her- the second brought her whole body.

They began cleaning her and really suctioning everything out, but she still turned blue. They knew something was not right. They brought her to me and I got to touch her and look at her for about two seconds.

They finished with me and my mom stayed with Juliet. My hubby decided to stay with me, as last time he left me to be with our son Joseph.
I was moved to the Women’s Center as soon as I could feel my legs enough to get down off of the bed and into a wheelchair. My dad, grandmother and my hubby stayed with me and we awaited word from the NICU on her condition. At the time I thought it was just the meconium, and knew that could be serious and they’d want to monitor her- so I expected that it would be many hours, possibly days until I could hold her.

My mom finally came back with little word. The staff wouldn’t talk to her- they always appeared too busy. She and my dad decided to go eat, and my dad needed to get back to Rexburg for a couple hours for a meeting.
While they were gone, my mother in law arrived with my son. We hoped to be able to take her into the NICU soon to see Juliet and hung out for a bit longer as I continued to wait for the epidural to completely wear off.
After a while three people came to our room. They introduced themselves- one was a nurse, one was a social worker, and one was a neonatologist.
That is when they told us that Juliet had TGA, or at least that he suspected this. He started by telling us that he had had an echocardiogram done on her, and that the technician who was doing it saw what looked like Transversion of the Great Arteries. He told us she needed to be flown down to Primary Children’s Hospital as soon as possible or she would die. He told us that if we had been anywhere else the problem might not have been found in time to save her life. He said there were risks involved in the flight, and that nothing is certain.
My husband and I were in shock. We cried and my mother in law cried with us. My son didn’t understand what was going on and could only tell that something was very wrong and sucked his fingers.
I called my mother and asked them to hurry back. I told her that Juliet’s heart is messed up and that we needed her back, NOW.
The social worker spoke with us some, and told us about ways that we could be helped through this situation, about the Ronald McDonald House and how great the hospital is.
After we had a little time to gather our senses we went to the NICU to see her. She was completely sedated and almost purple. There were tubes coming out all over the place and alarms going off. She was intubated and unresponsive. I touched her and sat there in a wheelchair, totally dazed.
Some more alarms went off, and the nurse asked us to move back. Suddenly there was a swarm of people around her and I was hearing that her blood pressure was misbehaving and the doctor was asking if there was anyone at all who could perform a surgery NOW. I could hear them talking about how no one was in town or around who could really do the surgery they’d need to do to stabilize her and they seemed agitated. I think they were being a bit calm for our benefit. The last thing they’d need are hysterical parents, or for me to faint. I was sure it was the end, I thought she was going to die right then and there.
Instead, she stabilized. I am not sure what they did exactly to do it, but somehow the combination of medicines they gave her worked and she was suddenly much more stable. They decided she was stable enough for the flight.
At around 6:30pm my husband boarded the LifeFlight with our daughter, with only a t-shirt and some underwear in our overnight pack. I would not be allowed to leave until the next morning.

My husband arrived in SLC with Juliet and rode in a taxi to the hospital while Juliet rode in a helicopter. We thought she’d be having surgery as soon as she landed, but instead she was found to be doing well without the particular surgery they’d have had to do- which would have opened up a space between the sides of her heart to allow the oxygenated blood to mix with the unoxygenated blood and provide her body with enough oxygen to keep going. Apparently, the natural opening (or maybe a defect) was keeping them from having to do that.
About a day after my husband arrived with her they found her able to breathe on her own. When I arrived in the late night of the day after her birth, she was totally breathing on her own and was doing fairly well at ‘remembering’ to breathe.
The next day we were told her open-heart surgery was scheduled for Friday. We were also told that we could hold her!
I was so excited when they told me that that if I were a puppy I’d have wet myself. I literally choked on spit with my outburst of “REALLY???!” I think I almost fell over (delivering a baby is really quite exhausting on the body, go figure).
We took some pictures the next day (the 10th) and continued to enjoy holding our little angel. All of the staff here are just wonderful and are eager to help us hold her and love to talk about the little things she does when we are away.
Right now, she is watched by a nurse who has got one other patient. When she first came in, she was watched by a nurse with no other patients. She is doing so very well!
So well, that they decided that she could wait the weekend and have her surgery on Monday instead, so that some more urgent cases could be taken care of first.
We have so much more hope than we had at first, as we learn more about TGA and the surgery she will be going through. The survival rate for this surgery is very high, and complications afterward are relatively few. Apparently, if one has to have a heart defect, this is one of the best to have. We have every hope for her to have a long, normal life once this stage is over. She’ll need to have a cardiac specialist, and be very careful about heart health, but she should be able to enjoy sports and play like any other child.
I guess that is all for now. I’m rather tired and this has become very long!
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We will want all the prayers we can have on Monday morning, as no matter how we look at it, it’s a huge surgery and very scary. She will look pretty bad afterward and we will not be able to hold her for about a week. After that, she should recover very quickly.

2008-10-28T15:42:00.002-06:00

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