A year ago today marked the beginning to the most difficult day of our lives. I remember the day so clearly...we were preparing for our daughter's open heart surgery that would be taking place the next morning. How does a parent prepare for that? I remember trying to only think positively but of course the "what ifs" managed to sneak their way into my thoughts. I kept reading and re-reading the packets of information the surgeon gave us. We tried our hardest to act like this was an ordinary day as we packed our hospital bags and tried to think of the most comforting toys to bring for our sweet 6 month old. I was dreading the moment we would have to let go of her and hand her over to the medical team that was going to give her a second chance at life. I remember staring at her chest after her bath that night, knowing that it would never look the same. I soaked up every inch of her beautiful, perfect and pure skin. I of course took a million pictures of her bare chest wanting to record exactly how it looked. I knew that this surgery was necessary. Without it, her life expectancy would only be into her teenage years if that. Still, knowing that didn't seem to be making this night any easier. We had been waiting so long for the day to come. We had known about her heart defect since she was 2 days old and was told that surgery was necessary. There was some relief in knowing that finally we could put this dreaded day behind us and move on. I couldn't wait for the time when we didn't have to worry about blue lips, oxygen sats, weight gain or heart failure.
I knew we had so much support behind us and that meant the world to me. My parents were in town, we had visitors bringing over blankets, meals, hospital survival kits, toys for Madison, magazines, games...anything and everything to help us get through the next few weeks. It was so amazing to feel the love and generosity that was pouring all over our family. Dave and I quietly escaped for a little bit and just sat on our bed and cried...and I mean cried. We talked about our fears, how helpless we felt and how we wished we could switch places with our sweet girl. It was such an amazing moment filled with so much love and honesty. I remember thinking that our little girl was peacefuly asleep for the night and had absolutely no idea what was about to happen to her. I knew our girl was a fighter and that her strength and resilience would get her mama through. I had no idea how profound the impact would be on us. Watching her fight was amazing and I fell deeper in love with my sweet girl...something I didn't know was possible!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
It's A???????????????????
I have been so horrible about keeping up to date on our blog recently. I am seriously going to try and be a better blogger these days. I have also not been the best at taking pictures recently. I seem to forget my camera all the time. It is my goal to work on both of these things...hold me to it! :)
I do want to let everyone know that we just found out what Baby #2 is. It's a .........................GIRL!!!!
We are so excited for Madi to have a little sister. It is also very convenient since we have an enormous amount of pink around the house. Everything looked great on the ultrasound. Although her heart looks perfect so far, we are going to have a fetal echo done in a few weeks just to get an even better look.
Madi is doing fantastic! She is full of personality and makes us laugh every day. We are having so much fun with her. I love watching her explore and learn new things each day. She has completely mastered army crawling and is super fast at it. I can guarantee you it would be much easier on her if she would just get up on her hands and knees to crawl...but she still refuses. She has started pulling herself up to stand and is quite proud of herself these days. Her new favorite game is "where is Madi's...(fill in the body part). She points to her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feet, hands and hair. She loves to say "Hi" with a southern accent (it is too cute) and wave to EVERYONE. She has 12 teeth and has begun to use them on things other than food...usually my shoulder! She has started feeding herself with a spoon recently and is still working on her manners with that. She has decided that just putting her hands in the bowl of food and playing with it is way more fun than using a spoon. We are still dealing with the throwing phase so her spoonful of food usually ends up on the floor a few times. Having a dog has really come in handy for cleaning up.
I will try and post some pictures soon from our recent trip to Mexico. It is time for mama to get some rest!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Madi's BIG News!!!
Yep...Madi is going to be a big sister!!!! I am just about 12 weeks along and am starting to feel better each day...I am definitely ready to be out of the first trimester. Being pregnant with a busy little toddler around is a whole new ball game. We are very excited and can't wait for Madi to have a little sibling in September. We know she will make a great big sister. They will be 23 months apart and I know they will have so much fun together. We are going to be in for it! :) I am excited to finally share the news with everyone.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saving Sofia
This beautiful little girl is an orphan with Down syndrome living in Eastern Europe. She turned one today and we all prayed that someone in the orphanage showered her with love. The greatest gift that anyone could give this little girl is the gift of a forever family...and she is getting just that!!! My friend Jennifer (at Three's A Charm ) and her family are adopting Sofia. The Sanchez family has 3 adorable boys and their youngest, Joaquin, has that special extra chromosome. This family truly knows the joy and love of raising a child with Down syndrome. Jennifer and Joaquin were the first family that Dave and I met after Madi was born. Joaquin absolutely stole my heart and Jennifer has been such an inspiration. I found so much comfort in meeting her and seeing what a happy and normal life they led. Although they live in Sacramento, we always get together when we are back home visiting my family. Sofia is joining an amazing family and I only pray that they can get her home soon.
The international adoption process is not easy and costs a pretty penny. Please check out the blog dedicated to Saving Sofia and read about the many ways that you can donate to help bring this beautiful girl home. For those of you local in the Sacramento area, there is a Crab Feed and Auction being held on March 19th in Rocklin. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need more info. We are so excited for the Sanchez family to add a little pink in their lives and Madi can't wait to meet her new friend!!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Madi at 15 Months
So finally we are back with an update. I obviously took a little break from blogging but am planning on making a better effort to keep everyone updated.
I can't believe it but Madi is almost 15 months...time sure does fly! She continues to amaze us everyday. She really is learning new things almost daily and it blows our mind to watch all that she is accomplishing. She is definitely a toddler now and has recently started throwing little fits and expressing her opinion more (and it is not always in the sweetest ways). Don't get me wrong...she is still a sweet, happy girl but she is not afraid to yell at I mean tell you when she doesn't like something. She is very into imitating now and will imitate noises, faces, motions that we make. She literally makes me laugh all day long! She has mastered the commando crawl and is into EVERYTHING! She is soooooo busy. She still hates to be on her hands and knees and quite honestly I am fine with that because we are going to be in for it when she is truly mobile. She is already getting pretty fast at the army crawl...it must be the Army Ranger blood in her.
She has really been picking up on signing. She now consistently signs: mommy, daddy, dog, eat, please and more. She is also a great eater and loves to eat whatever we are having. Some of her favorites right now are: blueberries, strawberries, oranges, avocado, oikos greek yogurt, quinoa, veggie booty, chunks of bread and multigrain pancakes, and cheese. Just in the past few days I have started letting her try to feed herself with a spoon. She has done pretty good so far...she brings the spoon right into her mouth but then leaves it in her mouth. It is pretty cute. She holds her own straw cup and when she is through she places it back on her tray. She used to just toss it when she was done. Oh and speaking of tossing...she loves to throw her food. Ollie the beagle is her new best friend whenever she is in her highchair! She has also recently started spitting chunks of food out only to pick them back up and eat them...hence the toddler phase I referred to earlier. I am trying to teach her that it isn't very ladylike to spit food out and re-eat it but she really can care less.
This little girl is growing, thriving and melting our hearts each day. We just love watching her learn new things and master new skills. She is staying healthy minus the recent sinus and ear infection. Madi is also on her last year of getting Synagis shots (prevents RSV). They recommend that kids with heart or lung conditions get these shots once a month during the RSV season for the first 2 years of life. It is a big shot and Madi is definitely not a fan! We also got the results of her blood panel we had done and found out that Madi has hypothyroidism. So, we go to see an endocrinologist next week to see what the next step is. Her pediatrician doesn't think it is a huge deal yet as she is not symptomatic. I know it is very common in kids and adults with down syndrome and I truly am not too worried about it just curious to see what the endocrinologist says. I will keep you all posted. Here are Madi's stats from her 15 month checkup:
weight - 18lbs 10oz
height - 29 inches
I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the new year. We are staying very busy around here but I will try my best to be a better blogger! :)
Of course we need a few pictures from the past few months!
Happy girl on Christmas morning
Madi and cousin Mia already learning about Nordstrom...yikes!
Funny Christmas hat
I can't believe it but Madi is almost 15 months...time sure does fly! She continues to amaze us everyday. She really is learning new things almost daily and it blows our mind to watch all that she is accomplishing. She is definitely a toddler now and has recently started throwing little fits and expressing her opinion more (and it is not always in the sweetest ways). Don't get me wrong...she is still a sweet, happy girl but she is not afraid to yell at I mean tell you when she doesn't like something. She is very into imitating now and will imitate noises, faces, motions that we make. She literally makes me laugh all day long! She has mastered the commando crawl and is into EVERYTHING! She is soooooo busy. She still hates to be on her hands and knees and quite honestly I am fine with that because we are going to be in for it when she is truly mobile. She is already getting pretty fast at the army crawl...it must be the Army Ranger blood in her.
She has really been picking up on signing. She now consistently signs: mommy, daddy, dog, eat, please and more. She is also a great eater and loves to eat whatever we are having. Some of her favorites right now are: blueberries, strawberries, oranges, avocado, oikos greek yogurt, quinoa, veggie booty, chunks of bread and multigrain pancakes, and cheese. Just in the past few days I have started letting her try to feed herself with a spoon. She has done pretty good so far...she brings the spoon right into her mouth but then leaves it in her mouth. It is pretty cute. She holds her own straw cup and when she is through she places it back on her tray. She used to just toss it when she was done. Oh and speaking of tossing...she loves to throw her food. Ollie the beagle is her new best friend whenever she is in her highchair! She has also recently started spitting chunks of food out only to pick them back up and eat them...hence the toddler phase I referred to earlier. I am trying to teach her that it isn't very ladylike to spit food out and re-eat it but she really can care less.
This little girl is growing, thriving and melting our hearts each day. We just love watching her learn new things and master new skills. She is staying healthy minus the recent sinus and ear infection. Madi is also on her last year of getting Synagis shots (prevents RSV). They recommend that kids with heart or lung conditions get these shots once a month during the RSV season for the first 2 years of life. It is a big shot and Madi is definitely not a fan! We also got the results of her blood panel we had done and found out that Madi has hypothyroidism. So, we go to see an endocrinologist next week to see what the next step is. Her pediatrician doesn't think it is a huge deal yet as she is not symptomatic. I know it is very common in kids and adults with down syndrome and I truly am not too worried about it just curious to see what the endocrinologist says. I will keep you all posted. Here are Madi's stats from her 15 month checkup:
weight - 18lbs 10oz
height - 29 inches
I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the new year. We are staying very busy around here but I will try my best to be a better blogger! :)
Of course we need a few pictures from the past few months!
Happy girl on Christmas morning
Madi and cousin Mia already learning about Nordstrom...yikes!
Funny Christmas hat
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