Our Little Trooper

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Heidi. Her surgery went very well, and she is doing good. She is such a brave and tough little girl. The surgeon said that when he made the incision he saw that her intestines had started coming through the hernia, and that cellulose tissue was wrapped around the intestines, so that was what was causing her pain. It was a long day, and we are all so glad that it is over.

On Monday night I kept Heidi up really late because she couldn't have anything to eat after midnight, so wanted her to sleep in Tuesday morning so she wouldn't have to be hungry for so long. Well, of course she still woke up at 7:30 starving. We were supposed to check in at noon and her surgery was scheduled for 2:00. I really thought that that was mean to make a 4-year-old wait that long without being able to eat or drink anything. And of course the surgeon was running behind, and they didn't get her back into the operating room until 3:00. By the time 2:00 rolled around, Heidi was so hungry and anxious that she was throwing up. It was horrible. She fell asleep for a little while after that until the nurses came and got her for surgery. The only thing that made that 3 hour wait bearable for her was that she got the "deluxe suite" in the pre-op area. Most of the rooms are just the curtained off partitions, but there is one sealed off play room that has movies, toys, puzzles, and games that only one kid gets to play in while they wait. The nurses must have thought Heidi was pretty cute, because they let her have that room. Thank goodness!

The surgery took about 45 minutes, and then we were able to go be with her when she started waking up. She had a general anesthesia, so she was pretty out of it for a while. They also gave her caudal anesthesia, which is like an epidural that they inject into her lower back and makes the lower half of her body numb. She was pretty floppy for several hours after because she couldn't move her legs. She is feeling pretty good now, we are just trying to stay on top of her pain with the medication they sent home with her.

Thanks again to everyone who kept her in your thoughts and prayers. Here are some pictures of our day.

In the waiting room


Wearing her "special pajamas"


Playing a game with Daddy


Not feeling so good


On her way to surgery


We love our Heidi


Trying to wake up


Wheelchair ride to the car


Yummy, chicken noodle soup!

Dr. Heidi

Tonight we went to a pre-surgery class that Banner Children's Hospital has for kids who are going to have surgery. It was really neat. They showed a video of a little boy getting ready for surgery and gave the kids an oxygen mask like the one they will have for anesthesia and a surgical cap. Heidi thought it was pretty cool because she looked like a doctor.



Then they took the kids on a tour of the pre-op and post-op areas and gave them all a ride in a wheelchair. It is really neat that they do this, it totally calmed Heidi down and helped her to not be so scared. When we go in tomorrow there won't be any surprises and she will be much more relaxed. I will update you all after the surgery! Please pray that everything goes well and that Scott and I make it through as well! It's so hard to see your baby go through this!

Heidi

Our sweet little Heidi-bug is having surgery this Tuesday the 22nd. She has an epigastric hernia that has been causing her pain and needs to be repaired. She will be under general anesthesia for the procedure. Scott and I explained it to her the other day, and she was mostly worried about getting a shot (IV) and whether or not she could have popsicles when it was over. But she is glad that her "bump" is getting fixed. If you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, we would really appreciate it. I will post an update after the surgery and let everyone know how she is doing.

The Proper Care & Feeding of Husbands

This book is amazing! I have read and re-read this book so many times. I really think that every married woman should read this book, whether you need some marital help, or if your marriage is in great condition. It serves as a great reminder for how to respect and really love your husband.

It's written by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and basically, it tells women how to get the happiness that they want out of a marriage by using the power that they don't realize they have. Women have more power than they realize in their marriages, but that power needs to be used the right way. One line from that book that pretty much sums the whole book up is "A good man is hard to find, not to keep."

It really is an awesome book, I just wanted to share it with all you ladies!

Yummy!

Since we have been trying to eat healthier and get rid of all the junk in our house, we have been trying a lot of new and interesting recipes. I had to share our recipe from tonight because it was so good! It was ahi tuna steaks marinated in 3/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup grapefruit juice, 1 clove of crushed garlic for each tuna, salt and pepper. Then you grill it for 4 minutes on each side. Now, I am definitely not a fish person, but tuna is really mild. This fish was amazing!

If anyone has any delicious and healthy recipes they would like to share, I would love to get them!

Remembering

It was one year ago today that I got 2 beautiful pink lines on my pregnancy test! Little did I know that there was a baby for each of those lines! 2007 was a crazy year for us. Surviving a twin pregnancy should be rewarded with a gold medal, for the woman and her family. Modified bedrest was hard on all of us. My due date was September 27th, but my goal was to stay pregnant at least until the girls started school on August 7th. Well, I surpassed my goal by 2 days. Ryan and Jenna just couldn't wait any longer. They were born on August 9th at 33 weeks. Ryan weighed 3 lbs 15 oz and Jenna weighed 3 lbs 13 oz. After 16 long days in the NICU, both babies were able to come home. The rest of the year is a blur to me! The twins are now sleeping all night and enjoying oatmeal, bananas, and sweet potatoes. It has been an amazing 5 months, and I can't wait to see where our future takes us!

I posted a slideshow that very briefly summarizes our last year. Enjoy!

Getting Started

I suppose it's time to give in and start a blog. It seems like we have so much going on in our life, and this is the best way to keep everybody updated. Keep checking back for updates, I need to get this whole blogging thing figured out!