Kristen’s Blog

My surgery went well. It was scheduled for 11:30am and by the time we got there, I was tired and hungry. Isaac woke up 3 times during the night and I couldn’t eat anything past midnight before the procedure. (Next time you see Jeff, give him a bad time about stopping at Starbucks for breakfast while his wife was starving.) Then we had to wait an extra hour because they were running late in the operating room. I didn’t need the laparoscopy, which was great!
After the surgery, Jeff and I went to a hotel where I could doze off the nausea of the anesthesia. The hotel room was really nice and I was thankful for a comfortable bed. The next day, we found took our time getting out of LA and found a Panera Bread in Brentwood for breakfast. We stopped in Camarillo at the Factory Outlets and slowly made our way home. I was very tired after popping into a couple stores and slept on the way home. I actually found a dress to wear to my cousin’s wedding!
I have been taking it easy today and feel more tired today than yesterday. I am glad I took the rest of the week off.
Isaac went on a “Mission” today with Mrs. Gloria, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. We told him he was going to the Mission, not realizing it was La Purisima Mission, he thought he was going on a Little Einstein’s mission. He had a great time with his friends.

I am having surgery this week to correct a problem that occurred after I had Isaac. It is an outpatient procedure being done at a surgery center down in LA. I am SO happy to have this done in LA and not anywhere near Santa Maria. It is being done by a doctor who teaches at USC and I am feeling good about it. We are staying down there the day I have the surgery at a hotel so I can get some rest and relaxation before heading home. It sounds like a nice hotel and we are leaving Isaac with my mom and dad.
It is good to have so much support during times like this.
On a different subject, we have a friend who had a stroke in August. She is doing well and progressing through therapy, learning to talk and walk. Our church and her husband’s work put on a BBQ fundraiser for a van for her to get around in. Her husband is transferring her in and out of her car and is in desperate need of a van. They raised about $45,000 for her! God is still in the business of performing miracles!

Isaac hasn’t been sleeping well at night and has either been staying up very late or waking up at some point in the night.  I think it might be the new medication, as dreaming is a side effect.  Last week, I was beginning to think I was taking care of a newborn again with the amount of sleep we have been getting.  The restless sleep could also be related to his teething.  He is getting his 2nd molars in now.

Speaking of teeth!  I was able to clean his teeth yesterday!  We had a kids’ day at our office and I saw 10 kids, the last one of the day being Isaac!  He did great!  My mom brought him in and he sat on her lap for the x-rays.  He sat by himself in the dental chair and did great!  After the x-rays he said, “I did it!”  He was so cute!  By looking at the x-rays it looks like he has yet another extra baby tooth lurking in there, for a total of 3 supernumerary teeth!  Poor kid!  He doesn’t stand a chance!  Two of the extra teeth are peg laterals (in english, two smaller sized teeth in front of his cuspids, or canines as they are sometimes called).  The other extra tooth is small and developing under the gums.  I am not sure it will ever make an appearance before he will have to have it removed.  We will wait another year to take x-rays to check the development.  He already has crooked permanent teeth on the lower arch.  He liked the x-rays, liked counting his teeth, didn’t like me scaling them, and liked the polish.  It was a GREAT first dental visit!  Yay for Isaac.  We took pictures and I’ll have to post them later when I get them from my mom.

This morning we ran into Dr. Pusser who treated Isaac in the emergency room when he was 2 weeks old.  She came into Costco (yes, my home away from home) and sat at the same table we were sitting at in the deli.  I introduced myself and Isaac and told her what she did to help Isaac.  She remembered his condition and what she did to help him.  She remembered he went to Cottage Hospital that night and asked about that.  We chatted for a while and when we went to leave, I told Isaac to tell her “thank you for taking care of me in the hospital” and he did!  On the way home, I told him that she was a very special lady who took good care of him when he was very sick when he was a baby.  (I was getting a little choked up telling him this in the car by this time.)  Then he said to me, “Mommy, I’m better now!”  Yes Isaac, you are better now.  I realized he knows so much more than I tell him.

I still haven’t heard from the doctor I saw last week regarding my upcoming surgery.  I am supposed to call him if I don’t hear from him by tomorrow.  I really want to get this scheduled and over and done with.  I hope I am able to get a surgery date within the month.

We are all doing just fine.  Isaac has been staying up later than normal because we have been watching him for any signs of side effects from the medicine he is on now.  He had a low grade fever the first night, but nothing out of the ordinary since then.  We realized this week that this is the 4th time he has had a feverish reaction to a vaccination/new medication, so that makes me feel better knowing it isn’t just this medication that causes the response.  Since he has been staying up late, he has needed longer naps.  He had a very exciting day yesterday when he went to the zoo with his friends and then only had a 1 hour nap.  He took a 3 hour plus nap today to catch up!  Now let’s hope he sleeps tonight…

Isaac is taking his medication well so far, but sometimes needs a little coaxing.  We had to give him a “high five” the other night if he would eat the applesauce that had his medicine in it.  This is a trick we sometimes do to get him to eat broccoli.  He likes broccoli, but doesn’t eat it very well if there are other more appetizing choices.  So we offer a “high five” if he eats a bite of broccoli.  Hey- it works!

We had a very yummy dinner with the Dollars tonight and it was good to get the kids together, too.  I don’t think the kids have seen each other since Julia’s birthday over the summer!  Wow!

Jeff fell asleep early tonight and I am about to do the same.  I am hoping we catch up on our rest this weekend, not just our sleep. 

Here’s a funny one for you, taken about a month ago.

Isaac had a heart test last week with his cardiologist and we went in for the consultation yesterday, Monday, for the results.  The doctor was concerned regarding some “interference” on the recording and it was easily explained away with realizing Isaac was likely jiggling the wire leads that were attached to his chest.  Not a problem.  Then the doctor asked me what he was doing at 11:30am.  Umm, I don’t know.  We were shopping… he could have been out of his stroller but most likely not.  He could have been playing, or walking, or running.  Not really sure.  We left from there to go to lunch at noon.  We had lunch and we were on the road to come home by 12:45.  He was definitely asleep by then.  The doctor said he wanted to review the recording again during that time period.  We waited.  He called us back into his office.  What was he doing at 1:45pm?  Sleeping.  Definitely sleeping, from 12:45 until about 3:20.  Hmm.  Then the doctor then told us the shocking news.

The tachycardia is back.  More accurately- did it ever leave?  His heart rate was between 160 and 190 for a couple of hours, right after the monitor was put on him until part way through his nap.  There was no good reason why his heart rate would have been up that high other than the fact that he still has the WPW.  He was sleeping.  Had he been running or playing we would have been able to explain why it was so high, but there is no other explanation.  So Isaac is back on heart medicine.  Not the digoxin, like last time.  This time it is atenolol.  With it brings more questions- what kind of a response should we expect? how long will it take for him to adjust to it? why can’t he take the digoxin? what if he gets sick?

Finding out that this problem has returned was just shocking.  I really thought we were done with this.  In the back of my mind, I thought he might have some other issues with his heart in the future but I thought it would be different.  I thought he would have been old enough to tell us something was wrong.  Instead we are left guessing again.  And with more questions than answers.  He doesn’t know anything is wrong.  He knows he is taking heart medicine again.  He doesn’t slow down for anything.

We will return for another holter monitor in May.  I thank God for our doctor in Santa Barbara.  I will gladly make the trip for the kind of health care we have received.  Gladly. 

I will post more as we know more.  It may take a while because this seems to be a slow process. 

BTW, I think I might have remembered how to post picts on my blog… yes it has been that long I am embarrassed to say.  Here, Isaac is reading a book to his friends: Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, Blankie Bear, and Nemo.  (I think we got all of them in there.)  Blankie Bear is by far his favorite “friend” these days.  Funny kid.

I know, I know, everyone is dealing with the same crazy stuff around the holidays.  I am dealing with a sinus infection that has been lingering since March and I am a bit tired of it.  I know the recent sinus thing is probably the culprit in keeping me “down” for longer than usual.

Isaac did really well with the first of our family Christmas gatherings today.  After church we went to Newbury Park to visit family and he had a lot of fun playing with our cousins.  He even got to play the piano with his Great-Grandma!  The car ride home was a little difficult since he didn’t sleep at all, but all in all he did well.  If we have to sing countless rounds of “Jingle Bells” to keep him from screaming for 2 hours, so be it.

It has been so long since I have posted.  Where has the time gone?  We have been incredibly busy.  I decided to take November and December off with Creative Memories.  I was so tired and mentally fried.  I have been enjoying my CM-free month so far.  Isaac turns 2 tomorrow!  He is getting so big.  He still likes it when I get him out of the bath and pretend he is my baby.  He is not sure if he is a big boy yet or still Mommy’s baby. 
We got rid of his “Nee-Nee” (pacifier) in early November.  He only used it to get to sleep, but I knew that this habit had to die soon, for his dental health.  It went really well, surprisingly.  My trick?  I told him because he was a big boy now and big boys don’t sleep with Nee-Nee’s.  He thought about it for a minute and then seemed okay with it.  That simple.  The next night he asked for it, but I reminded him he was a big boy and he seemed to take it well.  About a week later, I was telling him how big of a boy he was as he was doing something cute and he said, “No nee-nee!”  That’s right, Isaac.
I hope to try to be better about posting in the future now that life is getting a little less crazy.

Isaac continues to make us laugh with his words and actions.  He has loved lining things up from Jeff’s desk.  The other day I caught him lining up and collecting only green things from the desk.  Here’s one example:

Over the weekend I had an accident.  No fun.  One wrong step and Isaac and I fell into a flight of stairs, my arm cushioning the fall.  I am alright, but I have to take a few days off work this week.  No fun since I just returned from Minneapolis last week.  Had a blast in Minneapolis, BTW.
Not easy to type, so I’ll keep it short this time.

I am pretty sure I heard those sweet three words from my son today.  He was sitting at his high chair and said, “Ama! Ahwufu.” I’ll take it!!!  He calls me “Ama” these days.  He also calls Jeff “Addy.”  Too cute.  He jabbers all day long.  Sometimes we can pick out a couple words here and there, but mostly we have no idea what he is saying.  He’ll ramble off a sentence and then look at me.  I’ll say, “Oh yeah?”  Then he says, “No.”  Too funny. 

Jeff just made it home from the gym and I have to go get a splinter out of Isaac’s hand while he is sleeping.  Not looking forward to this.

This morning, I noticed Isaac was brushing Elmo’s teeth.  It was so cute!  He would brush Elmo’s teeth, then his teeth, then back to Elmo.  Kinda like I do when we brush his teeth: first Isaac brushes his teeth, then Mommy, then back to Isaac.  After Elmo’s teeth were deemed plaque-free, Elmo must have been thirsty.  Isaac gave Elmo some of his milk from his sippy cup!  We had milk everywhere!  All over Elmo and the couch!  How thoughtful that he knew that Elmo needed some milk.