Mommy and her pumpkins
Nephew Bryan(handsome vampire), Kolton, Niece Paige(cute bunny)
Collin(such a cute little lion)
Karter was really liking the llamas and goats.
Kyndie, she was a cute little pumpkin too.
The boys ate candy like crazy. I am now going to hide the candy both so they don't see it and want it all and so I don't see it and want it all. We will have candy for a long time around here unless of course Jimmy and I eat it all, maybe we'll share some with the boys too.
The boys are going to be pumpkins tonight. We will be going to our church for Trunk or Treat. I'm sure we will be in sugar overload later on tonight. I hope to get some pictures of them in their costumes, but until then enjoy these photos.
Jimmy was giving the boys rides on his shoulders. It was Kolton's turn and as he crossed under the door frames he would tell Kolton to duck and Kolton would duck and then say something. We couldn't figure out what he was saying then all the sudden it hit me. As Jimmy said duck, Kolton would say Quack Quack, like a duck!
Once we figured it out Jimmy and I could not stop laughing. Oh two year olds, they are so fun!
Last week we requested the dictation from the doctors office. Basically we wanted the before and after not only for us, but our church would like us to do a testimony they would like to put on video and it would be nice to have that documentation for that as well. We requested snapshots of the Echo cardiograms, but have not received those as of yet.
I realize that there are those of you who are not believers out there who do not believe our son was healed by God, I also realize that there are also a fair amount of those of you out there who classify yourselves as Christians that do not believe me either. That's ok. I KNOW my son was healed and that's really all that matters. So I'm not posting this stuff to convince you otherwise, just to document a momentous moment in our families life and to maybe share with those of you the joy we have felt from this and the reality that God is real and He is awesome.
This is in doctor talk, but you can pretty much decipher what it's saying.
Finding per Dr. B via echo cardiogram on 8/4/08:
"There is normal segmental anatomy. The atrial and ventricular septums are intact. There is trivial, physiologic tricuspid valve regurgitation, which is insufficient for accurate quantitation of right ventricular pressures. No other valve stenosis or regurgitation is noted. The pulmonary venous and systemic venous returns appear normal. The aortic arch is unobstructed. There is a 4mm, small to moderate sized patent ductus arteriosus with a peak instantaneous pressure gradient of 85mmHg obtained. Subjectively, the left heart is borderline dialted. There is good ventricular function."
Findings per Dr. S(the surgeon) via echocardiogram on 10/16/08:
"The study today is compared to the study of a few months previously. There has been interval closure of a significant serpiginous PDA. There is no evidence of residual shunting between the aorta and the pulmonary artery by imaging or color flow doppler. Intracardiac anatomy is not visualized. The aortic arch is unobstructed and left sided. There is no branch pulmonary artery stenosis."
Impression:
"No ductus arteriosus noted on today's study; interval closure of the previous PDA."
God is good!
Sorry for the lapse in posting. It's been busy around here and I've been tired and when I could have posted I opted to instead watch one of the many shows that have been piling up on the DVR.
Licker #1
This was after he licked the measuring cup of peanut butter I was using to make cookies.
Licker #2
He does have peanut butter on his face but you can't see it that well. Peanut butter in addition to the scratch on his face and the huge mosquito bite on his forehead.
Karter don't lick the wall.
He thought it was funny so kept doing it. Finally to get him to stop I told him he was licking bug poo poo off the wall when he did that. He stopped.
I've still been thinking of our miracle yesterday. As I thought about it further I decided that I wanted to narrow down the time of the healing, just for my own records. I though I would share it with you all as well.
July 22, 2008
Significant murmur was heard on Karter.
August 4, 2008
Karter is diagnosed with a 4mm PDA by Echo cardiogram.
August 13, 2008
Time and date set for Karter's procedure.
August 21, 2008
Both Kolton and Karter saw the pediatrician. Kolton had his heart listend to and a small murmur was heard, nothing serious. Referral sent to cardiologist to have him checked out to be sure. Karter was listened to again by Ped. and significant murmur was still there.
September 1, 2008
Kolton saw cardiologist on Aug. 29th. It was not the same doctor Karter saw originally. Kolton's cardiologist also listened to Karter on that day. He had a student and he wanted the student to hear what a PDA sounded like. It was still very audiable.
Jimmy and I began to pray for healing for Karter in late September early October.
Early October we had Karter prayed for and anointed with oil, although I didn't document that on the blog.
So the awesomeness took place somewhere between September and October 16th.
I don't think it's a secret that I wanted Karter healed. I knew God could do it, my question was would he? I have personally been going through a confusing time recently. We have recently moved, we still have two houses on the market and no one is offering, Karter was diagnosed with a PDA and we started a new church. I have known God for years but it has been only recently that Jimmy and I have decided to recommit ourselves to the Lord and the life that that means leading. With all these changes things have been a bit confusing to me. I began to wonder if I had enough Faith (Matthew 17:20), if I was committed enough to the Lord, why were my prayers not being answered. I have prayed for the sale of at least one of our two homes, a smooth transaction.. After not having those prayers answered I began to get frustrated with God. What I realized is that I was trying to tell God what to do, I wanted him to prove something to me, although I'm not sure what.
All the while Jimmy and I had been discussing different things we had read in the Bible. He and I both wanted healing for Karter and didn't really see any reason biblically that he shouldn't have it. One day while in the shower, which is were I do my praying and deep thinking it's the only quiet time I have, I was praying and I was a little frustrated. I was just talking to the Lord and I asked why don't you just heal it Lord, you can close it, it's just a little 4mm vessel, you can raise the dead, you can certainly close this vessel, and I left it at that.
We had Karter anointed with oil and prayed for by Pastor Al at our church (James 5:14). Our church, family and friends were praying, though I don't think any of them knew we were specifically praying for healing. We felt we had covered Karter in every way we knew how.
It's here that I want to thank each and every one of you who prayed for calmness and peacefulness for Jimmy and I. It worked, at least for me, I'm not sure what Jimmy felt but he appeared to be ok. Yesterday, I was calm and had a peaceful feeling that things would be fine. My anxiety was gone.
I wrote the above to give you a little background of what has been going on in our house spiritually. Now we get to the really good stuff.
Today I got up at 5:20am got dressed gathered up some stuff, Jimmy got dressed and loaded the car with some stuff. At 6:00am I woke Karter put some shoes on him and we left. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30am when we entered the pre-registration room it was full at that early hour of the morning. Things were going rather smoothly, Karter was not cranky as I thought he might be and he only asked once for juice. We waited about 30 mins and were called back to prep him for the surgery. Here they did the usual, gave him something to change into, did the usual 50 questions, took his vitals and wheeled us to another room where we would speak with the anesthesiologist and the doctor. Things were still moving smoothly, we spoke with the anesthesiologist he told us what to expect and that one of us could go back with Karter as they put him to sleep with gas . Jimmy did not want to see Karter that way, so I was going to go with him. The last person we were to speak to before he went back was the doctor. He explained what he would be doing, showed us the devices that he would be placing and then he listened to his heart. It was at this point that he said, "I'm not hearing a murmur" he then stated that he would like to get a quick look by ultrasound. He left and we were taken around the corner, the tech looked for a little while, excused herself for a second, and returned stating she needed one more picture. At this point Karter had began asking to "go bye bye" but was still doing fine. She took us back to our room and at that point the doctor entered as he crossed the threshhold of the door he asked "have you guys been praying" to which we answered yes. At this point I believe he said it worked, but I'm not really sure because all I heard next was gone, it's no longer there. It was at this point I began to cry. It was just how I envisioned it would be if he were healed, how it played through my mind in the shower a month or so ago. The place began to buzz, Jimmy asked the doctor how often this happens, the doctor stated not much and that with the size of the vessel and the age of Karter they just don't close, he stated that it was a miracle. All the nurses were coming in and at one point one of them gave me a hug. It was all so awesome. The doctor said "your done, you can go, just follow up in 6 months." As we were dressing Karter and getting ready to leave the doctor stated that looking at his Echo from two months ago and looking at today's was drastically different, it was completely gone and it had been a pretty large PDA. The doctor made it clear, PDA's don't go away on their own, at Karters age nor at that level of severity...
It was a very exciting day, many, many prayers were answered from calmness for Jimmy and I to calmness for both Kolton and Karter. To my questions of if we were in the right church and on the right path. Although our houses have not sold, it's ok. I know God will take care of us and I will take a healing over a house selling any day. I fully surrendered today and I have no idea where it will take us but I'm excited to find out.
We are home. Karter was HEALED! The vessel was closed! I will post more later.
Tomorrow is Karter's procedure. We have to be at the hospital at 6:30 am, I will have to get up at 5:30 to get dressed and get stuff gathered up. I have told both Kolton and Karter that tomorrow Mommy and Daddy are going to take Karter to the doctor to have his heart looked at, while he is asleep and that Nannie will be staying with Kolton tomorrow and playing with him all day. To this Kolton responded, "I go daddy" I'm sure that does not need a translation. Karter than responded that he was going to get his "heart looked at." My Mom is coming tonight to stay and be with Kolton tomorrow, it's going to be a hard day for him, he's the protector of the two and is extremely concerned if he is not in the near vicinity of his brother.
Karter is going to be hacked when he is awoken so early and is not allowed to have his coveted juice. He will at least be able to have his B(binkie) which he also loves.
I have a peaceful feeling about what has to be done. While I still wish it didn't have to be done at all, I believe that I have finally given it all over to God. He knows my innermost wishes. I'm sure I will have to hold back the tears as they take Karter away and when he is out of my site I will cry and grieve for myself having to go through this. Then I will get myself together to be strong for both Karter and Jimmy.
My Mom has arranged to stay on Thurs night if Karter has to stay the night in the hospital. We will deal with all that entails as we get closer.
As I awoke this morning a thought immediately came to my mind, I have been reading this blog for some time now. I thought of all she had to go through on the day she went to the hospital to meet her son and tell him goodbye, all on the same day. While my heart aches for her and her journey, it was also filled with thankfulness. I'm so thankful that I'm not having to be faced with that situation.
I fully expect to see my son wake from his procedure, be at his beck and call and take him home where he will no doubt drive me nuts with his demands. Demands I am thankful I can fulfill for him. Thankful that he is here for me to fulfill them for.
Pray tomorrow as we are taken through yet another journey.
(Since Karter is currently in the computer room turning the server on and off, pictures will have to be added at a later date.)
The boys love helping in the kitchen. The minute they see me getting ingredients out they run and get two chairs, push them to the counter, climb up and say "I help mama cook." They love to pour and stir, but mostly they love to play in the water, and pretend to wash the dishes. On this day, which was about a week ago, we made oatmeal cookies.
Today was my niece and nephews 1st birthday party. They are three days apart so they had a combined party. They got lots of goodies and had lots of cake. I took a ton of pictures but these are a few of my favorites.
I love these little munchkins like my own.
As it gets closer and closer to Karter's procedure I find myself feeling many different things.
Sad- Mostly for myself. I'm sad that this is even happening. Karter has no clue, yet. I will probably tell him early next week that he will be going to the doctor and they will be looking at his heart while he sleeps. I'm sure he won't fully understand but I feel it is better to tell him something instead for just taking him there without his brother, early in the morning and him not understanding what is going on at all. Sad that I have to hand my baby over to doctors and nurses again. Sad that after all we have been through with their early birth we are having to deal with this.
Mad-I feel mad because we are having to go through this. That Karter is having to go through this. I realize that this is considered a very mild procedure I understand that, however when it's your child you just really wish you didn't have to deal with it at all. I must admit that I feel a little mad at God as well. I want him to just fix it, take it away so none of us have to deal with it. He can do it He is the master physician He can heal anything.
Thankful-I feel so thankful that my boys survived their prematurity with really no lasting affects. I feel so thankful that Karter does not have something more serious. There could be so much more that it could have been, yet it is something that can be easily fixed. I am thankful to God for their lives.
Karter has had and will have many people praying for him. He is in good hands. I ask that you do send prayer and positive thoughts mine and Jimmy's way as we hand our child over to someone other than trusted family members. Someone who will be putting something in our sons heart. The very heart that beats and gives him life. I know that a lot of people don't understand that life changing ride that prematurity and the NICU is, it changes you, it changes the way you would have parented. It robs you of the experience that you were supposed to have, that you were entitled to have and it throws you into a situation that you don't really know how to handle. No parent should have to see their hour old baby who is not even supposed to be out of the womb yet have a tube shoved down their throat. Or needles stuck all over their bodies, needles that are literally almost as big as their fingers.
I only tell you this because while I realize how blessed we are to have these two wonderful boys it does add insult to injury that this is even happening. Granted it is mostly Jimmy and I that are still "injured" from their birth and following months, but none the less it stinks.
I'm sure a year from now I will only be remembering this time as I remember their NICU time. Just something that we went through that made us stronger. Stronger as a family, stronger in Christ, just stronger.
Ok, so yesterday I wrote about our new nap time routine. Today I am writing about my new shower routine. After the boys came home, I would shower when they went down for their morning nap, which was about 9:00 or 9:30, if they didn't sleep they would lay in their crib or swing in their swings. As time moved on and they grew out of their morning naps I still took my shower at the same time but I would just put the boys in their beds and they would play. This worked very well, I got my shower and they got some quiet time. When we separated the boys to their own rooms in July, I would just put both boys in the same crib and they would play. About a month ago(everything started a month ago) Kolton would no longer sit quietly and play in the crib. I would rush, rush trying to take my shower and every single time I would turn off the water I would hear Kolton screaming and sometimes he and Karter would be fighting. Once again this routine was no longer working for us. So I did the only thing I could think of to do. I brought them into the bathroom with me and put them in our huge bathtub(without water of course) to contain them while I took a shower at the speed of light. At this point they are unable to climb out of it on their own.
I now know that if you rough house with one of your sons(Karter) who just ate and make him giggle and flip him all round that he will throw up. In your hands. It will make you gag, and your other son(Kolton) worried.
Ewww.
I'm not sure that I was aware before I became a mother, that a mother not only is in charge of the safety and care of her children but she has to be able to adapt hers and their schedule when things are no longer working smoothly. I must confess here that I'm more of a type A personality while my husband is a type B. I am much, much better than I used to be, something else that motherhood taught me, but still have my tendencies. I like to know what is going to happen, I work off a schedule and if it gets messed up, I feel messed up. I used to be a big stickler about naps and I am just recently able to loosen up the schedule some and go more with the flow.
My mom got the boys some kites for thier birthday which was in July. Today there was a nice wind so I thought it would be a nice day for them to fly their first kite. I got the kites out, got them put together and tried to get them to take a picture. Neither Kolton or Karter would look at the camera while holding their kites.
We have all had the sickies around here lately. I actually seem to be the one who has been sick the longest. It starts with drainage and a sore throat and moves to a stopped up nose and coughing and for me massive pressure in my face, so much so that my teeth began to hurt.
I have a little routine that I do when the boys get stuffy noses and it has worked really well for us. It allows them to sleep through the night without much trouble from their noses. During the day I will give them Benadryl if they are miserable this seems to dry up their nose and allow them to have a decent day. At night I use Baby Vick Rub. I remember as a kid my mom and grandma rubbing this all over my chest, neck and under my nose when I didn't feel well. To this day I immediately feel relaxed when I smell it. I still use it and it seems the boys like it as well. When they see me getting it they raise their shirts for me to rub it on them and then they ask for it under their noses. I then use the Traminic Flowing Vapors fan with cherry menthol inserts. I found these last year and I've been pleased with them every since. The only draw back is the little fan in the unit will squeak sometimes while it's annoying it does not seem to wake either boy up. Those two things combined have worked very well for us and when I go in to check on them they are breathing and sleeping well.
Maybe I should get one of these for my room because I had a little more trouble staying asleep because of my stopped up nose and swollen face. I finally bought a Neti-pot. I had watched an Oprah a year or so ago with Dr. Oz and those that has used it said they felt so much better. I have to tell you it works. I used it for two days every 3-4 hours and the swelling and pain in my face not to mention all the yucky stuff started going away. I've used it twice a day since then and I've felt much better.
Also, just so you know all the products I mentioned above are ones I have found I like, I'm not being paid by the companies. However, if they would like to pay me that would be ok with me.
In other news, Karter had his 6 month check up at the eye doctor yesterday. Initially the doctor thought Karter might be a little near-sighted so we waited 6 months and had a recheck and all is well. All is well with both Kolton and Karter's eyes and the doctor won't need to see them for another year.
The walk was last Saturday, it was a very nice morning for it, not too hot. There was a pretty good turn out. I want to once again thank all those who donated and walked with us. Thanks to my Sister, Brother-in-law, neice, my mom and my nephew for joining us.
