Surgery Scheduled for Izzy

Some of you know that our last appt with the cardiologist was quite confusing. We went in expecting to discuss the surgery and to get the go ahead to schedule it, and instead Dr G told is we could push it back and suggested getting a second opinion.

We were quite blindsighted by the appt and we didn't ask the questions we should have. After coming home and discussing it, we decided it best to call his nurse and discuss what had changed. I heard back today and basically what I learned was what I expected - he sent us the direction he did because he could tell we were apprehensive. No one wants to put their seemingly healthy on the outside baby through surgery, but we trust his opinion. Plus we have the opinion of all the other docs at Hope Childrens as well as the surgeon.

They all say that timing is crucial due to the risks that cold/flu/RSV season, so we really don't want to wait until December to get into see a new doc for an official 2nd opinion, then till Jan/Feb for the surgery.

So basically we got in contact with the surgeon today and we have a date for surgery - November 19th.

So it looks like we're going to miss turkey day with the fam (boooo!!), but she should be better in time for her first Christmas.

Here's what we know:
She goes in on the 16th for a checkup to make sure she's healthy for surgery. Then we go in some time on the 19th (we'll know more after we get the packet from the doc). The surgery should last about 3-4 hours (w/ prep), and she'll be in the PICU for that first day. We'll have to come home that day as there won't be a place to sleep, but once she's moved we'll have accomidations. She should only be there for 2-4 days.

After that recovery is around 4 weeks, so just before Christmas she should be good as new!

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

So I Know It's Been a LONG While

and I don't really have a good excuse as to why other than I have been trying real hard to stay off of the computer lately. Seems like when I get on I intend to spend just a few hours on it, but end up spending 5. So in order to not waste my day or be up into the wee hours of the night I try and just stay away all together. I'll update with some pics soon, but for now here are some things that have been going on around here lately.

- Alice is getting there on the potty training front. She still isn't telling us when she has to go 100% of the time, but she is staying dry most days. I will be so glad when she starts going on her own and when she stops yelling and telling me no when I tell her it's time to sit on the potty. Of course I think that has a lot to do with...

- Alice is going to be 3 soon, and I have a feeling 3 is going to be worse than 2. Some days I swear she has a personality disorder! She tends to be really super sweet and awesome to be around, or she's the spawn of Satan. Maybe my name was once Rosemary and my parents never told me. Either way, she can be quite the handful. I'm sure there is no magic age when it all gets easier, but I was REALLY hopeful that 3 was going to be awesome on the attitude front. I guess only time will tell.

- Speaking of getting older... we're having a Halloween bday party for Alice this year, and I can't wait! We're planning on having a haunted house, lots of games, treats, and I'm sure since we're celebrating on Halloween this year that we'll all take the kids out around the neighborhood to trick or treat as well. I'm SO excited for it and so is Alice. Of course the best part is having a reason to dress up as an adult. Part of the reason we decided to do it this way this year is because for MONTHS Alice has been talking about how she's going to have a Halloween party despite never hearing that from us. We have no idea where she got it, but eventually we decided it sounded like a good idea.

- Izzy is nearly 6 months old. Can you believe it?! I know I can't. In some ways it feels like she has been apart of our family forever, and in others it seems like I JUST found out I was pregnant! It's been a smooth transition to having two, and I'm sure part of it has to do with just how well Alice did with the adjustment and how even keeled Izzy is. I honestly don't know how we got so lucky to have two easy going babies. The next one (and yes, God willing, there will be at least one more EVENTUALLY) is sure to be a colicky nightmare.

- Lately she's really coming into her own. She's discovering new things every day, and she throughly enjoys playing with the toy bar on her bouncy seat - with her feet. I don't remember Alice ever being as interested in her appendages as Izzy is. It's so neat to see just how different they are. Toys are another big thing in her world right now. She's been rolling (but not consistently) even more lately and if there is a toy near her that is just out of reach you can bet she will try everything in her power to get to it.

- The latest thing she's been doing that makes me grin from ear to ear is she LOVES to sit on my lap and play peek-a-boo. And I don't mean I put my hands on her eyes or my eyes and play it, but rather she will fold herself in half, bury her face in my belly, sit up and I'll say "peek-a-boo!" She'll laugh and then do it all over again. Cracks me up! We have video of the first night she ever did that (although it was after she stopped being REALLY into it) so if you're good I'll upload it so you can see just how damn cute it is.

- A certain special teddy bear got a face lift this week. Well not so much a facelift, more like a face transplant. I had to preform very lengthy surgery on Alice's beloved Teddy (she's very original when she names things) a few days ago. Lately she's been kind of rough with him and my last surgery didn't last for very long. His eye was starting to come undone on Friday so I finally decided he was due for a major overhaul. I spent a good 2 hours total working on getting his arms back together (they come together to "hold" a part of the blanky), sewing the small blanky piece back on, securing both eyes, fixing his nose that has been coming apart for well over a year, and adding his mouth back which we haven't seen since Alice was probably less than a year old. Aside from the fact that he will be forever dirty no matter how many times he is washed, he looks good as new!

- Alice is starting to show just how girly she really is. She's obsessed with princesses, dressing up, and she's got the damsel in distress thing down pat. And the one thing she's been wanting for her birthday is makeup. She always wants to put it on when I'm getting ready in the morning (and I usually oblige) and she's been begging to have some of her own to play with. So I gave in, found a cute Tinkerbell (whom she is also currently obsessed with) pencil case and filled it to the brim with cheap makeup and brushes. I have a feeling it's going to be a big hit!

- She really surprised us when we took her to go see the Toy Story 3D double feature. She had never been to a movie before so we weren't sure how she was going to do for one movie, let alone two, but she did fantastic! Aside from not wearing her glasses for long (which isn't that big a deal, but some parts were especially blurry without glasses) she behaved so well! So well in fact that we bought her the "Where the Wild Things Are" (I know what you're saying, how tragic that you didn't already have that book!) book and we're hoping to take her to see the movie when it comes out soon.

- On a more serious note, Izzy's next cardiologist appointment is tomorrow. We'll discuss what Dr. G's colleagues had to say about Izzy's case and she should have another echo and unless the hole has closed up dramatically we're going to go ahead with surgery. We should have a better idea when that will be tomorrow. She continues to do SO well though, you'd never know she was sick! I think that fact alone is what keeps me from thinking about this surgery. To tell you the truth, it hasn't even hit me yet.

Well the baby is up from her nap so I'll have to stop here. My 4th quarter resolution is to keep up with this much better than I have been. Hopefully I can stick to it!