I can't believe its been 4 years!

I CANNOT believe its been four years since Ivy was born!  Oh how time flies!  Here are a few things about Ivy, that you may, or may not know.

~Everyone (and I literally mean EVERYONE) loves Ivy.  Complete strangers will go out of their way to talk to her and tell her how cute she is.  I'm not exaggerating either.  It happens everywhere we go.

~Ivy has the GREATEST laugh.  She laughs loud and hard and it makes everyone else bust up too.  It is one of the best things about her.

~Ivy is such a sweet little mother.  She loves mugging on Malcolm, giving him kisses, rubbing his head, putting his paci back in his mouth.  She talks to him in her cute little high voice and tries to get him to smile, she tries to keep him happy while I am busy with something else, and is a super helper.

~Ivy seems to finally be getting taller.  For a while there I didn't think she was ever going to add any inches, but lately she is growing up and thinning out.  (Which makes me a little sad, I wish she'd stay little with those adorable chubby cheeks forever).

~Ivy is such a girlie-girl.  Its weird for me, since I was totally the opposite when I was a kid.  She loves pink, princesses, clothes, shoes, and dolls.  She always wants to pick out her own outfits, and enjoys wearing necklaces.  She's so fashionable!

~Ivy brightens up our household.  She gets along with everybody (but if she fights with someone, its usually Dex), and basically has the entire family wrapped around her finger.  For example, if she wants to play the iPad and its all the way upstairs, she'll ask Corbin or Dexter to get it for her, and 90% of the time they will, no questions asked, no complaining.  How do I get that kind of service!

~She's a little spoiled.  I am first to admit that we spoil this girl.  Its really hard not to.  Not only is she our own personal miracle, but she is also the sweetest little girl on the planet.  She has a great personality and is very easy going most of the time.  She is so awesome and well-behaved and tooth-ache inducing sweet that we just have a really difficult time saying no to her!  She hardly ever gets in trouble (it does happen, but she rarely behaves badly, I swear), and when she does she's so tender-hearted that she gets so sad, and that makes me feel bad.  Ugh, I need to work on that I guess.

Anyway, here is our awesome 4 year old with her birthday stash!

For a few of the kids' birthdays they have asked me to crochet them a specific toy.  Ivy asked me to make Jewel from Lalaloopsy.  If you haven't heard of them, here is their website.  They are semi-creepy dolls that have button eyes.  Jewel is her favorite because she has a crown.  Anywho, I worked crazy hard on this doll because I really wanted her to love it, and then we also bought her a Trinket (Jewel's little sister) doll to go with it.  So here is the homemade Jewel on the left, and store bought Trinket on the right.  I think they look great together!

Okay, I took a lot of pics of the doll for my World of Yarn website, so here are a few more.

A Collage of Craziness

First off, yesterday, Ivy had her post-op appointment with her cardiologist.  He took her off oxygen!!  Yay!  That oxygen was seriously a pain in the butt.  Her sats were the same with and without the oxygen in, so he decided she didn't need it.  He also took away one med, but she has to keep one until the first week of September, when he'll see her again and do an echo.  She is doing so great, and is back to her normal self (except that she was afraid of Dr Womack again. The hospital made her afraid of the medical field all over again).  We've spent most of our time hanging out in our air conditioned home, watching movies.  Ivy's obsessed with the montage videos that daddy makes for the kids.  I've put them all up here on the blog at some point, but I wanted to share one again.  This is from Ivy's first birthday and shows all the progress she made in that first year.  Its my favorite one and it still makes me cry EVERY TIME!  She was always so happy, even after all the stuff she had gone through.  This girl is totally my hero.

In other news, I'm 33 1/2 weeks pregnant.  6 1/2 weeks to go.  (yes, mom, I went to the doctor, everything is still fine). I still haven't started getting things ready for this baby.  I don't want to go in the attic to dig out the boy clothes, just in case.  Its too much work.  So instead I got some gender neutral onesies from Target to take the hospital.  I can do the other stuff after the baby is born, if its a boy.  I have a huge "to-do list" that I'm trying to get done before the boys get home from Utah.  Lots of those things are to prepare for this baby.  Hopefully I get them all done before he/she arrives.

 Since coming home, we are having bug problems. We came home to fly season in our neighborhood.  We live right by a farm, so every year the flies get REALLY overwhelming at some point in the summer.  We hoped that since the boys weren't home to leave the back door open all the time, they wouldn't all get in the house.  Unfortunately those darn flies found ways around that.  A few days after we got home we opened up our big trash can in the garage and out flew about 8 billion flies.  I've never seen so many flies.  It was horrifying.  Every time we came in the house from the garage, a million of those flies came in.  I went on several fly-killing sprees, but there were still so many.  We put up a bunch of fly traps (3 in the garage, 2 in the house), they all looked like this after a day (or worse).  They are mostly gone now, but it was miserable getting to this point.  Stupid flies.

The second bug problem: BEES!  We haven't done much playing outside since coming home (with Ivy attached to oxygen and it being 5000 degrees outside, it was too hard), but after Ivy's appointment and no more oxygen, the girls went outside to play while Scott and I bbq'd some burgers. Scott realized there were a bunch of bees by us, this is what he found.  A big fat beehive on the underside of our grill.

Several minutes later, Ivy started screaming.  I don't mean little screams, I mean blood-curdling, horrifying screams.  We looked over and she was climbing the ladder on our playground, surrounded by bees.  We both ran over, Scott grabbed her and ran her inside and I grabbed Echo, who was on the slide, and followed them.  There was another GIANT beehive on the underside of the playground.

 Poor innocent Ivy got stung FIVE TIMES!  One on her hand, one on her arm, one just under her lower lip, one on her forehead, and one on her ear.  Luckily, Echo didn't get any, but she was VERY ANGRY when we wouldn't let her go back outside.  Ivy is fine, she cried for a while (as would I), and now talks about it very matter-of-factly, saying, "I got attacked by bees.  They stinged me."  I felt sick to my stomach when it happened and I still can't believe it.  It was really scary.  I even called Dr. Womack to make sure she could take benedryl, and that she'd be fine.  I'm afraid she'll never go outside again.  Ps..Scott went on a bee-murdering spree right after it happened.  I think they are all dead now!  Here are a couple of terrible pictures of the stings.

 And here she is smiling after she stopped crying.  What a trooper.

 And last, and definitely least, I got some new dolls up on my Etsy page if you want to check them out.  I'm sure you totally care!

The day has come.......

This morning the doctors made their way to Ivy's room at about 10am.  They told me how great she looked and how great things are going.  I asked if that meant we could go home, and they said yes.  Ivy smiled, while they were still in the room even!  I asked them to discharge us first because the boys would be leaving with grandma and grandpa to Bear Lake at 3, and I wanted to say goodbye because I won't see them again until near the end of August.  They agreed to discharge us right away, and kept their word.  We left just a few hours later.

Ivy is now out of the hospital and resting peacefully on grandma Marde's couch.  She insisted she was not tired and within 2 minutes was out cold.  We made it here in time to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and our 2 cute boys before they all headed out for more Bear Lake fun.  They greeted us with cute "Welcome home Ivy" signs on the front door.   

It was so fun to see everybody.  I hadn't seen the other three kids since Sunday, and I was afraid Echo wouldn't like me anymore.  Luckily, I was wrong.  She still loves me.  The boys were so sweet and cute and I can't believe its going to be a whole month before I see them again.  I already miss them.

Ivy is still on oxygen, and unfortunately we didn't bring our oxygen concentrator with us so we are using travel tanks now.  We only have enough to last about 30 or so hours, so we'll be heading home to Boise tomorrow.  So far Ivy is doing really well, and is just so happy to be away from all those doctors and nurses!  She still has a long 6 week recovery ahead, but I think she'll do great!

Thanks to everyone's kind words and comments and prayers and babysitting and books to lend, and mowing our lawn at home, etc.  We really appreciate everything everyone has done.  My heart is overwhelmed.

I never thought poop could make me so happy!

So....it finally happened.  At 2:45 this afternoon Ivy received an enema, by 3:00 she had finally delivered the mother-load.  She actually smiled about it and gave me a high five.  We were both so happy....I considered taking a picture, but I guess that's poor taste.  Anyway, the nurses came and weighed it...it weighed over a pound!

So as long as the Xrays in the morning still look good, we'll walk out these doors sometime tomorrow!  Ahead of schedule!  Prayer works!!  Thanks for all the prayers and support.  I never thought I'd pray for poop, but I prayed for it like crazy!

One can't go on forever without pooping....right?

Ivy is sleeping.  Its quiet and peaceful.  I asked the nurses to leave us alone for a bit.  My girl needs her rest. She is doing better today.  Still grumpy but not quite as bad.  Last night she had the mother of all meltdowns around midnight.  She had just woken up very uncomfortable and was whining and trying to find a better position.  Just then the nurses came in for vitals.  She, like always, was not happy to see them.  She lost all control, sat right up in her bed and threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen her throw.  It could give Dexter a run for his money.  She flailed, screamed, kicked, cried and refused to cooperate in the slightest.  I felt bad for the nurses, but only a little.  I'm getting a little frustrated with the waking her up situation.  Isn't the best way to heal to sleep?  I just want them to let her sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time.  I want to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time too!  Its really starting to wear on my nerves.

Anyway, a couple of good things have happened.  Ivy's IV went bad yesterday, so they took it out, and didn't replace it.  YES!! And we received the best news this morning.  As long as Ivy poops at some point before tomorrow, and her Xrays look good in the morning, we will be going home tomorrow!  I'm not worried about the Xrays, but I am worried about the poop.  She has now had 4 suppositories, 3 days straight of miralax, and still nothing.  We've discussed the possibility of an enema, but for now the dr wants to wait and see if she can get it out on her own.  I keep thinking it'll come, but it just wont.  I never thought I'd wish an enema on anyone, but I would really love to get out of here!  How do you make someone poop?  I don't know the answer.  I wish I did.

Anyway, we've been working hard to get Ivy up and walking around.  She is NEVER willing to do this, and it seems like I force her every time.  I try to explain that it will help her get well quicker, but she still gets really mad and frustrated when I refuse to take the wagon.  Its definitely been a struggle, and she's got daddy wrapped around her finger, because she knows she can make him hold her when she doesn't want to walk, whereas I just make her walk.  Poor daddy, hates seeing his little girl miserable.

 I've been doing my best to find ways to make Ivy happier.  At home she has always been a tummy sleeper, so I encourage her to sleep on her tummy so she can get a more deep sleep going.

 I let her eat cereal for every meal if that's what she wants.  She hasn't thrown up for a while now, and cereal seems to settle without making her nauseous.  Although, today she picked mac n cheese for lunch and ate some and hasn't thrown it up yet.  Keeping my fingers crossed. 

 After Scott arrived last night we took a "walk" to a playroom (Scott gave in and held her most of the way!), and she rode this little tricycle around for a few minutes.

 Then we found a car, which she also enjoyed.

 Then we went out to the patio.  She hated it out there, but it was worth a shot.

 Today I gave her another sponge bath and was actually able to wash her hair (not well, but its a little better), then we put it in some braids, put on clean jammies, found her bracelet and croc shoes, and walked the halls (Which she still complained about, but I think went much better because she had her own shoes on).  After we got back we got some playdough and she played with it while watching the little mermaid (for the billionth time).  She LOVES the playdough, and it was the happiest I've seen her in days.  She only yelled at me a couple of times.  

Now if I can just coax her digestive system into clearing itself out, we'd be all clear for home.  Maybe I should whisper in her ear while she sleeping that she needs to poop.  That kind of stuff works, right?

Grumpy McAngry Pants

This is how my Ivy was just one week ago.  She looked and acted happy nearly every second.  She was silly and funny and adorable.

 This is how my Ivy is now.  She is quite certainly the GRUMPIEST person on the entire planet.  She refuses to smile, she yells at me constantly, she has all the nurses and doctors walking on eggshells, and she cries and flips out any time ANYONE walks in our room, even the janitorial staff.  I've only ever seen small glimpses of this side of her personality before, and for the last several days, its been constant.

She's still adorable, but not very pleasant at all.  I can't really blame her.  She is still recovering from major heart surgery and everyone who comes in the room wants to check something.  I'd be mad at everyone too.  Yesterday was REALLY hard.  I don't think she smiled once.  She threw up all day, obviously felt miserable, and kept telling me she wanted to go back to grandma's house.  My heart breaks watching her go through all of this crap.  I wish I could make it all go away.  To make things ever more uncomfortable for her, she still hasn't had a bowel movement.  Its been like 8 or 9 days.  That's enough to make the cheeriest person a beast.  She has now had 3 suppository's plus miralax and we've gotten nowhere.  Not so much as a toot has escaped her.  An enema is the likely next step.  

In other news, all IV meds were put to a stop today and she is now receiving everything by mouth.  We've stopped giving her narcotic pain meds (because they are only adding to the pooping problem) and she's getting by on tylenol and ibuprofen instead.  The nurse last night told me that she'd have to be off IV meds for a full 24 hours before she'd be discharged.  I'm not holding my breath that its going to happen by tomorrow, but I am hoping that maybe by Friday it'd be an option.  She'd definitely have to poop first and be able to keep down food again (which she can't do until she clears up some space by having a good pooping session).  Its a little frustrating.  She finally wants to eat (and ate an entire bowl of cheerio's last night), but throws up every time she does.  About the only thing she can keep down is water (and meds every time but once).  It feels like its never going to happen.

I miss my bed, my other kids, my husband, and my HAPPY little girl.  I can't wait for this whole ordeal to be over.  I feel like things would just fall into place if her digestive system would just cooperate.  Why is it being so difficult!!

Take that, chest tubes!

We had a rough start today.  I think it has something to do with these 5:30am Xrays.....I mean seriously, who decided that waking sick kids up at 5:30 in the morning to do Xrays was a good idea?  Its annoying.  Anyway, Ivy has thrown up a lot today.  She also had to get another new IV (ugh), and have a suppository (we tried miralax first, which did not live up to the miracle that its name implies).  Everyone is under the impression that she is throwing up because she still hasn't had a bowel movement.  Well, here we are nearly 12 hours after the suppository and still no dice.  She'll probably have another one soon.  Poor chick!

Anyway, the good news is, THE CHEST TUBES ARE GONE!!  She finally had them removed this morning at about 10am.  She was not happy when it happened, but it has been really nice to not have to deal with them getting all tangled during walks and wagon rides.  A few minutes after the tubes were pulled out, we went on a walk.  The longest walk yet, and she didn't whine the whole time!  After all the throwing up, it was decided that she needed a sedated echo, so she wouldn't be allowed anything by mouth for a while anyway.  She hasn't thrown up since, but there have been a few close calls.

 After she finished walking, but before her echo, the "fun crew" came by with some paint and a bag and she enjoyed a good 6 1/2 minutes of painting.  It didn't last long, but she smiled and that made it worth it.

She had her echo at about 1:30pm and I haven't heard the results yet, but I assume if they were really bad, they would have told me already, so I'm being optimistic.  Since the echo she has been unbelievably grumpy, but we're told its normal from the meds they sedated her with.  Its made for a very long couple of hours (she keeps yelling at me over everything!), but I'm hoping she'll perk up after a nice pooping session!

All in all, another rough day, but good things have happened, and we've finally achieved the big goal of the chest tubes.  Our goals for tomorrow include: pooping, eating without throwing up, being somewhat happy, walking out of the surgical unit (where her room is) all the way to visit the spiderman.  This goal is kind of ambitious, but I'm setting it anyway.

Thanks to everyone who has commented and kept Ivy in their prayers.  We couldn't begin to tell you how appreciated you all are.  We feel very loved.  Also, if you've called and I haven't called back, I apologize.  As previously mentioned there isn't good cell service for us here, and I'm here pretty much 24/7.  I'm not ignoring you, I swear.  It's just too hard to call everyone back.

Progress is progress....

We're still losing the battle of the chest tubes.  The doctors think that she still needs to drain more fluid, so they only took out one chest tube because it hasn't drained anything in like 2 days.  It was the biggest of the three, so we're glad to be rid of it, but we wish they were all gone.  They also took out the pacer wires and removed the bandage over her scar.  With the removal of so many bandages her torso was sticky with left over adhesive, so we decided it was a good time for a nice sponge bath.  We even tried to wash her hair, which was impossible, and settled for spraying it with detangler and putting a braid in the front.  We also put on her dancer jammies and she was feeling like a new woman.  She wanted to get out of bed and sit in the rocking chair, so I helped her.  She sat there for a couple of hours!  It was AWESOME!

 Then after Daddy arrived we took a little wagon ride down to the cafeteria (we needed to get out of that room).  Ivy got some applesauce and cheetos.  She wanted a bite of Daddy's ham and cheese sandwich, and two seconds after her bite, threw up on the table (sorry other cafeteria patrons).  We quickly went back upstairs to her room and Daddy held her for a while.  He was so happy that I stopped being selfish and shared cuddle time (I just want to be the one to hold her!!).  Then he stayed with her for a few hours while I went back to Grandma Marde's to do some laundry, get more clothes and pajama's for myself, and take a nice, HOT shower.  

I played with the kids while I was there and it was so fun to see them.  Dexter drew me this picture and told me, "it was so good to see you today" right before I left. He told me that it's me walking to the car (or something like that).  It made me laugh so hard.  I guess that's what pregnancy looks like to a 5 year old.

So....We didn't meet our number one goal of having all those tubes removed and it wasn't the greatest day, but nothing got worse, so that still makes it a good day.  Moving forward, even slowly, is still moving!

Despite the setbacks....

.....we tried to have a good day today.  Ivy walked to the window down the hall outside of her room twice (she still whimpers the entire way which is maybe only 30 feet), and took 2 different LONG wagon rides and 1 quick one.  She does not like getting in the wagon, but once she's in she loves it.  In her wagon she was allowed to eat cookies and drink chocolate milk (I know, not the greatest choices, but at this point I am just happy she's eating!)

 She became acquainted with the bubbles girl statue...

 And of course became good friends with........

 Spiderman!!  I think she remember's him from her previous hospital stays!  Only back then his arm was broken!

 And the thing that made her happier than having wagon rides....VISITORS!!  Her brothers and sisters came by and brought her a gift of skittles and she was super happy to see them.  Dexter wanted to eat all her various treat stashes that were sporadically spread throughout the room, Corbin was fascinated by the fact that she could order whatever she wanted off the menu, and Echo just wanted to mess with everything that babies can't mess with.  It was so fun to see them (for me too!)

 Gma and Gpa came also, they are always wonderful to have around.  It was such a mood lifter to see loving faces on such a bummer day.

The plan for tomorrow....GET THOSE DARN CHEST TUBES OUT!!! get the pacer wires out as well, and to take some longer walks and wagon rides!  Good job on your progress today Ivy...Even if it seems like you didn't do much, sitting up and walking around is really helping.  So is eating 5 whole bites of mac n cheese, 4 cookies, and like 12 potato chips!  I just know tomorrow will be a good day!

Stupid Chest Tubes!

We had a few setbacks in the last 15 hours or so.  Not big ones, but setbacks nonetheless. Last night when it was time for Ivy's Lasik's dose (medicine to help clear fluids out of her body), it was discovered that both IV's had gone bad.  We were devastated, because Ivy hates being poked by needles and we knew it would be traumatic for her.  The IV team was called to put a new one in her left hand......It did NOT go well.  They tried for a good 15 minutes with the needle in her hand moving it.  It was horrible and frustrating to watch.  Scott and I begged them to just forget the IV and do lasiks by mouth (since it is the last IV med she is on).  Our nurse called the doctor, but told us not to get too optimistic.  The doctor said, until the chest tubes come out, she definitely needs the IV lasiks, because they are better.  By the time we got that answer Scott had gone home for the night, so the nurse left Ivy and I alone in the room while she called the IV team back.  I thought I had a few minutes, so I cried.  I tried not to, but its hard to hold in tears when your pregnant.  The nurse came back and caught me crying, and told me the doctor had called back and ordered lasiks by mouth for the time being, but that an IV would need to be placed at 4am for her next dose and for her daily blood draw.  I agreed and Ivy and I went to sleep.

When the IV team came back at 4, they were able to place the IV in one try and less than 5 minutes.  I was so grateful.  She received her dose of lasiks, they took some blood and we slept again until her Xray at 5:30am.

More bad news came 4 hours later when the doctors reviewed her Xray and it was still cloudy with fluids.  Her chest tubes will not be coming out today.  They instructed us to walk more, sit up more, and move around more with hopes that they will come out tomorrow.  It was frustrating because it is EXTREMELY difficult to walk around or take wagon rides with those darn chest tubes in.  They hook into these bulky boxes and there are three of them that we have to drag around along with oxygen and a portable heart monitor thing.  Its a lot of stuff!  She is feeling tortured that we won't let her lay flat, but we keep telling her that the crappier day she has today by sitting up, the better day she'll have tomorrow because those freakin' annoying tubes will come out!  Keep praying for her please!

I also just wanted to post a few pics from Tuesday (the day before surgery).  We had a fun day at a splash pad super close to Scott's parents house, and I got some fun pictures of the kids splashing around (they are from my phone, so I don't know how great they are).  I feel bummed about our setbacks and hopefully these will make me feel better.

 And I threw in this one of Scott bouncing Corbin on the trampoline super high just cause its cool!

Here's to hoping today will improve and tomorrow will be even better!

Living in Luxury

Finally!  I got to hold Ivy today.  Sitting up is really good for clearing up her lungs and its a way for her to do that while we both enjoy it.  

 Ivy picked out some delicious pancakes for breakfast this morning, took 2 bites and was done.

 She was quickly distracted by a princess sing-a-long video that was playing.

 Smiling as Ariel sings "A part of that world".

 Breakfast with singing princesses is a lot of work for a recovering heart-surgery patient.  I don't think that looks very comfy but she zonked for a while!

 Soon after Ivy's post breakfast nap she was transferred to "the floor".  We are so happy to be out of the noisy ICU.  We have our own private room with a bathroom and a place for me to sleep.  Ivy, Daddy and I are very pleased with our new little slice of luxury.  Immediately after arriving on the floor Ivy wanted to take a little walk.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.  It was a big job that required a nurse to hold all of her drainage tubes, Daddy to hold onto the oxygen tank, and Mommy to hold Ivy's hand and make sure she didn't fall.  She whimpered quite a bit during our very short walk, but she did so well and we are so proud of her.  The nurse said it was the first time in 12 years she had ever seen a newly transferred ICU patient want to take a walk.  After the walk she just wanted Mommy to hold her, so we sat down on our little couch in our room and she promptly took another nap.  I was in heaven holding my sweet girl.

 I think she napped on me for maybe an hour and a half or so before my bottom couldn't handle it anymore and we moved her back into her bed. 

 After she got back into bed and had a little pain medication (not morphine, thank goodness! She was so sick of scratching!) she was feeling very good, so she played the iPad a little.....

 And did some fantastic coloring.  We also found a VHS tape of The Little Mermaid for her and she watched the whole thing without falling asleep!  

Our plan for tonight and tomorrow is to get all three chest tubes out, the pacer wires out, get a few more walks in that hopefully will get a little longer, be able to brush through her hair (she let me give her a sponge bath, but is scared of getting her hair brushed), and maybe get a visit from her brothers' and sister.

Ps...You can tell that Ivy is feeling a lot better based on the fact that she isn't yelling at people anymore.  She's much more pleasant than she was yesterday, and sitting up a lot more.  She amazes us with every new milestone she crosses.  What a little miracle she is!  We are so proud of her and love her so much!