Home and Happy!

Just a quick note, as we are all exhausted, but we are all home now, and happy to be so.

Piper did so awesome this morning and everything went smoothly. The doctors got all the images they needed and there were no surprises. She recovered well from the anesthetic and got to feed pretty soon after.

The nurses and doctors were all lovely and living up to their reputation. Matt and I were well taken care of, and Piper was in such good care.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers for today. I'll update you more later, with some video's and pictures... now its nap time. Haven't really slept in the last few days.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I've got to let you all know that we really, truly can feel some serious prayer action coming our way. It really is a pretty powerful thing.

We've had a pretty chill evening, with a trip to Ikea/KMS (and some frozen yogurt!), then I had a much needed shower, which Piper joined me in later. Once we were all clean, we all headed down stairs for an epic viewing of some Planet Earth shows ("Jungles" and "Shallow Seas"... very few snakes, so it made for a good show). Piper just wiggled her heart out on the floor and watched a little, talked to the cat and was pretty happy. We let her stay up for as long as she was happy.

Matt gave her the last dose of Propranolol for today at around 9-ish, so her first and last dose for tomorrow will be at 4am, when all feeding stops. Luckily it will only be about 4 hours fasting, so I think she can make it.

Tonight, if she gets up, I'll feed her without any of my normal qualms. But I will make sure that she gets in her last feeding just before 4am and we'll all have a bit more sleep and then make our way to Vancouver, maybe around 5:45am?

All in all, today was pretty decent. I had a near melt-down right around lunch time, as I was severely tired, hungry and thirsty, hence, an emotional wreck. Luckily, my sister called at just the right time and I could download a little bit. I felt much better after a bit of lunch and a reading break.

Am I afraid? Maybe.

Of what? Nothing really. But everything at the same time.

I don't know how I will react leaving her. Or how I will feel walking away, knowing I can't do anything else for a while. I am a little worried of the "away" time. I mean, we've left her before, but it's not quite the same.

This is a good dry-run at what the days leading up to surgery will be like. I feel like if we can muscle through this time, we can maybe handle that.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for tomorrow. And wow! This isn't even her surgery. I guess this is also a dry-run for all of you, too, and I am already overwhelmed by the love and support. Seriously. Thank you.

I just wanted to add this picture. Its one of my favorites, still. Piper just loves her bath time.

I look at this one and remember how I felt back then (maybe a few days old), thinking 5-6 months is still eons away.

And here we are. Piper is 5 months strong. And this is all actually happening.

We've got a time!

So, the hospital called and we got the 6:30am slot! Hoorah!

I am actually really excited to have a time, any time, to look forward to. The countdown is on. I think I really needed that.

I've already given Piper one dose of the Propranolol, and she is due for her second dose in another hour or so. The first time went just fine (she loves helping to put the little syringe in her mouth), and it does taste kinda sweet, and its cold, which is a new thing for her. All in all, a treat, maybe? It has kinda mellowed her out a bit already. Naps have been heavy, but her happy times are still pretty happy, so not too much change.

Tonight, I think we'll keep busy by going to Ikea (aka: KMS for Matt) and we'll just see how this day goes! (and hopefully I'll sleep better than last night...)

Tomorrow things get rollin'... kinda.

So tomorrow we begin the process of getting ready for the first little procedure before Piper's surgery. Wow, that sounded convoluted.

Basically, we start giving her some medication tomorrow so that she is ready for her angiogram on Friday. Really, its not too big of a deal. But medication and babies is always a treat. Most of it ends up running down her cheek, or on her shirt or all over her fingers, then, promptly everywhere else.

This medication is Pronpanol, which is a "beta-blocker", which, I think in this case is used to help open up Piper's arteries a bit? I have a better description written down from the nurse. Tonight, my brain is nearly empty.

Anyways, we start giving her 3mls tomorrow morning at 7am, then another 3mls at 2pm and then another 3mls at 10pm and then the last dose at about 6am. Plus or minus, here or there. I will try my hardest to keep to these times, so we don't have any reason to delay this procedure. And maybe they have special treats for parents who follow instructions well! Hey, I'm hoping.

Also, tomorrow afternoon, BCCH calls us to confirm a time to come in for her angiogram. It will either be for 6.30am or 9.30am. The nurse who called the other day said that they usually give the earlier appointment to the younger child, and Piper is the younger one, so maybe we'll be going in for 6.30? I kinda hope so. Surrey to Vancouver traffic at 9-ish will suck, and that will just add to the stress of the day.

Plus, we can't let her eat for at least 4 hours ahead of time (which is actually much better than I thought. I thought it was like, 8 or 10 hours before. 4 I think I can handle). So again, I am hoping for 6.30am. (wowza! I am not usually excited for anything to happen that early)

Again, they say the procedure should take about 1-2 hours (not sure if that includes prep, too?) and then they will want to keep her for at least 4 hours to recover to make sure the incision in her leg doesn't bleed and her IV-ed spot is ok.

Did you know, if they can't get a good IV in a child's arm or foot, they try to put it in their scalp? Yah. Not cool. The nurse said that if Piper is good and strong, she doesn't see why they would need to go in through her scalp. Ummm, so here's hoping for her arm?

The nurse also said that some anesthesiologists (almost spelled that right the first time!) let you stay with your baby right until they put them to sleep, while others let you take them up to the table, and then ask you to leave (while, I am assuming Piper will be good and screaming like a banshee by then). Half of me is thinking I will just want to walk away without having to see a needle go in her, and see her struggle, while the other half of me wants to help and try my darndest to sooth her (if that is even possible). I really have no idea how I'll feel.

I do know that all of my is glad this is all happening when she is young. I can still pick her up and move her where she needs to be; she can't run away, or tell me she wants to; she can't physically hurt anyone trying to help her, and she probably won't remember any of this.

I know I will.

Here is a little video of Piper and the Foos, just hanging out. The Foosa usually just gives Piper a glare and tries to steer clear of her whenever she can, but there are moments when she tolerates her.

Piper on the other hand is enthralled by the cat. You can have a screaming baby one second, then bring her down to the cat's level and just let her look at her and she calms right down. She is trying so hard to reach for her and feel her fur (and probably stick any kitty parts in her mouth), but the Foos usually doesn't let that happen. We'll see how this progresses. I think the cat takes it easy because she knows Piper really can't move all that fast on her own. But a crawling baby will be a whole different story.

And here is a picture of Piper's Opa (Matt's dad). He just loves her to bits and pieces. He reminded us tonight, with a lovely prayer, that we trust God in all of this. We give Piper up to Him, and just trust Him with will all we've got. He's got it all under control.

Again. Big breath.

Let me show you this book!

Ok, so before we ever left the hospital with Piper (after she was born), we talked with Dr. Duncan of BCCH at Surrey MH and he drew out this lovely diagram of Piper's condition etc, etc. He wrote down a bunch of numbers for us, people to contact and call etc. Anyways, in the midst of all of that, he said "next time you come to BCCH, we'll give you this special book about heart conditions". Ok, kinda cool. I love books. But really, I had no idea what to expect.

It turns out that a lot of thought has gone into stuff like this. I wanted to show you all the amount of work that has gone into preparing parents for this kind of thing. Man, these people are really on the ball!

Here is the lovely cover of the binder of info (nice and colorful, and easy to read!)

Then, there is just more specific info on exactly what will be happening to Piper when she has her heart surgery. They are constantly thinking of the parents. So nice.

Then they have everything nicely organized for all the situations that will come up, pre-surgery. Lots of diagrams and words of encouragement, and really helpful, honest information. They tell you exactly what will happen to your baby the whole way through.

The part I especially like are the little quotes along the sides of all the pages from other parents who have gone through all of this, and are commenting on certain aspects of having your child have heart surgery. They are quite encouraging :)

Anyways, just singing the praise of this hospital and all its going through to keep our baby safe.

The nurse for Dr. Duncan called the other day to just see how I was feeling about Piper's angiogram and if I had any questions. Like, genuine concern. Yeah, I've never met this woman, but she was awesome. She gave me more info for the day of and gave me some reassurance of how standard this is (they do 10 of these a week!)

She also said that once the doctors and surgeons have the results of the angiogram, they will discuss them as a panel (yeah, like a whole bunch of really smart doctors all talking about how best to help our baby!) and decide when would be the best date for surgery (the Dr has mentioned mid-November, but they will then solidify it- who knows, maybe the results will change something?). They will let us know within about a week or so of her angiogram when surgery will be.

That makes me feel really relieved. I would love to pencil a date down in my book. I need something to aim towards, to count days off. I need the visual of the days creeping nearer.

I feel as though I will soon be able to see an end point, when we can really start relaxing.

Big breath.

On another note, with Piper having 2 teeth now, we pulled out her spoons and let her play with them, as she is all the more closer to being ready to eat. She can grab them all on her own, and like everything else, goes straight in her mouth. We haven't started solids yet (she is just barely 5 months), but I think she'll be pretty eager for them!

Piper-in-Purple day.

These days, Piper likes to be busy. None of this loitering around the house business (one of my fav pastimes!). Nope. Lets get out and see people and places, please.

So today was a little busy, but pretty nice. I am surprised she did so well today, as she hardly slept last night, due to the fact that she has now cut her second tooth. Yeah, I am not too sure how I feel about that. But they are both through and sharp. I guess she is ready for steak.

Its funny because I remember my sister commenting at BCCH last time we were there, after she got her chest X-ray (a kinda funny procedure for babies, as they have to strap their little arms way above their heads with velcro and then they have the cutest little lead skirts for them in bright, fun colors), that you could see all her teeth! I mean, you could see all of her bones, too, but all of her teeth were there, just waiting to make an appearance.

And now they have.

Here is a video of Piper making some pretty classic sounds. (thanks M+S+H for the wiggle worm: its gotten an unusual amount of use! Now the Foos is a fan, too.)

Angiogram approachin'!

So we are down to two weeks until Piper's angiogram (if you want to know what that is, look some older posts). This really doesn't worry me much, but its still anesthetic in a baby and in that, there is always a risk, I guess.

I don't know if anyone else plays this game, but I am constantly thinking in my head "this time next week I'll be ____" or "this time next year I'll be _____" or "this time last year, I was ____". I don't know why, but I always find it so amazing to see how far one has come in time, or where one is going. Like in two weeks, exactly, maybe we'll be in a waiting room, waiting for someone to come and tell us we can see our daughter now, or maybe we'll be on the way home from the hospital, or maybe we'll still be loitering about (probably watching movies) at the hospital... who knows.

This time last year, we were heading up to Prince George to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I remember because that was when we told the rest of my family that we were pregnant. My parents and Matt's parents knew, but our siblings didn't. I remember sneakily asking my oldest sister (who was also pregnant, 2 months ahead of me) if I could have some of her prenatal vitamins, as I had forgotten mine. Her mouth gaped open and said "well, why...? because you need them??!! Please, have as many as you want!!!", which was then followed by a hearty hug.

My mom slipped it into some morning conversation to inform my other sister and brother, somehow referring to my brother saying something like "uncle, uncle, uncle Dawson" (I still didn't really get it...), but my sister starting counting on her fingers: uncle (for Charis -first niece), uncle (for my sisters other baby on the way) and uncle ??? Again, gaping mouth and pointing at me and much jumping and dancing and hugging all around.

It's funny how those memories really stick in your head. And it just blows my mind that that was a whole year ago. It feels like one year and one second all at the same time.

And this time next year, well... wow. Piper will be almost 1 and half, hopefully walking and babbling some semblance of words and keeping us pretty busy, I'm sure. Who knows what life will have tossed at us by then. I love and hate the mystery of time, but it always keeps me entertained.

Here is a little video of Piper blowing some raspberries at me... she just loves having her tongue out of her face, and is now sticking anything she can get in there. Let the adventure begin! (and yes, we are listening to the Bible on tape)