Kelsey's Cardiology Update

Today we had a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist and got a great report. Kelsey is gaining weight very nicely-she gained a pound in two weeks! Her oxygen levels were great-98-100%, and her EKG was fine. The doctor said that she wants to aim for Kelsey's surgery to be in November. This will put her having her surgery before cold and flu season. She really doesn't want her to have her surgery during that time, for obvious reasons, and if we wait until Kelsey is closer to a year old, something could come up and cause her to need her surgery sooner, in which case we would risk it being right in the middle of the cold and flu season. The doctor also said that if they needed to do the surgery right now (which they don't) Kelsey is already at a good size, but the longer we wait the bigger she will get; and the bigger the better! This is great news and we hope to continue to recieve this type of news until it's time for the surgery.

We appreciate all of the thoughts, concerns, and especially the prayers for our family and Kelsey right now. We ask that you continue to pray for us and leave the rest up to God. I will keep you updated on the lastest news as we learn of it. We have another appointment scheduled for July 20 with the cardiologist and July 21 for her two month check-up.

More Pictures

Here are some pictures I have taken of Kelsey and Logan over the past few days. It's hard to believe how much Kelsey has changed in just 6 weeks! I almost think she looks a little different every day.

Cardiologist Report

So, we had our appointment with the cardiologist today and did not receive the news we expected to hear. They did an echocardiogram and diagnosed Kelsey with Atrioventricular Canal Defect. This means that she has two abnormal valves and two large holes in heart. The only fix for this condition is for her to have open heart surgery. The cardiologist expects to do the surgery when Kelsey is between six and twelve months old. They will be keeping a close watch on her until it is time for her surgery, but she will continue to see a cardiologist throughout her life.

While this is not the news we wanted or expected to hear, we know that God is in control and we have faith that He will take care of our sweet little Kelsey. The good news is that this condition was discovered early and there is a fix for it. We are being seen by some the BEST cardiologists in America. They were ranked in the top five in the country.

Here are a few links to some websites if you would like to read up on Kelsey's condition and the treatment for it.

http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site521/mainpageS521P0.html

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11067

Kelsey's Check-Up

Yesterday was Kelsey's one month check-up. She is growing very well. She weighed 8 lbs 12 oz, which put her in the 35% percentile for weight, and was 21 3/4" long, which put her in the 66% for length. During her exam, the doctor detected a heart murmur, so we will be visiting the cardiologist tomorrow. I think they are going to do an EKG or echocardiogram. The pediatrician didn't seem too worried about the heart murmur, but wants to get it checked since she didn't have it at birth and she's so young. She also thinks that this is something Kelsey will grow out of. I will let you know what the cardiologist says tomorrow.

Stuck in Traffic?

This week was VBS week at church. One day we were a couple of minutes late getting there. Logan's teacher asked him if we got stuck in traffic, to which he replied, "Yeah, we were stuck in traffic at McDonald's." Little stinker-he told on me! :-)

Kelsey is FINALLY Here!

I know this is what you've all been waiting for, so I guess I'll go ahead and post some pictures of our newest addition. Kelsey Brooke decided she was ready to enter the world on May 18, 2010. And let me tell you, I was ready too! What's really bazaar is that she was ten days early, just like Logan, and she weighed 6 lbs 10 oz, also just like Logan.

I'm sure that most of you have heard by now that my labor was only two hours long with Kelsey, and I am still in shock of it, myself. Tuesday morning I had an appointment with my midwife and we made a plan that if I didn't deliver by Monday, May 24, she would induce me. Little did I know I would be seeing her again that same evening delivering my baby. All day Tuesday I would have a contraction here and there, but that was nothing unusual since it had been going on for the last few weeks, so I didn't think anything about it. While we were eating dinner that night I had a few contractions, but still didn't think it was anything to be concerned about. At 7:45 Adam told me to start writing down the times of my contractions or to tell him when I would have one. So, I had one at 7:45, went on about my business and didn't have another one until 8:30. My midwife told me not to call until I had been having contractions 5 minutes apart for one hour. We decided to go to Wal-Mart because I needed to pick up a few things. As we were getting out of the car I had a contraction, as we walked into the store, I had another one, and as we left I had another one. That was the most regular they had been, and then I didn't have another for about 15 minutes. This started at 9:00. I made a few phone calls to some people to let them know I would probably be calling again during the night and wanted them to be prepared. On the way home the contractions became very regular-5 minutes apart. Adam said we needed to call the doctor and I said no because it had not been an hour, so we should wait. At 10:00 we called the doctor and the lady who was going to come watch Logan until my mom could make it to our house. The doctor said we should go on to the hospital but we had to wait for our babysitter which wouldn't be there for about 30 minutes. The doctor said that was fine we still had time. The babysitter got to our house at around 10:15, we got to the hospital at 10:30 and Kelsey was born at 11:04! Talk about cutting it close! Anyway, now that I've bored you with the labor story, here are a few pictures of little Kelsey. Hope you all enjoy!

Taken just before we went to Wal-Mart

Proud Daddy

Logan looking for his baby sister

Logan waiting to hold Kelsey for the first time

Logan is an AWESOME big brother! He is already so protective of his little sister-it's very sweet. In fact, the second day he came to the hospital, the nurse came in to take Kelsey for some tests and Logan asked her, "Where are you going with her?" He didn't want her out of his sight. Every time she cries he is quick to come to her side and see what she needs and tries to comfort her. I love it!

I will post more pictures as soon as I can get another chance.

Strawberry Pickin'

There is a farm that we like to go to every fall that has many different fall activities for families to do. On our first trip to the farm, I discovered they also have a strawberry patch during the spring. I have wanted to go pick strawberries since we moved here, but I always seem to forget about it until it's too late. But this year, I finally remembered and we were able to go! It was so much fun-even though the day we decided to go it rained all morning and was a little bit muddy. Logan of course didn't mind the mud and just went out and started picking berries-red, green, whatever color; we showed him to only pick the red ones and we ended up with a great batch of strawberries! We bought a gallon bucket from the farm and filled it up. I wondered what we were going to do with so many strawberries, but they were so DELICIOUS!!! They didn't last long! We might see if we can make it back down one more time before the season is over.