10 months old

So yesterday I braved the grocery store with my two year old and 10 month old. I was pretty nervous about the whole experience but we really needed groceries for the week and I hate going in the evenings because it cuts into my time with Ray.  Incredibly, both boys did amazing!! I had Micah in the sling - he's finally strong enough to tolerate supporting himself for an hour - and I let Dylan walk beside me. He served as my helper by throwing food (not so gently) into the cart.

Dylan's only moment of weakness was at the very end of our shopping. We had already picked out cookies from the bakery when an array of brightly colored cupcakes caught his eye. He stood innocently next to the cupcakes refusing to budge an inch. After much coaxing and a promise of a cookie in the car, we went to the check out.

As we were checking out, the cashier cooed at Micah and asked, "What a big baby!! What is he, 4-5 months old?" In any other scenario I might not mind the question but with Micah, when people ask how old he is and I tell them, they look confused and concerned about his size. So then to address their concerned look, I usually feel compelled to explain that he had a rough start with a 3.5 month hospital stay. This just concerns them more. So to avoid the whole concerned look, I said "Yes! He's 4-5 months old."

Am I horrible? I just hate explaining his situation to perfect strangers and I can't bare their looks of concern... So I lie. 

Here is a picture of my perfect-sized 10 month old. He's SO happy! I just love his little personality!!

9 months

Family life has been most excellent since Micah's been home. I don't even know where to begin because it's been FOREVER since I've blogged, so I'll start with today!

Dylan has become such a WONDERFUL big brother. Today when Micah woke up from his nap, I told Dylan, "Go get Micah!" Dylan ran upstairs and crawled into Micah's bed. I could see them on the baby monitor and Dylan was stroking Micah's cheek and talking to him. Then Micah started cracking up, doing his cute baby giggle, watching Dylan just talk. It was such a precious moment!

It was so hard to envision moments like this when we were in the hospital. My babies are so sweet together!

Here's a pic from a few weeks ago.

Micah has been doing awesome. In fact, tonight he was really rolling around and doing his baby sit ups. He wants to be mobile so bad! His rolling around is such a huge deal because he just started rolling over from front to back about two weeks ago. I think he'll be sitting by himself in about a month. What a big boy!! Here is his 9 month photo.

He's getting so chunky! We went to his 9 month check up today and he's actually on the curve! Yes, he's in the 1st and 2nd percentile but still! He is really thriving at home.

Ah, life is seriously so good right now. 

Also, I guess now is a good time announce that I put in my resignation at work. I'm going to stay home with my boys!! I'm so excited about this for so many reasons but most of all because it's something I've always wanted to try. I admit that I'm slightly terrified but I feel like it will be so rewarding.

Cardiac catheterization

We're at Children's National Hospital

in DC waiting for Micah's cardiac catheterization. 

Laura got in plenty of snuggles and kisses this morning. 

It's comforting that this procedure is in DC the same day as the March for Life. There are lots of prayers for little babies just like Micah. 

I'll never forget having to forcefully tell doctors that we will not consider having our son aborted as an option.  We are continually focused on what we can do to give Micah a good life. As always, thanks for the prayers! We'll update everyone in a few hours. 

Update: After about a 3 hour wait, all went well!  Our doctor did some good ballooning of his right pulmonary arteries (and some to his left, as well). The before and after pictures look great.

Welcome 2015!

PHEW.

We made it.

2014 was the hardest year and the most rewarding.  We experienced some incredible hardships that prepared us for wonderful blessings.

I'm a program manager so I like to speak in bullet points. Here's a recap of the year by months.

• January: went from care-free "power couple" excited to learn the gender of our second born to despairing bloggers.
• February: coping with Micah's disease and deciding, why not, lets fix up our condo and try moving. 
• March: deciding on Children's hospital over Inova. Aka, deciding that commuting to DC isn't so bad... right?..?
• April: Sold our condo and decided to move to Bristow (aka "the country", "not Manassas", and "you know where Jiffy Lube Live is, right?") the land where nearly everyone is a commuter with small children.  Ray took the GMATs for MBA school.
• May: Moved.  Dylan started a new daycare (and got bit twice on the first day). Met many wonderful neighbors and love being close/really close to the grandparents. Micah is born!
• June: Doctors, open heart surgery, extubation, commuting, oh my!  Also, a LinkedIn message worth it's weight in gold.
• July: ECMO and the beginning of the comeback story. 
• August: Micah starts kicking butt and is extubated and sent from the ICU to the HKU.  Ray starts the first classes at the WSU Online MBA program.
• September: Micah came home after 109 days in the hospital. Finally!
• October: Our 4 year anniversary of our marriage on 10/16/10.  Micah's cheeks continue to grow.
• November: Ray started a job at Google in Reston, Va.  Dylan's second birthday.  Micah's cheeks continue to grow.
• December:  Micah's cardiac catheterization (aka the "mini surgery" postponed until the new year).  Laura graduated from her Master's program at GMU.  Micah is becoming quite the sitter.

The past few weeks have been awesome for Micah's development. Aide from the looming cardiac catheterization that was bumped because there were no open beds in the CICU and bumped again because he got sick, we really can't complain.  It still hasn't been rescheduled and is still looming, but we've been able to work with him a lot on sitting, eating and tummy time.  

2014 is a year to remember - our family grew by one and we all grew closer.  We're so thankful for all the prayers, views of our blog (over 36k!) and generosity over the year.  I have a feeling 2015 will bring many more blessings.

Thanks be to God!

Flexibility

It's good to be flexible and understanding as parents. Micah's procedure got bumped to Tuesday because the hospital is at capacity.  The CICU is full of patients and our Doctor didn't want to run the risk of Micah needing a bed but unable to obtain one.

It's nice to be the parents of a baby who is not in critical condition. More will come on Tuesday, until then, we're happy to have a weekend free of plans. 

Micah's Third Cardiac Catheterization

Micah has an outpatient cardiac catheterization this morning at Children's hospital in DC. We're waiting for the nurses to come in. Send prayers our way. 

Micah's pulmonary arteries that connect to his conduit need to be expanded. The doctor will balloon the narrowings related to both by scar tissue and the difficult nature of his open heart surgery. Micah has been awesome since his last catheterization (July) and we're confident that he will recover quickly. 

Update: Micah's catheterization was, eventually, rescheduled to Jan 22.

Micah Laughs

We've been enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday.  We're spending time with family instead of commuting and working.  We love it!  Here is a quick video of Micah laughing.