Saturday, July 24, 2010

Home, sweet, sweet Home

You know that feeling you get when you walk in the door after being on vacation for a while. Today was kinda like that... times 50. There was a dash of desperation in there.

Today, Utah celebrates the freedom of coming into the Salt Lake Valley.
Today, Kezia celebrates freedom, too.
Freedom from cords, wires, needles, IVs.
Freedom from pokes, prods, and stickers on her chest & legs.
Freedom from endless questions, tests & bright lights at night.

They are still waiting on a couple of lab tests, but for now, STV seems to be the culprit. They showed me how to check her heart rate with a stethoscope and if it's over 200, I have to call the hospital - and I have a follow-up visit with the electrophysiology cardiologist in the next 2-3 weeks. She's on Propranolol every 8 hours for the foreseeable future.
She sure seems to be much better, though. The sweats are gone, the rash is almost gone, she's urinating more normally, and crawling all over & pulling up on things. She's back to being our busy, blue-eyed, beautiful girl!

As we walked outside to leave, and I took the first breath of fresh air in 4 days, I had a number of feelings:
Hope... that I won't be coming back there (except for her follow-up appts)
Appreciation... for all those who work and volunteer at that sacred place.
Anticipation... to be home after 4 days & sleep in my own bed.
but most of all GRATITUDE... that I get to go home with my precious child. For I know... not everyone can.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and comments. We truly appreciate them and are looking forward to life getting somewhat back to normal.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Primary Children's - Kezia

Sigh... I was hoping this would be an after-the-fact ER visit post. I guess it is not so.
So - here's the scoop on my precious baby girl:
Since Sunday, Kezia hasn't been acting quite herself.
By Monday, she started with the cold sweats. She would just be so sweaty - soaking through her clothes & then shaking from the cold. Her hands & feet were freezing. She wasn't urinating like she should.
Wednesday Jason & I took her to the Dr. Strep & UTI came back negative. He was worried about a bacterial blood infection & sent us to Primary Children's.
We got here at 1pm yesterday. Thankfully, the ER wasn't busy and we were able to get into a room. So - a couple hours and an insane amount of questions later, they started the blood work and urine sample. Let's just say that it was a toss-up who cried more - me or Kezia. It is so, so difficult to watch them do these things to your 8-month-old baby.
At about 5, another Dr. came in & said that her initial blood work came back fine, but she wanted to listen to her heart. She said it was way too fast & they hooked her up to the monitors. Her heart rate was almost 300. Normal is about 120. So... a bunch of people came in fast & they used a medicine called Adenosine to "reset" her heart rhythm. They had to use it twice, and it was a pretty scary experience, but the 2nd time, her heart rate came back down to normal levels.
So - they diagnosed Kezia with Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). I guess it is a fairly common heart condition in young kids. Basically people with SVT have an alternative electrical pathway in the heart - one without a pace regulator, hence the super-rapid heart rate.
They attributed the cold sweats & lack of urine to the SVT because her heart was beating too fast & not being effective in its pumping, so they kept us overnight to monitor her.
At 3am, she had another episode. As a way to "shock" the heart into getting into the right rhythm again, they used a pack of ice & smothered her face with it. Three times. Let me tell you how that feels as a mother to watch your baby get smothered & not able to breathe. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. She did eventually come out of it, but needless to say, nobody got more than an hour's sleep last night.
Kezia's cold sweats have continued even with the treatment of her SVT. She's soaked about 20 of their nice blankets since she's been here. So - they are still running tests - this girl has had about everything short of an MRI - x-rays, ultrasounds, blood work, EKG, Echo cardiograms, etc. Everyone has been really good to us here at Primary Children's. It's a strange feeling because I appreciate what they're trying to do for her, but they just keep hurting my baby & it is just so hard to watch. Still, we feel very blessed that we've caught the SVT and it doesn't take much to look around this place & know that your situation is so much better than so many. Also - I just have to say how much I love my family. When there's a need like this, they all just step in line & are willing to take our girls for us so we can focus on Kezi.
Anyway, if you remember, please add Kezia to your prayers. We're waiting on a few tests, but the other tests have come back fine & we hope to be out of here within the next couple of days.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Tri, Tri Again

Yesterday, I was able to participate in my 5th triathlon - the Echo Triathlon in Coalville. We got up early - just before 5am, grabbed Kezia & headed out the door (mom & dad brought the girls up a little later :). We got there & they had the athletes ride their bikes about 3 miles to the registration/transition area just outside of Echo Reservoir. I have to say it wasn't fun or easy to carry all your gear for 3 miles not to mention extra energy used & the possibility of a tire blowout. I did the Echo tri 6 years ago & I really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd "tri" it again. I was somewhat disappointed, though, when I realized it wasn't the "quaint" 300-400 athlete size that I competed in before. Yesterday consisted of 700+ athletes & it was a bit crazy. So many things had changed since I last competed there. Not necessarily bad - just a lot more hectic.

My Sprint wave didn't actually start until almost an hour after the first wave. The swim was good - the only hardships were getting past the pack (which, with that many people, involved many kicks to the face), and a point in the middle of the swim when I swallowed a big gulp of water & had to cough it out. I felt good & fast on the swim, though & was quickly on to the bike.

The bike is admittedly my biggest weakness & to my chargrin 2 girls in my age group had sped past me within the first couple miles. I pushed hard, though & played "do-se-do" with a few of those girls. The bike was a bit longer than the 12 miles it was supposed to be, but I finally saw the transition area again & pushed it.

Finally, the run! Thankfully, it was a beautiful morning - not too hot. Still, I wish they had ONE more water station. My calves were screamin' at me for the first mile or so, but I mostly stayed behind this 27-year-old since her pace seemed pretty close to mine. I passed her once toward the end & then she came back & stayed by me & said "hey - why don't we just do this together?" So - it was nice to have some company on that last mile. I pushed it at the end & whew! I was done!

Don't laugh at me, but I hoped to be able to place in the top 5 for my age group - I always have, but this year with the craziness of the move & still waking up with Kezia at night, I was pleased to get 6th in my age group. The other factor is that I've now entered the 30-35 age group & these ladies are seriously hard core!! My main goal, though, was to have fun & do my best, which I did. Not sure I'll do this race again. It's getting harder to find open water swim tri's that do not have so many competitors, although I have my eye on a couple for next year. Now... on to the TOU Half!
Thanks SO MUCH to my support team - my mom & Jason (who watched the girls while I trained & mom swam with me), my dad (who ran with me on Saturday), and of course my girls (who are my inspiration & reason I tri!)

Here's some pics from the big day:



4th of July/Ireland's 3rd Bday

Sorry I'm about a week behind in this post, but such is life...
Last weekend, we went to Richfield for the annual 4th of July festivities. Jason had to work on Saturday and had to be back by Tuesday, so it was a pretty quick trip, but we enjoyed the time we were down there. We haven't seen Jason's side of the family hardly at all this year, so it was great to catch-up, visit, and watch all those cousins play together. This year had PERFECT temps for a great celebration. Usually it's too dang hot to breathe in the park afterwards, but it was really nice. Ireland's 3rd birthday (on the 5th) fell on the day of festivities for Richfield, so that was kind of cool. We told her they had a big parade & fair to celebrate her birthday! It's hard for me to believe she's three. She's already riding a big-girl bike (which she got with money from her Aunt Al), and this past week we've been potty training & she's done great! I barely finished her birthday book in time, but managed to get it put together just in time. So... I first included a slideshow with my fave pics from the 4th, then I included a slideshow with my digi-scrapbooked pages for Ireland's bday book. Enjoy!


And here... many hours of work put in to these scrapbook pgs for her birthday book:



Friday, July 9, 2010

Tew-getherness!

Back in June, we had a Tew Family Reunion (my mom's side of the family). It was a lot of fun & we had a great time eating, visiting and discussing our family ties.
Here is a slideshow of the event:

Thursday, July 1, 2010

June Recap

Enjoy! Hope you're having a great summer!


McKINLEY:

-Sometimes, McKinley will cover her ears when we are trying to tell her something. We are working on not doing that.
-McKinley was going up a big hill on her bike. Mom was encouraging her & she was doing great, but was obviously slowing down. Mom kept encouraging her, but she said “Mom – my muscles are gone!”

-In the morning, we told McKinley that we were going to go to Jack’s house that night & so for the morning prayer over the food, she prayed that it would be nighttime right now.

-McKinley calls all toast French toast.

-Mom was looking for dad & asked McKinley if she’d seen him. She said “No! Maybe he’s playin’ hide n’ go seek by himself!”

-McKinley got to go on a special date with Grandpa Potts to the Symphonic Choir. He said she did a great job holding still & listening. Afterwards they went for ice cream & McKinley said “Grandpa, I love ice cream too much!” Don’t we all, McKinley. Don’t we all.

-If we tell McKinley not to do something, she often says “but what if I forget?”

-McKinley was playing with a penny. She put it in her mouth & said “Mom – I’m cleaning this”…gulp. She swallowed the penny. We called poison control & everything, but she seems to be doing fine. She did like to tell everyone she met that day, though, that she swallowed a penny.

-When we were up in the mountains, mom took the girls to see the stream. McKinley asked if there were fish. Mom said yes – and you’ll get to go fishing with dad soon! She said “Quiet mom! They’ll hear you!”

-McKinley wrote a sweet note to her friend Lizzy, telling her that she missed her. She put the note in an envelope to mail. Then we decorated the envelope. She wanted to write a word that she knew how to spell on the back. Mom looked & saw that she wrote the word POT on the back of the envelope. Let’s just all hope that it wasn’t sent through the security system on the way to Lizzy.

-Grandma Potts has a toy where it asks you questions & you can record the answers. One question it asks is “What does a daddy say?” McKinley said “Here honey. You can play a game on my phone”
-Mom & Grandma Potts were testing the sprinklers one day. It went through the cycle a couple times – just watering each station for a few minutes. At dinner, we told dad that we were working on the sprinklers. McKinley said “Yeah, dad! They were broken all over! They just kept turning off & on!”
-Grandma is teaching some piano lessons to McKinley. They’ve started with learning the fingers & what number each finger represents. Mom was testing her one day. She shut her eyes & mom said to hold up #5, so she held up her pinkies. Then, mom said #3. Well, let’s just say it was somewhat humorous when McKinley held up both her middle fingers with her eyes shut & said “look Mom! I got it right!”
-McKinley told grandma “Aunt Cindy said that if I don’t brush my teeth I’ll get catigories!”
-McKinley wrote an “I love you mom” note one day that was so sweet. She said “Here mom. Put this in your pocket & take it out when you’re feeling sad. So sweet.
-We were driving somewhere (McKinley has a lot of her deepest thoughts/questions in the car) & she asked “Mom – ya know the gloves that doctors wear? Are they made out of white balloons?” That girl is a thinker, she is.
-Grandma has talked about McKinley singing a song in Sacrament Meeting. McKinley said that would be fun & that before she sang, Grandma should stand up and say “Ladies and Gentlemen! This girl knows how to sing!” McKinley was practicing singing “Whenever I hear…” except she sang loud and clear (and many times) “Whenever I hear the SONG on my face, or look at the blue, blue sky…”
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-Mom & McKinley were playing pretend one day & we were at school & she was the teacher. Mom said she was feeling really tired & McKinley said (in her teacher’s voice) “Well… then you can go to the restroom, because that’s where you rest.”
-McKinley had on one of Grandma’s black dress-up shirts. She came out & said “Look mom! I’m a missionary!”
-Mom & McKinley went on a special date to go see the Murray Park play of “Annie.” They both had a great time. It was a perfect night for a play.
-We know the Holy Ghost is working on McKinley when she says “Mom – I have to tell you something..” it’s usually followed by a confession.

IRELAND:

-Mom caught Ireland playing with crayons & putting them in her mouth. Mom was starting to get after her & Ireland said “Mom – we don’t eat crayons! We eat ice cream!”

-We put Ireland to bed one night & she came out after about 20 minutes & said “Good Morning!”

-When we tell her something lately, Ireland has been saying “Ok, OK, OK, OK…”

-Ireland has taken on the role of police of closing your eyes during the prayer. We still haven’t convinced her that if she can see other people & tell them to close their eyes then she must have her eyes open, too.

-Grandpa & Dad were watching basketball one night when it was time to go to sleep. Mom was trying to get Ireland to get her PJs on, but she said “No mom! I wanna watch basketball!”

-Ireland was pretending to eat Kezia one day & she said “Kezia tastes like brownies!”

-Ireland’s nursery teacher always praises her & tells us how good and obedient she is.

-When she’s mad, Ireland will say in her angry voice “You have a choice!”

-Both McKinley & Ireland love, love, love to water grandma’s plants. They may or may not be getting overwatered some days ;)

-Mom caught Ireland under the dinner table with the sugar dispenser. She was having a “sweet” time down there.
-Ireland was also licking peanut butter off her plate one day. She loves that stuff.

-Lately we’ve been having fun saying “Ireland Anita… HUG!” or “Ireland Anita… KISS!” Most times she is happy to comply (although, I don’t think she’s caught on to the play on words)

-Whenever we get ready to go someplace, for some reason Ireland will say “Are we goin’ to the doctor’s house?”

-Ireland loves to get Kezia’s headbands & put them on her head – many times multiple headbands are the thing.

-Another thing Ireland has been doing is reiterating herself: “Mom, when a baby cries, then a baby cries!” “When I want to go.. then I want to go!”

-Mom & dad were cuddling in bed with Ireland one day. We were asking her what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. She said “Chocolate!” We said “Okay, well what about toys?” She said “Yeah, toys… and chocolate.” We said “Well, what about balloons?” She said “Yeah balloons! And Chocolate!” Hmmm – that girl definitely inherited the “chocolate gene”!

-Ireland is lately infatuated with her penguin PJs. They’re kind of hot for the summertime, but if she had it her way, she’d never take them off! She likes to waddle like a penguin when she has them on.

-We were riding bikes outside in the front yard one day. Ireland liked to sit on the baby walker/scooter, but she kept dragging her toes. After a half hour, she had 2 bloody big toes that required band-aids. Silly girl!

KEZIA:

-Kezia is already 8 months & as cute as can be!! She has really mastered the crawling thing this month & has gotten very mobile. We’re really needing to watch her closer to make sure she doesn’t go near the stairs or crawl over to something small & put it in her mouth. She’s also pulling up on anything & everything! She’s standing in her portable crib now when she’s done with her naps. What a big girl!

-Kezia is also mastering the ability to pull off cute headbands & bibs L

-One day Kezia was on the changing table & mom went over to grab a diaper quick & she fell off L It was so, so sad because she fell right on the slate & she ended up getting a little black eye L

-Kezia has started to give up the mellow cries & go straight to screaming.

-She sleeps OK – usually straight through the night 2 or 3 nights a week.

-Kezia has a little mirror she plays with and when the light is on, it puts a dot of light on the ceiling. Ireland gets SO excited when she sees the dot. Kezia is just playing with the mirror, but Ireland is watching it move across the ceiling & screaming “dop! Dop!”

-Kezia can clap hands & wave now! It’s sooooo adorable!!

-Another sweet thing is that Ireland will put her head on your shoulder when she’s tired. She likes to have her neck and face rubbed gently. She will also wrap her arms around you in a little hug. It’s so, so cute & sweet.

-We were in church and the closing song had started & people were singing. All the sudden, Kezia starts “singing” and stops when the chorister sat down. It was so cute.

-Kezia does still say “Mama” and “la-la-la”

-Kezia also likes to squeeze mama’s arm when she wakes up.

-Kezia continues to capture people’s attention with how adorable she is – those bright blue eyes, that amazing smile, her laughs & giggles are just SO CUTE!

-Still waiting for that first tooth!