Grant's Journey

Christmas was a wonderful break for Kyle and I. It has really not felt like much of a holiday season this year with so many other events to anticipate. This was a much needed break! We had a lot of fun with our family and felt total jubilation at the news that Kyle was offered a full time position as a government finance and controls specialist. This new job means full time salary and government insurance coverage once he starts his job in May. What a relief to us, however, we are learning that this tremendous blessing is also requiring us to walk by faith yet again. Grant's current insurance plans (we have two) are both Utah policies and will not cover providers and check ups out of state. Since Kyle will not start his job until May 26th and my doctor is planning on inducing me mid March, this will hopefully allow us to have time for recovery and stabilizing while living at least in the same state. Then, because the second surgery will likely come between 4-8 months, we are antici...

We have safely returned from our two day hospital tour. It has been very informative, exhausting, and much more pleasant than I thought it would be! On Wednesday, we arrived in Salt lake and had to fight traffic for 30 minutes before we actually made it into Primary Children's. We went in for our first fetal echo and they spent about 2 hours with me on the table watching his heart, taking measurements, and NOT TALKING TO US! It was so aggravating, but the cardiology fellow and the tech are not able to give you any information at all. They were impressed with Kyle and I and our demonstrated knowledge of the ultrasounds. We were able to identify and even show the fellow which direction he was laying and which side they were looking at... looks like we have some good experience in this now! Finally, the cardiologist, Dr. Pinto came in and after reviewing with the other team, she still spent another hour looking at his heart personally and attempting to get the perfect angle to view so...

We have been able to enjoy a relatively easy week... my only doctor's appointment this week was with our normal OBGYN (who I LOVE! What other doctor will call you personally after a normal appointment and specialist appointment just to make sure that you are processing everything ok and that you have a chance to get your questions answered that you forgot to ask in the initial 2 hour appointment!!...maybe he secretly wants to be a therapist! We love Dr. Kirkman!). Luckily, we had no major developments this week and Grant's heartbeat was deceptively clear and strong. I am just so grateful that we have had the time to get an early diagnosis and that we can know about his heart now instead of being life flighted a few days after birth and being simply terrified. Knowledge is truly power! I still get teary when I see the life flight helicopter at our local hospital. About 18 months ago, I took a roommate to the ER in the middle of the night and as we were walking in, we saw a tiny ...

Just a little post to let you all know that Kyle and I are really holding up ok. I knew that my first post would probably have people thinking that we were wrecks and though in some moments, that is true, in general, we are living life. We have both been at work/school full time this week and have been very distracted. Probably one of the best things is being able to look at the Intermountain Healing Hearts website and the Heart Hero's website. These two sites offer support and help families like us to connect with other families whose children suffer from Congenital Heart Defects. Several of these families also have HLHS babies which is an awesome support to look at their blogs, email, receive blog comments, and just generally to get a more clear picture of what life will bring in a few months. Some of the photos are a little hard to take...a little baby with a literal ROOM full of equipment just to keep them alive and little babies restrained and strapped down so they do not move...

Many people nickname their kids in the womb and decide at birth between a few different names. Kyle and I have had a different experience. When we first discovered that I was expecting, we tossed around a few names that we both liked, but decided that we needed to see him before we settled on one name in particular because nothing would be worse than giving our child an identity crisis if we gave them a name that did not fit! With all of our recent news, it has been interesting how our little guy's name has found us. Our prayers are focused on this little guy and what is happening inside of him. I find myself praying daily that our Heavenly Father will "grant" him the strength that he needs to continue to develop well and that Kyle and I might be "granted" the ability to feel peace and understanding as we prepare for this time. Grant had always been a name in my top ten, but we truly feel that it is an appropriate name for our little man because I truly believe ...