Doing Well

From everything we've been told, Miles is doing fantastic. The doctors have all said that he sounds really great, and his vitals are all normal. He actually has a heartbeat in his foot and blood pressure in his legs now. Good for him.

We got to see him a couple of hours ago for the first time. He looked totally normal....only he has several tubes coming out of him (including one coming out of his neck). Seriously though, he just looks like sleeping Miles. After being in there for a little while, Ben and I got something to eat. Then we came back and sat with him for a while more. He's still really sedated, so it's literally just sitting with him. I can't wait until he wakes up.

Right now, we're hanging out in the PICU with James and Val and their families. We just got offered some pizza that smells really good, but since we just ate, I'll just smell for now. Anyway, that's all we've got for the time being.

I thought that I'd include a couple of before pics, so we can all remember his lovely unscarred chest. If one of you would like to bring your camera when visiting (cause we all know that Ben and I don't take pictures), I'll get some after photos too.

Done & Done

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I guess that there was less sitting around time than I thought that there would be, and the surgery went more quickly than I thought it would. (also, there was a lot more Mike Tyson's Punchout occupying the computer than I anticipated)

The surgery is over! Dr. Kaza, the great heart surgeon, said that everything went very well. He said that he was amazed by how mellow Miles was. He showed us the portion of the aorta that was removed. It was pretty crazy. The aorta should be shaped as a tube with an opening that I believe he said should be about a 1/4" in diameter. What we saw was a little tube with practically no opening. You could maybe fit a pin in it. That little opening was supplying his entire lower body (kidneys, intestines, legs, etc.) with blood. Hopefully, it's fully corrected now. Dr. Kaza said that we just have to watch him close for the next 24 hours or so. The sutures reconnecting the aorta are only about as thick as a hair, so it's all pretty fragile.

From here, Miles will go to the PICU for a few days (not the 5-7 as previously told), probably two or three. Then he will be admitted to a normal room for the rest of recovery. I'm still not entirely sure what the visiting situation will be like, but we'll be sure to let you all know. What we do know is that at some point, family members will be able to visit. Two people at a time will be allowed in the room, but no one under the age of 12 is able to visit. And if anyone is sick, please don't come....for obvious reasons. You can come visit us once your not all germy. :)

Right now, we are just waiting to be able to see him ourselves. If all goes as expected, we should get in there within about a half hour. I am so excited to see my little baby!

Explanation

I suppose that last one deserves an explanation. I can already tell that my little Miles is going to be a total computer geek. He loves the computer! It's difficult to get anything done on it if he is in the room. When we are on the computer, he'll sit behind the laptop screen and either peek around or pull it down to see what we're doing. Then he tries to sneek in a button. If he thinks that we've been on it too long, he'll even just close it while we're in the middle of something. He's also figured out the power button. That's caused some problems. Every morning, after Ben and I are finished checking our various online responsibilities and the laptop is set down on the bed, Miles pulls it up onto his lap, so he can do his "homework". Luckily, he's not quite strong enough to get it open all the way. Anyhow, long story short (not really because it's already long) I was checking out a blog this evening, and Miles did his peek around. He pushed some buttons that ended up opening a new post. I figured that since he was smart enough to do that I would let him finish the post. So, that post was all him. I even let him keep going until he somehow posted it. He ended up pushing the buttons that saved the post instead, so I figured that counted too. That's my boy. So advanced! Posting his own blog at 13 months. I'll bet your kids can't say that.

Miles' Blog

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Blood Drive

I was just reading my "cousin" (we're not technically related) James' blog. His little girl has been at PCMC for the last few weeks and is currently awaiting a heart transplant. He posted in his blog information on a blood drive that PCMC is hosting next week. So many people have asked me what they can do to help with our situation. While your blood most likely won't be going directly to Miles, this is a great way that you can support us. There are so many people out there whose similar situation will require blood. And from what I understand, the blood banks are low right now. If you are able, this would be a great service!

BLOOD DRIVE
Primary Children Hospital
Multipurpose Room, 3rd floor
Tuesday, August 11
7:00am-2:00pm

We'll be there, so feel free to stop by and say "hi".

Interesting Meal Choice

I've been really proud of myself for keeping up with the goal I made on Sunday. I have tried to do a little more each day to make my house more organized while keeping the things that I have cleaned clean. It's been two days now, and not a dish has sat in the sink. For most people this is normal life, but for those who really know me (and Ben for that matter) know that this is a pretty big challenge. Yesterday, I even got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed my entire kitchen floor. I need to go over it again with the normal mop though because I used too much liquid and it left spots.

I ramble. The point of that is that I decided to work on Miles' room today. I usually try to keep his room somewhat straightened, so this wasn't a stretch at all for me. However, it was pretty bad this time. He figured out that I keep all of his toys in baskets under the twin bed in his room. Before when I would take him in to play, I would pull out a few toys for him, and keep the rest hidden. So much for that. I was picking everything up when I noticed something funny. Once while we were shopping, I got Miles a mini nerf football to keep him happy. (a cheap toy makes shopping trips much more pleasant) It was lying on the floor with the rest of the toys, but half of it was missing. There were a few small remnants surrounding the wounded ball, but not nearly enough to complete the puzzle. So, when did my child decide to eat foam sports equipment? I wish that I had any idea how to work the camera (thank Heaven for family members that take pictures) and I would include a pic of the half eaten football. I may worry more, but Miles hasn't played alone in his room for a little while, so I figure it's an old snack, and he's doing fine right now. If anyone notices some blue and yellow pieces while changing his diaper though, we have an explanation.

Finally Done!

It has been such a great weekend! Really nothing too spectacular has happened, but the school semester is over, so that has made it wonderful. For those of you who might not be up to date, after Ben was layed off from Fidelity, he decided that it would be a good opportunity to finish up his degree. He's been taking online courses from the Utah State Extension. It was a great idea....in theory. Once Ben was back to work full time (an hour away-makes for 10 hour days), his 15 credit hours seemed a little too ambitious. And of course we've had the whole Miles thing that has only further complicated things. Needless to say, it has been a terribly busy couple of months. Every second of my poor husband's life has been occupied with things that I'm sure he'd rather not have occupy his time. As of yesterday morning, he was finished with the semester. It was a great feeling for me, and I can only imagine what a relief he felt. We all finally got to relax together a little bit. Ben and I dropped Miles off at Karri's while we went out for sushi. It was fantastic. Afterward, we went back and visited for a while. While we were there, Miles was pretty hyper. At one point, Miles even started yelling, "Mamma, mamma..." He wasn't yelling for me though. It was for grandma. Good job Miles, and congrats Karri.



Today, I didn't quite know what to do with myself. Usually, the weekend is filled with Ben scrambling to catch up on homework. There's usually a test that needs to be turned in by Sunday night. So, I try to keep Miles busy, so Ben can get his work done. Ben played with Miles all day today though. I decided that I'd make a nice Sunday dinner. I looked through the freezer, and I went a little overboard. I kept seeing things that needed to be used, so I kept going. I've decided that I'm a nervous cooker. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in roast beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, green salad, homemade biscuits with honey butter, lowfat chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and or home bottled grape juice with ginger ale, come on over.



In all my baking and what not today, I've made a goal to be more domestic. Anyone who really knows me knows that I am not the tidiest person. I'm going to work very hard on keeping my house cleaner though. (we've had a lot of unexpected company lately, and I do not like embarrassing myself) I'm going to do my best to always clean up meals right away and not leave dishes in the sink. There's something about having a clean kitchen, specifically, that just makes me feel better. I have a really cute glass covered cake plate that I've also decided to always have a little homemade treat in, cookies, muffins, bread, etc.) I like baking, and this way, I'll always have a little something if people drop in.



All in all, it's been a great couple of days. School is done, the house is cleaner (notice how I still don't use "clean"), and Miles has been healthy. Now we just need to keep it up at least through this coming week. I'm guessing that all this will end once we have the surgery.