Yesterday was definitely a long, very hectic day but we survived it! We arrived to the Peds Specialty Clinic early Wed. morning for all of Olivia's pre cath tests. Our first stop was lab, as I'm sure you can imagine, this did not go over very well! After they drew blood, Olivia shot them her best scowl and said, “This room is not a good room.” Ha ha! After a few more things we headed over to the cath lab to talk about the procedure and sign the consent forms. At first, Olivia was in the room as we went over her history and talked about the plans for the day. However, she heard one of the doctors ask me if she was up-to-date on her shots and freaked out, shouting, “Shot! I'm getting another shot?” Needless to say, before we got to the part about all of the terrible things that can happen during the procedure, Olivia and Daddy left the room to go see the fish. This being the first hospital stay she will most likely remember, we we're trying to do all we could to make it the least traumatic experience as possible. Once the Chief Anesthesiologist came in to talk I asked about giving Olivia Versed before they put on the gas mask since that has definitely scared her before. I also asked about a drug called Precidex for after the cath to wake Olivia up nice and calmly. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist scoffed at this idea from the very beginning. She ended up being very rude to our family and even used some profane language in front of Olivia. Steve told her she was fired as our daughter's doctor. Usually we don't have too many issues at The U, but today we did. Luckily, we were able to get another anesthesiologist about an hour later. While we waited, Olivia got to be carted around by some of her favorite doctors, play with puzzles, and sit on Mama's lap.


This is Miss Olivia getting her blood pressure checked, she is still smiling at this point!





This is Olivia and Dr. Lindsey one of her doctors for the day. She was so good with Liv.


Ahh, the infamous Cath Lab Miracle Worker himself...This is Olivia and Dr. Divekar. He kept teasing her and calling her “Dora.” Finally Olivia shot him that infamous scowl of the day and stuck her little bottom out at him. Ha ha! She was a card!

Just as we were getting ready to take Olivia in, she looked up at Steve and I with her big blue eyes and said, “I don't wanna go to Heaven today.” Holding back tears, Steve and I told her she would not be going to Heaven for a very, very long time. To hear your 3 year old (who suffers from a life threatening heart defect) say this was just heart wrenching. I don't even know how or why she would associate the hospital with Heaven. I guess sometimes these kiddos know a lot more than we think.

About an hour and a half after the cath started we got a page. They found several collaterals (which are growths the body makes to compensate). They ended up coiling off around 50-60% but the others were too small and risky to coil. About an hour later she was done. After this we went up to recovery.



When Olivia woke-up we could hear her screaming and screaming. This really didn't stop for the next 12 hours. I forgot how miserable staying overnight at the hospital can be. Every 30 minutes Olivia would wake-up screaming and thrashing. Anytime the door would open she did the same thing. She said, “I'm trying to be brave!” I told her she was brave and she did a very good job!


Here is Olivia opening her special present.


Some snuggles with Mama as we try to keep her leg straight for 6 hours...Yes, a 3 yo holding still for 6 hours is a task in itself!

The doctors noticed during the cath Olivia kept having what they call PVC's (Premature Ventricle Contractions). She also had these quite a bit afterwords, which kept setting the alarms off. Dr. D talked with Dr. Law and he also saw Olivia has intraventricular cardiac rhythm. The PVC's are not a big deal if they happen once in awhile, but if you get several of them in what they call a “run” it can affect the way the right ventricle squeezes and pumps blood. They sent us home with a 24 hour halter monitor to watch these things. They will be presenting Olivia's case to the surgical team on Monday and we will hopefully have a date for surgery soon after that. We definitely got a taste of what hospital life is like with 3 ½ yo and it's a whole new ball game!

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers!

The kiddos are finally feeling better. No more faucet noses, no more terrible cough, and no more waking up 6 times a night because they are completely miserable. Woo hoo! And just in time for Olivia's heart cath next Wednesday too. Whew!




I will say, it's been tough on all of us keeping the kids at home these past 3 weeks. We've been doing lots of projects to keep ourselves busy. On St. Patrick's Day Olivia and I made green eggs for breakfast. She helped me crack the eggs and stir in the food coloring. This girl loves to cook!



Her and Daddy love to whip stuff up in the kitchen Saturday mornings too!




Gram came over on St. Patty's Day and we made Shrinky Dinks. It had been so long, I had forgotten they even existed. When I was looking on Amazon one day I found a few and had to get them. Olivia had such a fun time coloring and watching them bake. We got the Easter set so we were able to make decorations and hang them on the Easter Tree.







Feeling a little more ambitious, and having my mom there with an extra pair of hands, we also tackled making Dirt Dessert. Olivia thought it was so funny we got to put worms in the yucky mud and then eat them!



We've also gotten a bit creative. Here is Olivia's new fort with a “chimley” (Chimney) lookout


Olivia has gotten to use her easel quite a bit here lately too. She loves to paint animals or have us help her write her name.


We've even started making some of our Easter décor. Here is our Easter Bunny chain. Mom had to get a little creative with this one!


Here is Miss Cutie all ready for her camping trip in Grandpa's basement. This was her one venture out the past 3 weeks and she was pretty excited about it!


Olivia is back to being Miss Feisty again. We have been practicing good listening and behaving here this week. Whenever our little Livi-Pie is doing something she's not supposed to and we catch her, she covers her eyes or closes them just as tight as can be. She thinks that if she can't see us, we can't see her either! Oh Boy, she is quite the riot. Her and Thomas have had a few tiffs here lately too. Olivia does not like it if Tom touches one of her toys. She really only likes to share if they are sharing his toys. Ha ha. One day she says, “Thomas is NOT part of this family. I don't want a baby brother....I want a girl!” I said, “Honey, Thomas is too part of this family and we love him very much. He is what God gave us.” Then she felt bad and starts crying, “But, I looove Tom. He IS part of this family!”




Tickles from Sissy!

Thomas has been doing great with his foods. He wasn't too sure about the green beans at first. He took a couple bites and each time he would make a face like he had just taken a bite of a lemon!








He has almost made his way completely over as well. He's rolled from his back to his tummy and rolls to his side quite a bit. He's also getting better at sitting up. He can't quite sit unassisted yet, but he's close!








Wednesday 3/30 is Olivia's heart cath. Please keep her in your prayers (and us for some peace of mind, as any procedure can be stressful). I will do an update later in the week with any news.

Thanks for checking in!