At the Lake

We had a fun time at Utah Lake with the Alders on Friday. It was the boys' first time in a boat, and they were very excited. In the end, they decided not to get in the water (well, Dax kicked his feet a little off the back of the boat), but it turns out dad can still ski. He pulled himself right up on all 3 attempts. He wasn't nearly as good at wake boarding (he pulled up, but it was like he was on ball bearings and lasted about 5 seconds). Also, don't ask him to get anything off the top shelf because he is sure sore today!

Natalie and Seth sat this one out, but next time they will be on the boat for sure. Below are the pics and ski video.

Getting ready to go on the boat.

Dax and Ty

Randy on the tube

Dax squirting dad.

Dad and Mark enjoying each other.

Driving the boat.

Our Fish Does the Backstroke

So, you know all about Seth and his surgery, but one of our lesser known family members is our fish. I bought him from a fair at school-- fish, tank, rocks, food, water, etc. for $14. Mark and Dax really love him. Mark wanted to name him Jorge after Natalie's old fish from long ago. Dax wanted to name him Poochie after the name we called Seth in utero which was Moochie. We finally settled on Poochie Jorge, or PJ for short.

We think he is a black moor fish. Whatever the case, he has a unique and somewhat disturbing habit. He likes to float on his back at the top of the bowl. The first time this occurred, Dax came to tell us the fish was "sleeping" on top of the bowl.

We've learned if you gently tap the glass, he tips back over and swims away!

Yes, he is floating on his back. The first few times we thought he was a goner.
 But we have learned that sometimes PJ likes to do the back stroke.

Pictures of Seth

My favorite because he looks so calm.

Natalie and I have differing opinions on which of these pictures of Seth is cutest-- I mean, they both have Red Sox jerseys, so they are both great. I like the one above. Natalie prefers the one below.

Her favorite for that little half-smile.

Follow-up at Primary Children's

Yesterday Seth had his follow-up check-up at Primary Children's. As the nurse fumbled with the blood pressure cuff and came up with a drastically different reading in Seth's arm and leg, we almost had heart attacks! She got things adjusted correctly, though, and he was perfect.

They took an x-ray and he was perfect, too. Finally, they hooked him up to an EKG. It took a little longer to get this one done, especially since he had the hiccups and kept interrupting the test with a big old bounce on the monitor for each "hic". The pulses in his feet were strong, too.

Seth was awesome for the EKG despite his hiccups.

Finally, they took the steri-strips off his incision, and it is healing very well. In fact, the scar is almost covered by a baby-fat roll.

You can barely see the scar.

Last week, we also took Seth to our pediatrician. We asked him about coarctation and he said he was quite familiar with it. In fact, he said, he'd lost 2 patients to it. I almost thought he was kidding, but he said that it is very often fatal in serious cases like Seth's. We felt even luckier when he explained that most babies go home looking healthy and happy, but then that little vessel closes off and they immediately take a turn for the worst. They can be gone within 24 hours.

That's why we believe our little Seth is a miracle. If we hadn't stayed in the hospital an extra day for the c-section. . . if we hadn't sent him to the nursery the night he was struggling. . . if an astute nurse hadn't taken his blood pressure. . . if she hadn't immediately contacted the cardiologist. . . we don't believe Seth would be with us right now.

Thank heaven for miracles!

Seth & Sleep

Just chillin' with my feet up!

Seth will sleep anywhere, as long as it is not in his bassinet. He will sleep in the car seat, on the couch, on the floor, on us, but don't lay him down in his bed because he will wake up in seconds. Seth doesn't even mind if there are dirty socks right next to him.

Eventually he'll learn to like his bed, right?

Words Cannot Express ...

Seth is doing wonderfully well here at home. We have a visit with the pediatrician on Friday and one more follow-up visit to PCMC on the 18th to check how his incision is healing. It is very much like having a "normal" baby around here. The only difference is that he give him Tylenol every 6 hours and pick him up under the head and bottom rather than under the arms.

So, it seems that our little drama has drawn to a close. We prefer to think of it as a beginning rather than an ending. When we decided to blog about Seth's birth, it was our way to connect with family without making all those phone calls. With a brother and his family as far away as New Zealand, it was a simple way to send pictures and our story to everyone. We never dreamed that Seth would be born with any complications, and we never guessed that so many people would be interested.

To be honest, we were somewhat embarrassed that our little tragedy traveled so far so fast. It's a miracle to us that our little guy is home in a week and expects to live a normal life. We know many people who have suffered much worse with much less support and love.

So, we have struggled how to thank everyone who helped our family through this trial. Every phone call, message, text, email, card, snack bag, meal, and gift made each day a little easier. We have shed countless tears over the generosity of our family, friends, and neighbors. Every day we go back and read through our experience and your comments to feel your love and relive the miracle that has affected our family. We feel that as we dealt with Seth's surgery and recovery we got far more than we ever deserved.

So thank you from the very bottom of our hearts. Thank you for showing such love. Thank you for your faith and prayers in behalf of our son. We believe that it made all the difference.

Home

We're heading home!

Seth was cleared to come home! We are so excited. We had to learn how to care for his incision (no baths and watch for infection), when to give him his medicine (only a diuretic and Tylenol), and what signs to watch for that his heart is not doing well. We scheduled a follow up appointment for 10 days from today and they want us to see our normal pediatrician this week for our regular 2 week check up.

Then Seth needed to have his IV taken out. The last piece of hardware left from the hospital stay. It only took a few minutes and then they took off the monitors. No more wires. It was awesome to nurse him without him being attached to anything. There was a lot of down time as they gathered things up for us to take home (bandages, syringes, information sheets, my pumped milk). Finally at 1:00 pm we walked down the stairs and out to the car.

A whole new adventure is about to begin.

It has been a long nine days.