Happy Birthday!

Last Monday we had our cardiology appointment in Iowa City. We woke-up, got dressed, grabbed our favorite cow “Otis,” and hit the road...


Once we got there they directed us to Xray. Olivia roamed the hall as usual while we waited.

The girls could not believe how much Olivia had grown. She whizzed through the xray like a pro and did exactly what they asked. Sticker #1 accomplished.

Next we headed back to cardiology and had our blood pressure and SATS taken. Livi's SATS were in the mid 80's, which is great for her anatomy right now. We also got a height and weight. Just over 29 lbs (not sure what the final height ended up being). Sticker #2 accomplished. After that we went back to our room to wait for the echo. Child Life brought in some toys to keep Miss Livi-Pie occupied.


The nurse came in a little while later to give Olivia some Chloral Hydrate to sedate her. This is what she usually has, which works wonderful...However, she spit out every last drop! We decided to go ahead and try it without the sedation. Daddy and I took turns laying on the bed, keeping her company.

Of course, Olivia fussed and protested but the tech was able to see what she needed to and report her findings to Dr. Law. He came in a little while later to go over things. He said right now the Xray shows her heart size as stable. The echo revealed the function of the ride side of her heart (the only side) was good and she still has the mild-moderate leak in her tricuspid valve. Overall, not much has changed from her last work-up. Taking a look at her growth pattern, Dr. Law felt that if she continued to gain weight at the same rate and did not have any cardiac issues, she would be at the recommended size for her next open-heart surgery at 4 ½. Wow! When Olivia was first born they told us to expect this next surgery around 3. Then at our last visit it sounded like closer to 4. Now, 4 ½! Wahoo!!!

Since Olivia was such a good girl at her visit, the nurse let her look through their super cool prize chest and pick something out. Of course, she picked the recorder...and played it all through the hospital!


My appointment with OB was right after. Things looked good on this end. They weren't sure about his placement, so they did a quick ultrasound and found his head to be down. They had felt a bump by my ribs, which ended up being his bottom! Otherwise, they were going to try and turn him. Whew!

We spent most of last week cleaning, putting up decorations for the party, and baking.

I gave Olivia her own bowl and she dished up some super special cupcakes of her own.


On Saturday we had Olivia's 3rd Birthday Party!





She got a lot of cool presents. Everyone was very generous, as usual!




Mama, Daddy, and Gram and Grandpa McClenning even got her the big kitchen she'd been asking for. It was a big hit with all of the kiddos...


and Daddy!




Ellie, Olivia, & Carter. All of these three cuties have the same rare, complex heart condition (HLHS).

On Sunday we had the annual Heart Friends Picnic in Coralville. Although the weather was a bit cold and misty we still had a good time seeing her fellow heart families and doctors.

Olivia and her heart buddies


Miss Olivia heading into the bouncy house





Monday was Olivia's actual birthday. Gram took the day off and we decided to let Olivia have a day to do whatever she wanted. When she woke-up her first request was some chicken noodle soup for breakfast. I smiled and got it ready for the princess. Next we put on our birthday outfit, packed a picnic, and picked up Gram. Olivia decided she wanted to spend the day at Old MacDonald's farm.






She spent the day looking at animals and playing on the toys.






About 4 hours later (Whew!) we dropped Gram off and went home to see Daddy. Him and Grandpa Spencer took us out for some Birthday Ice cream! Later that night Liv wanted to go look at pumpkins so we headed out to Sander's Pumpkin Farm (our yearly tradition). It was a little early this year, so we let Olivia pick out some mini-pumpkins and look at the animals.





16 mini pumpkins, and two gourds later we were on our way home!

It ended up being a perfect birthday weekend for Miss Olivia. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers for our angel this past week with her cardiology appointment as well. Also, I would like to ask you all to say a few prayers for me. On Sunday night I started having some cramping, which has not gone away. I get these 2-4 times an hour and they are slightly painful. I called the doctor and they said if I am having contractions every 15 minutes I'm probably not in labor, but my body may be preparing itself for labor here in the future. They said to keep my feet up, count baby's movements, and time the contractions. If there are any changes to call immediately. They want me to come in first thing on Friday if it has not gotten any better. I called in to work today and have spent the entire day in bed....Actually, that's where I'm writing this from! However, I really do need to get back to work tomorrow. Please pray for me to feel better and for things to go well. I am 36 weeks now, so it isn't too early...

I will leave you all with Olivia's 3 year pics we took the other day.