Cardiology Update

This morning Chase had a routine checkup with his cardiologist. We'd been keeping an eye on his tricuspid valve regurgitation at prior appointments, but overall anticipated a straightforward appointment today.

We began with the typical height and weight measurements, followed by blood pressure readings on all four limbs, an EKG, and an O2 check. Everything was looking fine until we checked his oxygen saturation reading. For some reason, it never climbed any higher than 92-93. In the past, Chase has usually had sats around 97-99, so this was quite a bit lower than we anticipated.

We went back for the scheduled echo to check heart function and get pics for the cardiologist. Chase was a happy camper watching Cartoon Network during the echo (we NEVER watch this channel/programming at home so of course he was glued in LOL!).

I was surprised/concerned when the cardiologist, Dr. H, came into the echo room as this has never happened before. He requested the tech obtain specific views of Chase's LPA (left pulmonary artery), aortic arch, and of course tricuspid valve.

When the tech finished with what he thought the doctor needed, he left to go ask Dr. H to come back in to take a look to ensure he had everything he needed. Only Dr. H was with another patient, so our tech brought a second tech in (presumably more experienced) to double-check his work. She worked for a bit, then sent the first tech to find Dr. H. The cardiologist came in a second time and sat down at the echo machine (also never happened before). Dr. H looked around and was able to see most of what he wanted to see. Chase was such a trooper considering the echo took so much longer than usual!

Dr. H performing Chase's echo

Once the echo was complete, we went back to the exam room to discuss Dr. H's findings. Ultimately everything looked great -- heart function, tricuspid valve, LPA, liver, etc. However, Dr. H suspects that Chase may have a few collateral vessels that have formed, which would account for the decrease in oxygen saturation. His plan is for us to monitor Chase's O2 at home over the next 2 to 3 weeks to see if he holds around 92 or continues to slowly decrease. If it holds or continues to decrease, we will likely head to MUSC in Charleston for a heart catheterization.

This wasn't exactly the news we were hoping for, but we're grateful to find what we did so we can address it before it becomes a bigger problem. Please keep Chase in your prayers over the next few months as we make decisions about our next steps. If he's going to need a heart cath, we would definitely like to do it before Cinco makes his arrival. I'm trying not to stress out over what will unfold in the next few months. I know God has a perfect plan for this perfect boy of mine, and I fully trust Him!

For the first time in as long as I can recall, Dr. H wanted to draw some labs on Chase to check blood count, heart function, etc. So we left his office and had Chase's blood drawn at LabCorp. Y'all. He was NOT a fan. He got crazy worked up about it when I just explained to him what we needed to do. I felt awful. When it finally came time to have it done, I walked him through everything as best as I could and tried to settle him down. Bless his heart. This kid, who's been through three heart surgeries, countless heart caths, and a slew other procedures, flipped a major nut about one tiny little blood draw. Ultimately, he did great and they were able to get three vials for the tests Dr. H ordered. We finally we ready to head home, but not before a not-so-quick trip to Chick-fil-A during the lunch rush on a crazy rainy day! LOL!

Thanks for following along on Chase's heart journey and keeping our family in your prayers. Hugs to all!

"The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."    -- Philippians 5b-7

Chase's 9th Birthday - Part III

DISCLAIMER: Today is June 7, 2019. I'm a bit behind on posting to my blog. LOL! This is the final post in the recap of Chase's 9th birthday from 2018! LOL!

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Chase's 9th birthday extravaganza wrapped up with a Pokémon-themed birthday party with his buddies at our house. It was so much fun! Chase had a great time, and I think his friends did, too!

I made a Pokémon-themed invitation (yes, we live on Sesames Street). HAHAHAHA!

He requested a Pikachu cake and was pleased with the results!

The boys had fun coloring, playing Pokémon bingo, playing video games, and of course...

...eating PIZZA!

Time for cake!!

Ash--er, I mean, Chase--made a wish and blew out his candles!

We sent home a little party favor with each of his friends.

These boys had a great time, and we are so grateful they chose to join us for Chase's 9th birthday celebration!

Halloween 2018

Yep... still playing catch up on my blog! Here's a quick recap of Halloween 2018 (posted on 6/7/19)!

The kids had a great time dressing up this year! LO chose to be Hermione from Harry Potter. I made her cape thing (I'm not a Potterhead, obvi), bought the outfit, and she had a wand from her birthday. She ROCKED it!!!

Chase is still DEEP into his love of all.things.Pokémon. He wanted to be Ash Ketchum, the famed Pokémon trainer! He looked fantastic in his mom-made costume! He had to take off his hat for the photo so he could show off his black hair!

I totally and completely "phoned it in" for the younger boys this year. These are skeleton pajamas from The Children's Place (I think). Yes, these boys went trick-or-treating in pajamas. I don't even care.

We went to our friends' neighborhood to go trick-or-treating with them and had a FANTASTIC time! It was so much fun!!!

Chase's 9th Birthday - Part II

Part II of Chase's 9th birthday celebration was a dinner at our home with all of our family. Chase requested one of his favorites: "breakfast dinner!" We had pancakes, bacon, eggs, breakfast casserole, fruit, and orange juice. Literally this boy could eat those things on the daily and never complain!

We had cake and ice cream, per our usual. He requested a chocolate cake with cookies n' cream buttercream filling, and Pikachu-yellow frosting. It was ginormous, but delish!

Happy Birthday, dear Chase...

Big wishes for this big boy!

E and his cousin enjoying their cake & ice cream.

Time for presents!

GASP! He was so excited!

This kid LOVES gaming.

And his love of Mario is still quite strong!

A Golden Ninja mini-figure!

Sweet baby squish (in a bag). Adorbs.

Time to assemble the goods! All hands on deck!

We had a great time celebrating Chase with the family who was able to join us tonight! We love y'all bunches and are so grateful you were able to join us to celebrate the amazing miracle that is our sweet boy Chase!

Chase's 9th Birthday - Part I

Can you believe it?? We celebrated Chase's 9th birthday today! What an amazing blessing this sweet boy is to our family. He has the biggest heart -- especially considering he only has half of one! -- and he is so kind and compassionate. He loves all types of gaming (video games, coding, etc.), would eat hamburgers and applesauce from Culver's 24/365 if he had the option, is super crafty and artsy (he loves coloring pages and drawing), and can't get enough Pokémon!

We celebrated with a family dinner last night at -- you guessed it: Culvers! -- complete with frozen custard with two toppings for the birthday boy. We knew we wouldn't have time to celebrate with a family dinner on his actual birthday due to LO's play tonight after a week of theatre camp. And somehow, this was the only picture I took of Chase at his family birthday dinner! hahahaha!

So this morning, we had birthday pancakes for Chase before LO left for her last day of theatre camp. We even woke up Squish so he could join us for the festivities. That sweet babe usually sleeps until 10AM or 11AM, so he wasn't quite sure what was happening with an 8AM wake-up! Bless.

Here's the birthday boy with his birthday pancake! Can you believe he's 9?!

Oh look! Someone was all smiles once he realized there would be FOOD at this event. LOL!

Happy Birthday, Chase!!!

After LO's play tonight, we picked up pizza to have a late dinner followed by ice cream sundaes and... finally... gifts for the birthday boy!!!

Tomorrow night will be a family birthday celebration (breakfast dinner by request) with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. And of course, cake (chocolate with cookies n' cream filling, and yellow "Pikachu" frosting) and more ice cream!

And as if all of this weren't enough, next weekend he's having a birthday party with his buds from CC... a sleepover party! He's so excited about this one! Lots of Wii U playing, Pokémon card trading, cake and ice cream eating fun to be had by all!

I'm sensing a pattern as I write all of this into one post. It's obvious we do birthdays right around here: a seemingly endless supply of food and ice cream! LOL!

Happy 9th Birthday, Chase!

The One with the Unidentified Allergic Reaction

Last Thursday, June 7th, we were celebrating our niece's graduation at my sister's house. It was a lovely day! LO had a riding lesson at noon, we came home and waited for hubs to finish with a work call, then the 6 of us headed to the graduation party.

Not more than 15 minutes after arriving, I happened to notice my mom and sister staring at Chase, inspecting his hands and feet. I came over to see what was going on and was SHOCKED to see that my son's hands and feet were swollen beyond anything I've ever seen in my life! He was also covered in hives over his face, neck, chest, back, and abdomen. I asked my sister for some Benadryl and took him upstairs. Chase was complaining that his hands and feet hurt (of course!) and he was cold (though he had a low-grade fever). After a hefty dose of children's Benadryl and some ibuprofen, I took him to a room to lie down and covered him with a blanket. I snuggled up next to him and called his pediatrician's office. Of course, it was just after 5pm, so I had to keep calling back until they turned the phones over to the answering service. I left a message for the nurse to call me back.

Chase was acting fine overall -- just sluggish/tired, cold, and achy. He was sipping on water and his breathing was normal. Then I looked at his fingers. His nail beds were BLUE. As in, pre-Fontan heart surgery blue. That was it for me. I told hubs we were taking him to MD360 to get a pulse ox on him and see what on earth is going on!

We left our 3 kids under the watchful eyes of my mom and two sisters and headed to MD360, which was only about 10 minutes away. The poor kid couldn't fit his swollen feet into his crocs, so I carried him inside to get him registered. While filling out paperwork, I informed the check-in lady that I needed to get him on a pulse ox ASAP, so she called back to the nurse. A few minutes later, hubs came in (after parking the car) and reiterated the urgency in getting a pulse oximeter on Chase because he's a heart kid. Within a few seconds, a nurse came out to look Chase over. She immediately said for us to come back. I carried Chase to a hospital-esque room (not the typical exam room) while hubs finished with the paperwork.

The nurse asked the same series of questions hubs and I had been pondering ourselves: has he eaten anything new/different? have we switched laundry or bath soaps? had he been exposed to any environmental allergens, etc. We had (and still have) no idea what caused this reaction! She checked his bp and o2 -- both of which were in range (for him). Thank you, Jesus!

The doctor came in a few moments later and assessed him. He essentially told us he has urticaria -- a.k.a. hives. He said it was viral and wanted to give Chase a steroid shot, after clearing it with his cardiologist.

We spent the next little while watching Chase enjoy Teen Titans and struggling to identify what caused all of this. Our poor boy. He looked absolutely pitiful, y'all.

He was covered all over in hives.

His hands were SO swollen.

And his feet were unrecognizable! Have you ever seen anything like this??

Even his knees were swollen! I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life!!

Bless his sweet heart! The doctor got approval for the steroid shot from cardiology, so my sweet boy had to get an unwelcome shot in his thigh. He was NOT a fan -- and I can't blame him!

We had to wait around 30 minutes to ensure the steroids were going to work. We also were given a prescription and were told to continue to give him Benadryl and Claritin for the next few days to ensure it doesn't reoccur. Once we had the all-clear, we stopped by the pharmacy and hubs and Chase were dropped off at home to get him settled on the couch and comfortable while I went to pick up the kiddos from my sister's house.

What an eventful evening! I'm just so grateful to the Lord for watching over our sweet Rock Star so this didn't turn into something much worse. He is faithful! And Chase was back to himself the next day. YAY!!!

Easter 2018

What a busy whirlwind of Easter excitement, y'all! I haven't been able to catch my breath for what seems like weeks, but that's another topic for another time... For now, I'll just focus on Easter last weekend!

I was super excited to join the worship team at our church for Easter services by singing in the worship choir -- along with my mom! It was awesome. We had rehearsal Wednesday evening, and it was really so wonderful! We had three Easter services, one Saturday evening and our usual two Sunday morning.

On Saturday afternoon, the kids dyed Easter eggs and had a blast! Squish was napping so he didn't make it into any of the pictures. ;)

My super sweet and smiley Rock Star, Chase!

My beautiful daughter, LO!

The family goofball: E!

Let's do this!

See above. Goofball.

Love this boy!

Pretty eggs!

E liked placing his eggs in ALL of the colors... which basically left him with either poop brown or army green. Good times.

LO going for turquoise here. Win!

So many pretty eggs! I especially love the turquoise creations.

The finished products! I spy Lloyd from Ninjago... Silly Chase!

After our Easter service Saturday evening, I prepped some food for Sunday, and had an EARLY morning on Sunday to do it all again... twice!

Y'all, we typically attend our 11 AM service, which means I usually don't get up on Sundays until around 9:45 AM. Holla for weekend sleep! But to sing in both morning services, I needed to leave the house at 7:40 AM for our 8 AM call time. Whaaaaat! Whoa.

Everything with my family was super low-key this year. I did buy LO a new dress several weeks ago, but only because it was cute and majorly on sale. I wasn't even thinking of it as an Easter dress at the time. And I literally forgot until Saturday evening (after the kids went to bed) that I hadn't even bothered to figure out what the boys would wear! Sheesh. Sorry, hubs! He was flying solo Sunday morning to get 4 kiddos fed and dressed for Easter Sunday. #epicwifefail

The Sunday morning services were so incredible! Afterward, we literally went through the Arby's drive-thru for lunch on our way home. What can I say... it was a busy week! I forced the kids to let me take a few pictures before we let them inside to eat lunch... and find their Easter baskets! #hahahaha #momwin

Here are my Easter cuties!

Love this Squishy kid of mine! Just look at that toothless grin!

I mean, really... he IS the biggest goofball I know!

This boy. My heart!

Pretty girl!

There's that smile again!

Meanwhile, back inside opening Easter baskets... or, for some, watching everyone else open Easter baskets.

Heyyyyyyy!

Oh! A new book! Love! And a frisbee? Totally practical for a 9-month-old. LOL!

E's Easter basket had a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and a tiny Ray Stantz action figure from Ghostbusters. Squish absolutely loved the Marshmallow Man! I think I have an idea for his Halloween costume...

After a quick lunch and Easter basket fun, we loaded up the kids and the food I'd prepped the night before, and hit the road to head to hubs' parent's house. My MIL had hip surgery and has been homebound, so we really wanted to bring Easter to them. A couple of casseroles, rolls, and cranberry sauce paired perfectly with my FIL's amazing grilled pork tenderloins. Oh, and a blizzard cake from Dairy Queen. Yes, y'all, I phoned it in with this year's Easter dessert! We also had an egg hunt for the kids in the front yard and my MIL was even able to come outside and watch the kids run around like little crazies. It was beyond perfect!

This really was not a "typical" holiday for us, but I don't care. I worshiped along with our amazing church congregation... THREE TIMES. I loved on my family. I got to spend time with my incredible in-laws. It didn't matter to me what we ate or what we wore. My focus was on relationships -- investing in the lives of the people I love. And I wouldn't have it any other way!!!