Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Answered Prayers.....

We had our fetal echo today with Dr. Brames. What a GREAT day it was! Dr. Brames looked over every inch of the heart. It is a 4 chamber heart with all the parts! Great blood flow and measurements of the valves and chambers. As of right now he didn't see anything that was alarming to him. Our little one was moving all over the place but still managed to give them good pictures of his healthy heart (I think he wanted to show it off!). Of course with our history of having two children with cardiac defects something could still develop. However Dr. Brames wasn't too concerned that it would. There have been cases where the heart looks great at the first checkup and later in pregnancy something develops. Usually there is some indication of that- leaky valve, size differences in the chambers, etc. He didn't see any indication that there would be a problem later in pregnancy. His quote was "Boring is good!" We will definitely take boring.

We will go back in 8 weeks for another checkup just to be sure that nothing has developed. As of right now I am being treated as a normal pregnancy and will stay with our regular OB. The sonogram tech said baby has some meat on his bones! He will probably be another 8 pounder!

We are filled with emotions- all good emotions! It is a happy day and we are so blessed and thankful our little baby boy has a healthy heart. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I know so many people have been praying for our little one and we appreciate it so much. We also have an Angel in Heaven who has a little pull.

When we were leaving for our appointment this morning Thad asked where we were going and I told him mommy had to go to the Dr. He asked if I was sick and I told him the Dr.'s were going to look at the baby's heart. He said "are the Dr.'s going to take the baby out?" I told him not yet.......and he said "on Friday are they going to take him out?" He is stuck on Friday's but I had to assure him this baby was staying in for another 4 months! A few of his friends at daycare have had new babies in the past few months and he knew they were taken out of their mommies stomach so now he is wanting to know when this baby is coming out!

Thad also felt the baby kick for the first time on Valentine's Day. He was very excited for that but told me later when his hand was on my belly that the baby bit him...........He is so funny and very protective of his baby. He always pats my stomach and makes sure Chauchi (our dog) doesn't jump on my belly. He is going to make the best big brother!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Heart Ball 2011

The American Heart Association had it's 28th Annual Heart Ball- Diamonds are Forever. Adam and I attended along with our other heart mom's from Mended Little Hearts. The gallery that Thad has been in along with 7 other children was the feature for the heart ball. The pictures and stories were on display for people to look at. It was an evening filled with lots of emotions. Stories were shared and tears were shed. Money was raised for a great cause. They showed a video of Garrett Ross- a 9 year old boy who has had two heart transplants. Even though I had seen the video before it was so real and emotional. The donor family was also present at the event. People were very generous and donated to a great cause.
It was fun to get dressed up and go out for an evening!

One of the slides was this of all the kids who were featured in the gallery. One of the auction items was a Heart Heroes Party. A generous bidder bought it for $2800 and sold it back to be bid on again and the second time it went for $3500. It was amazing to see so many people care. Now our Mended Little Heart kids will get to have a party hosted by the bidder- it could be a summer picnic or any other event that they chose.
Of course we had to get another picture all dressed up by our handsome boy!
These ladies are so incredible- Rene, Melissa P., Mary, Elisa and Melissa K. They are so caring and so supportive. I am so lucky to have found them and to have such a close relationship with them all. I love you girls!!!!!
Kristi is the one in red and she is the photographer who donated her time to take all the photos of the Heart Heroes kids.
My handsome date!
Fun times with good friends!
We ended the evening around 11:30. A huge thank you to Grandma Kathy, Papa Wayne, Aunt Beth, Tatum and Jude for coming out for the weekend. They stayed with Thad Saturday night while we enjoyed our night and even stayed the night at the Broadmoor! It was a fun night and we are so thankful they could come out and stay with Thad. Tatum and Thad had a fun time playing together and he didn't even care we were gone! He did tell me later on Sunday that he missed me so that made me feel a little better.

CHD Awareness Week

February 7-14th is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. It was a week filled with lots of events and fundraisers for our Mended Little Hearts Group. We held a blood drive- the largest in Colorado Springs History, had a Proclamation signing at the Mayors office, and fundraisers at Couture Cupcakes, and Eves and Recess shops. Several of the mom's went to schools throughout the week and talked with students about heart awareness. It was a fun week and we have a lot to be thankful for. Here are a few highlights from the week:


Sue and Emily came to decorate a cupcake
So did Sheila and Karen!
Thad and his heart friend Nora
Thad got a chocolate cupcake with red frosting and pink sprinkles!

Dr. Brames came to support us at the Proclamation signing
Dr. Brames and our Mended Little Hearts Mom's
Our Proclamation
Vice Mayor reading the proclamation to all the kids.



CHD Facts
  • Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 birth defect in the world
  • By the 28th day of pregnancy, the baby’s heart is formed. A CHD occurs usually before the mother knows she is pregnant
  • Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths
  • About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with a Congenital Heart Defect, approximately 40,000 per year
  • Every year 155 children are born with a CHD in El Paso County, 1492 in Colorado
  • This year, approximately 4,000 babies will not live to see their first birthday because of Congenital Heart Defects
  • There are 35 known heart defects, with more being identified every year
  • Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the U.S. each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHDs
  • Over 50% of CHDers will have at least one open heart surgery
  • 40,000 units of blood are used each day, half of that is used by CHDers