Gtube Surgery: Day 2

Addie is still being a little Rockstar! I was just talking to one of the doctors and he asked me who that was in there! She's behaving, so not typical for her!! She had a good (uneventful) night and we are still on track to go home today... the plan anyway!!! She was awake about 4am, but not too fussy and it was really nice because they didn't have to bother her for much at all and just let her sleep. I'm all about keeping the stays as close to real life as possible, so that was great! She's got a little upper airway congestion from the oxygen canula they put on her yesterday, but her numbers have been pretty solid. She looks good!

Drew has enjoyed catching up with his old "friends" here at St. Joes. He loves dragging the nurses to see the fish and pretty much all over the place! He missed the Boops yesterday, so he was pretty bummed about that, but is excited to catch up with his buddy, Benson later today.

Here are some pictures of her this morning, happy, playing and watching the Care Bears!

G-tube Surgery

Addie is doing very well after her surgery. It was a very quick surgery and we are now back up on the 7th floor. It is SO strange because as bad as it is being here, there is part of it that feels like home. The first 2 hours we were here the room was flooded with nurses and doctors and therapists all coming to look at Addie. These are all people who know Addie better than almost everyone else. They all thought she looked WONDERFUL. I saw Dr. Nigro, her surgeon, downstair and he just gave me this look and asked why we were here and was very relieved when I said a g-tube. We have experience so many events and probably every emotion with the staff of this hospital and there is an element of comfort in being here. That being said, I can't wait to get out tomorrow (if all goes as planned). There are some downfalls to being so well known up here tho. For instance, when we brought Addie up, she got upset and started desating, so they immediately threw on a nasal canula and oxygen. The funny thing was that there were 2 NP's in here, one is pretty new and the other has been here through EVERYTHING and it was Jessica (the newer one) who wanted the oxygen on. Very funny! She is off now though and doing just fine. They will start her feeds tonight and go from there. She's pretty chill and is as pink as can be. Now for the pictures:


The first 3 are in the pre-op room before she went back to the OR. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to send her back and the surgery was over so quickly I hardly had time to freak out and drive Matt crazy with all my worries and "Are you scareds?" and "Are you nervous?" and everything else I am a wreck about during surgery:








Addie in the recovery room after surgery. She was a little agitated, but finally chilled and slept peacefully:




And finally up to the 7th floor, pulling at her tubes and wrapping herself up with cords! Actually the first is the actual g-tube or Mic-key button. It looks like the plug on a pool float! Kinda crazy, but I think much better than something coming out of her nose!!!! Sorry, the first picture is a little graphic, but nothing compared to what she normally looks like post-op:

An Angel and a Monkey!

Drew looking sweet as can be and playing with his trains! We went over to some friends for a playdate yesterday and the little girl was not really in the "mood" to play. It was so hilarious because Drew just sat there as sweet as an angel hugging me and laying down nicely and playing his trains. Ha! If anyone would have seen the fit he was throwing in the car because I didn't get all of James when we got it the car that would have been a whole different story! Don't let him fool you Erica, he's not always like that :)



I had an anonymous request for some videos, so here is one of Drew attempting to sing the Thomas song that Billy taught him this weekend (don't forget to pause the music on the side to hear):



A toy with many uses! This is a toy that Addie got from Aunt Terri and Uncle Denny for her birthday. She used it a lot on the floor and when she started putting some weight on her legs, we decided it was time to add the legs that came with it... which I finally got around to pulling out today :) Here Addie is exploring her table a bit off the ground:



Never in a million years would I have thought of this! I mentioned the idea of putting the legs on this toy and she said that these toys work really well with just two legs to work on lifting the head from the stomach, so we tried that and it worked and actually worked really well as a sitting toy, too...So there you have it.... the all inclusive toy!



So, as mentioned above, Addie had PT today and she did pretty well. Her Physical Therapist said last week that she is very difficult because she is really smart and you can only "trick" her into doing something once and then she won't fall for it again! So she has to reach deep into her bag of tricks. We are working on crawling and trying to get Addie to push up on her arms and lift her head up. She doesn't seem to want to do it from her knees, but she does it just fine from this position:



Don't Ask! But check out the video of her maneuvering in this position below!!
Here is a video of Addie's new trick...what a Monkey!!!! And I can't get enough of the "Mama"!!!

Another Busy Weekend

This weekend was another busy one with a visit from more family! Cousin Billy came to visit and Drew and he had a ton of fun playing trains and reading books together.


Drew testing out his new Thomas backpack that he can take to Phoenix this week:



Listening to Uncle Mike read the boys a story:




Silly Boys!



Trains are so mesmerizing:



Wow!



Taking a break for some corn dogs and bananas (and a Thomas video of course):



It seems as though Drew was the one having most of the fun this weekend... Addie's gotten SOOOO much better, especially around people, but those who saw her this weekend would have never guessed it!!! I'm sure it's just that she knows her g-tube surgery is coming up and she wants to have one last weekend of dramatic feeds, but decided to pull out he NG a bunch of times, throw up and remind us just how much she doesn't like strangers!! We took her to a birthday party, and she was cranky the whole time! In her defense it was outside and awfully hot, but she sure wasn't her usual happy self. Plus the fact that, for some reason, when she pulls her tape off, she is ripping up her skin, so she's got these huge sores from the tape all over her face. So, she wasn't her usual self, but she's actually doing really well!!!
...and she said Mama (which you can sorta hear in this video)! Yea!


Then I would be cranky if someone dressed me this way...This was Daddy's attempt to dress Addie for bed.... Any questions why Mama was her first word?

A Thank You and Pictures

First we need to send out a HUGE Thank You to Uncle Mike, Aunt Celia and Billy and Uncle Jim and Aunt Kellee for their very generous donations to our March for Babies team. Thank you so much for donating to this wonderful cause and helping babies just like Addie. You guys are the BEST!!!

Taking a ride on Drew's Mickey Mouse plane!




Naptime...he we'll take what we can get!



Happy Girl!



Cudling up with Uncle Denny...



..and baking with Aunt Terri...



Cheese!



Last Saturday was the NICU graduation for Yuma Regional Medical Center. Addie spent 1 night in the NICU and they are the ones who saved her life (the first time at least) and determined that she had a heart defect. They are a wonderful group of people and we owe them a lot. Here we are at the celebration.




"Walking" Around!



Pool Time...Drew swimming in what he calls the Island of Sodor...

Save the Date

Awhile back we joined a March of Dimes: March for Babies team with a couple other families who have had babies (twins) prematurely. Their teams have already walked for the cause in their hometowns, but the walk in Yuma is scheduled for October. Not only are we excited about being a part of this walk, we also have been asked to be the Mission Family for the Yuma walk and spotlight Addison. We are truly honored and would love for all of you to be part of this day and support a wonderful organization. More details will come but for now, please mark your calendars:


When: October 24th, 2009
Where: West Wetlands Park
Start Time: 8:00 AM

Thank you all in advance for your support and all of the support you have given our family during this past 16 months. Please click the link on the side to join our team or learn more.

This weekend we spent a funfilled weekend with Aunt Terri and Uncle Denny! We did some swimming, sang some songs and played dinosaurs and lots of trains, of course! This was one of the only visits they've made in the last 16 months that didn't at least begin with a visit to St. Joe's. Every other trip they've made, Addie has managed to be in the hospital for at least a portion of their visit...so they actually got to see her acting somewhat like a baby and not drugged up! She seems to take a day or so to get adjusted to new people.. she might have a few trust issues... can you imagine. But she warmed up eventually and we all had a wonderful time! Drew, on the other hand, doesn't take long at all to warm up to people!!! He attached himself quickly and never stopped... He sure does love their visits! They left today for what is probably a much needed vacation after 4 days with Drew :) Here are some pics of their visit:

Addie sittin with Grandma:


Hanging out with Grandma and GiGi:



Talkin dinosaurs with Uncle Denny:



Addie and Terri checking things out:



Addie showing her trust with Uncle Denny....



...and Aunt Terri...



....and even Sluggo....



I love to swim!



"And then, this one time"....



Petting Abby...



Loving the exersaucer...



Nap Anyone?

How Bout a New Post?

We're back....by popular demand....okay, actually just one person let me know that they liked it better when I posted on here, so here it is!!! I kind of stopped posting on here because SO many people seemed to read Addie's Caring Bridge site.... but then I remembered, "That's right, I've got 2 KIDS!!" besides Caring Bridge is not the best way to share pictures! So, I will try to get our Blog back in business. I think I can handle it....have I mentioned how normal life is starting to be...who'd have thought??? I actually took my make-up out of the travel bag a couple weeks ago which is huge since I tend to psychoanalyze EVERYTHING and have literally had it packed since Addie's first surgery. I finally decided that if anything happens that does not allow me the time to throw my mascara into a bag... I probably won't be wearing it anyway... So BIG STEPS! So, stay tuned because I think life's about to get a little more eventful!!!

I will leave you (for now) with some pics of the kids hanging out with their friends Brad and Natalie a few weeks ago...