Fetal Echo and Transplant Clinic

Nothing could have gone better today!  The morning started out with a breakfast at the hotel, followed by more breakfast at the hospital (Owen needed his protein fix).  My fetal echo was long and Owen had his echo in the room across the hall.  I heard him chatting with the echo tech the entire time... we were laughing. 

Baby looks totally normal.  The structure of his heart is perfect, his function is great and there are no concerns.  We were advised to plan on having an echo performed at the hospital prior to being discharged at birth to double check everything, but it appears this baby is perfect!  This little guy was flipping and flopping the entire echo so it took much longer than normal, which may have had my nerves on edge.  It's usually not a positive thing when it requires multiple echo techs, followed by a cardiologist to get images.  I thought for sure they saw something awful and kept looking to confirm it.  PTSD much? 

Owen's echo was followed up with transplant clinic.  His heart looks beautiful as well.  His labs were right on target and we even got the go ahead to kick his Steroids to the curb in the next few weeks!  No more steroids!!!  When those are gone, we can ditch the Bactrum and blood pressure meds as well.  That will leave him with Asprin, Cellcept, Prograf, Diltiazem, and Omeprazole.  For the first time in his life he will be on less than 9 meds!!  He will be on these five meds FOREVER, although I may get brave and ditch the Omeprazole soon.  We will also be adding some vitamins as he is orally eating mostly on his own, so we will need to do some supplements.  We will also have to add a statin at some point to help prevent the progression of Coronary Artery Disease.  

In October, we will return to LPCH for Owen's annual biopsy where they will check all his coronary arteries and check the stent in his SVC.  We will also check his DSAs (donor specific antibodies) to make sure they are still at zero. 

We feel extremely blessed by all the good news today! 

Owen and I visited his LPCH school today and he showed off for all his teachers. He had a great time on this trip and can't wait to come back in October.  He keeps telling me how great these trips are.  I love that he is so comfortable with HIS life and his normal. 

Thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers!! 

Traveling Fun

It has been a long day of traveling with my favorite travel buddy.  We woke up early, took Sis to school, and came home to pack.  It doesn't matter if we pack for a week, or 24 hours, we have the same amount of luggage.  We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.  Owen was loving that everyone kept stopping him to call him Superman (his shirt of choice this morning).  The trend has continued on throughout the day and he finally said.. "I love California.. it's like I'm famous or something!"  We checked into our hotel by 4pm and just in time to catch an episode of SpongeBob (gag!).  We ran to the RMH for dinner, had some magic fun with our friend Art the Clown, and then BINGO night.  Owen was the first to score BINGO and won himself a laser Lego set.  A quick stop at Chipotle for rice, beans, chips and "spicy salsa" for the little man and we are finally relaxing in our hotel room. 

We have an early morning check in at LPCH for my fetal echo on our baby boy and hope that everything is perfect with his tiny heart!  Owen will have his echo after mine and then we both have clinic appointments.  It's going to be a long day followed by another long day of travel.  I'm totally looking forward to our three day weekend coming up! 

Last weekend was a little crazy, but full of fun!  We had three family parties on Saturday.  Lucy's 7th birthday party in the AM.  Gpa Todd's surprise birthday party in the afternoon.  The evening was spent at the waterpark that the orthodontist rents out every year for patient appreciation.  I took tons of pictures but I only have energy to upload this one right now. More to come...

Prayers appreciated for tomorrow.  Hoping to stop a few of Owen's medications, most importantly, the steroids!!  Also, hoping for a perfect heart for baby #3!  I'm exhausted just typing this, time for more SpongeBob torture. 

After School Snacks with Bagel Bites

School is back in full swing and my days are busier than ever!!  I do a victory dance each morning at about 8:10am because I have successfully gotten everyone up and out of the house and to school on time!!  I have about three hours to get errands run, the house cleaned, emails/phone calls returned and I'm off to pick up Owen.

We come home and have a nice, long lunch together.  He loves to watch a movie, play quietly and just relax because he is so exhausted from those three hours of school.  Before we know it, it's time to hop in the car and get to the high school to pick up Kam.  That's when my days really begin!

As soon as we get home, I have two starving children.  I love to have plenty of quick and convenient snacks on hand.  Bagel Bites are easy to throw in the oven for 12 minutes and we are on the go again!  I like that they are baked, not fried.  They are made with real cheese and the tomato sauce is made from scratch.  My kids love them with some cut up veggies or a couple pieces of fruit.  They have full bellies and are happy!

Kam usually has at least three hours of homework, a couple hours of dance, practices her violin and she just joined the Japanese club on Friday afternoons.  She is a busy girl and so needless to say, she has only time to grab her food and GO!  As much as I love how active and busy she is... I do look forward to our weekends when we can slow down and enjoy some down time.

Owen, on the other hand, likes to take his time and eat.  He sits at the kitchen table with his after school snacks, plugs in his iPad and completes his reading homework on Raz-Kids.  He has 20 minutes of reading each day and it's the perfect time for him to read and enjoy his snack.  Since he likes his food a little spicy, I sprinkled on some red pepper flakes and gave him a side of spicy marinara sauce to dip them in.
Life is busy and we wouldn't have it any other way!  My kids are finally settled into a routine and both are loving school. Visit the Bagel Bites website for more information and you can find a coupon here!

 I'd love to hear what your kids' favorite after school snack is?!  Leave a comment below for a chance to win $100 Visa gift card provided by Bagel Bites!!

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