Grant's Journey

If I had a scanner, I would scan in the sweet little ultrasound pictures we have of baby boy #2, but I don't and so this will be picture less. Sorry. The good news makes up for lack of pictures. Our fetal echo last weekend was fabulous. I knew we were in for good news when for the first time on an echo, I was able to identify normal cardiac anatomy. We have only ever seen echo's done on Grant's heart and they are so far from normal that I was really excited to see what an echo "should" look like! We could identify before Dr. Pinto came in with her official report (the tech's aren't allowed to share anything while they scan) that baby had all four normal sized chambers, all four valves were functioning as they should be without regurgitation, the great arteries were in correct placement, and the major veins returned in a the top of the right atrium. YEAH! We didn't even make it as far as the "bad news room" because Dr. Pinto could tell that we...

This little man is going to make one awesome big brother. Oh, you hadn't heard the news? I am sorry. Pregnancy has put blogging on the back burner!!! I realized this evening that I never shared our news on Grant's blog, so better late than never. I am due at the end of May and an ultrasound at 18 weeks showed that we are having another sweet little boy. I can't wait. I decided to share a little on here since the decision to add to our family after our first having such a rough road was truly scary. I know that many other heart families share this difficult decision and understand the fear and uncertainty that come with it. Kyle and I don't have any family history for heart defects. I was not taking any medications during my pregnancy with Grant. I truly believe that Grant needed to be a part of our family and the lessons he teaches us are just beginning. With that said, I still worry. We have one heart kiddo and that increases the likelihood that we may have another. H...

There have been a few big things going on over here... Grant crashing his Aunt Melissa's Engagement Photo Session a  few weeks back.. stinker! If you have ever lived in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, or Montana, you might have heard of a little thing called Pennies by the Inch. Here is what the press release has to say about it "Salt Lake City, UT – The average penny in circulation lasts about 25 years. However, a penny donated to Pennies by the Inch can last many lifetimes – representing thousands of children who receive life-saving treatment at Primary Children’s Medical Center each year. From September 15 to October 15 thousands of volunteers will go door-to-door asking friends and neighbors to donate to Pennies by the Inch, benefitting children at Primary Children’s Medical Center. Pennies by the Inch continues an 87-year tradition of providing medical care for children. Children once donated Birthday Pennies in a bank that resembled Primary Children’s Hospital....

We returned home a few weeks ago from an awesome adventure to Arizona. It was Grant's first time in an airplane and despite having two worried parents, he did GREAT! We wiped everything down with clorox wipes and had him use his own car seat so that he would only be touching his own things. His sats at home before we left were at 91-92 and in the air, he was 88! Awesome! Grant got to experience a lot of firsts for him. We went to an awesome aquarium... We swam every morning in Kyle's parent's pool. SO NICE!! We went to the Phoenix zoo with Grandma and had a blast! And we even learned that Grant is terrified of carousels... oops! :) Grant got to go on a boat ride through the Canyon Lake and even decided to captain the ship near the end of our ride. In all, we had a fabulous time and Grant did GREAT! It was so nice to feel normal and to let him experience a lot of things which up until now he has been really sheltered from. We can't wait to go again!

I thought that it was about time for a little update on this blog just so those who don't have access to our family blog know what Grant is up to. We are wrapping up our summer (*sniff*) and trying to make the most of what warm weather we will get. Here in Idaho, things are a bit unpredictable. A few days ago, it was in the mid 90's and today, it is barely 70 degrees. I don't think that I am ready for this yet. Winter here is far too long and I have enjoyed the freedom to join playgroups, visit the park, play at the zoo, and feed the ducks at the river on an almost daily basis. Grant has been in little boy heaven watching some new housing construction in our neighborhood and watching the tractors harvesting the wheat in the lots next to us. Grant has continued to thrive in his Post Fontan life. He is playing hard and able to keep up with the other kids and as a result, he is also napping better and sleeping more consistently at night than ever before. It is incredible...

I apologize to anyone who feels like we dropped off the planet... life is GOOD!! I really honestly didn't know what to expect from our summer. We have seen so many kids have difficult paths with their Fontan's and I almost feel guilty that Grant has done so well! We are almost 2 months past this huge milestone and I can really say that life feels back to normal... even a better normal than we were enjoying before! I have already written about some of the tough things related to home life, but given a few more weeks to heal and recover, Grant is feeling better than ever. We have taken him up to the mountains (as seen in these first few pictures) and he did great! He had more energy and had better coloring than I have ever seen. His energy is awesome. He is playing harder and going longer than ever before. We have been using our summer nights and weekends to finish off the remaining work on our basement and Grant insists on being right in the middle of it all. This is his n...

Pictures are from a recent visit to the zoo as well as a few shots from Grant's fun time in the greenroom after his telethon appearance. I have been thinking about this post for a week now. It is truly incredible for me to say the words post Fontan and realize that it describes our lives! Forgive me for a moment while I reflect. Being told at our 20 week ultrasound that our baby boy did not have a fully formed heart was devastating. Waiting 4 more weeks for an actual diagnosis and then being told that we should abort the pregnancy was awful. Finally learning that there was a series of surgical interventions that could help extend our baby's life and help his heart to function while still missing two of his chambers was daunting, but hopeful. We knew that statistics were still not in our favor and after Grants first two months of life, we were so exhausted and traumatized that I honestly couldn't fathom a time when we would be able to look into our immediate future without ...