National Infertility Week

This week is National Infertility Week. After being told I couldn't have children,ovarian problems,and miscarriages, we have a beautiful little girl.
All with the help of an amazing doctor. I won't mention the other places that I had previously gone too and been disappointed, but I feel like I will mention the doctor who went above and beyond getting us our baby. Dr. Screven Edgerton at Austin Area OBGYN. Best doctor in the world, Hands Down!
So for everyone out there who is trying and getting discouraged month after month, please know that there are so many women out there that feel your pain and that are praying for you everyday for your dream to come true. God works in mysterious ways, and just wait and see what he has in store for you. It will be all worth it in the end.

Where do I begin?

I feel like it has been forever since I blogged.
This past week was crazy. Faith got her tubes in on Monday and we thought everything was going pretty well. She was having some bleeding from her left ear, but everyone kept saying it was ok, and normal. Thursday, the bleeding was so bad that it was dripping out of her ear onto her clothes. FRESH blood, not old blood. I called the ENT doctor as soon as they opened that morning, and had to leave a message for the nurse. I called back at 1pm, and asked for the nurse and the receptionist told me that she wasn't there that day. I was kind of upset because she didn't tell me that at 8am that morning when I left my first message. So I left a message for another doctor's nurse. at 3:30 pm I called AGAIN and after a little feather ruffling, I finally got to talk to someone. She told me to put Affrin nose drops in her ear, and that it would be ok.

On my way to pick up Faith, I get a call on my cell and her ENT doctor was on the other line. He said he wasn't in the office, but the nurse called him on his cell and told him how upset I was. He told me to use the Affrin, but he did want to check Faith's ears the next day because that much bleeding was not normal.
I take her in on Friday and he said they looked good. Get this though... he tells me not to use the Affrin drops too much because after he told me to use them, he reviewed Faith's chart and remembered that she has PJRT and that the Affrin drops will elevate your heart rate. UMMM hello? That is soooooo not OK for someone who already has a problem with tachycardia! Geesh!! She is ok though and there is no more bleeding.

We had such a great weekend. We went to the Buda Wiener Dog Races. It was so much fun looking at all the dogs and going to the petting zoo. I don't know who had more fun, Faith or me? She is growing up so fast, and seeing her out and about this weekend made me realize that she isn't a baby anymore. She is a little toddler.
I enjoy and cherish every minute I spend with her. She is such a joy.

Pictures from this weekend! Look at my big girl! She really loves animals, which makes her mommy so happy.

Wish List Wednesday

A new laptop


A day at the spa



These are only a couple of things I want.... Oh the list goes on and on.

Ten on Tuesday

Let's see if I actually have ten things to talk about......


1. I am very excited to say that we have actually been painting some of the rooms in our house. We bought this house in November 2008 and haven't done anything to it except Faith's nursery. So, recently we painted the laundry room and the half bathroom. I am sure you are thinking that those are two rooms that totally don't matter, but we are starting small. It has been really fun painting with Damian.

2. The past two nights, Faith has been really restless again. I am not sure if it is her ears, or her being traumatized from the hospital, or if it is her switching meds. She has to take an acid reducer when she takes her heart meds because she gets a bad GI upset with the meds. We had her on Pepcid, but it was $65 for a 30 day supply. So Dr. Shapiro put her on Zantic which is only $10. So I am not sure if maybe her meds aren't doing what they should or what. I am constantly worrying.

3. This weekend are the Weenie Dog Races in Buda. I am so excited. I have loved going for years, but this year we are taking Faith and she will have a blast. She will get to see her favorite thing in the world.. DOGS! And they will have a petting zoo, craft fair, cook off, carnival, etc. Can't Wait

4. Just found out last week that Damian, Faith and I will probably be going to California in July. Damian is going for work, and Faith and I are going to hang out. I am nervous about traveling with her on a plane.

5. Faith is getting braver and braver everyday with her walking. Hopefully soon she will really take off

6. I have started to really miss not doing anything with the pins. Before Faith was born, I was in a dog class 3 nights a week, and at a dog show every weekend. I promised myself that after Faith was born I would keep up with that.But due to Faith's health issues, I have put the dogs on the back burner and it sucks. I am a horrible dog mommy. I love those pins. I tell people I gave birth to them. I need to spend more time with my sweet angels just one on one.

7. I have mentioned how much I am in love with my ergo baby carrier? it is my life saver. Faith rides on my back all the time, and I can actually get stuff done around the house.

8. ooohh! I have recently started planting flowers! I am trying to keep everything alive. Wish me luck!

9. Damian and I will be celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary on Thursday. I am so excited!

10. I really want a makeover! I know that sounds selfish but, I really want want to do something for myself.

Faith's Tubes are in

What a long stressful day. I am so glad that it is all over with.
Faith seemed to remember the hospital this time. As soon as we walked in, she held onto me tighter. When the nurses put her hospital bracelets on she cried. It made me so sad because previously I always told myself that Faith would never remember all the times she has been in the hospital, but clearly she remembered the last trip in February. It broke my heart. Since Faith was so anxious, the anesthesiologist decided to give her a little sedative before her procedure. It had to be given up the nose, so we had to hold her down to do it. Poor girl. After she got it she seemed to be calm, and happy to hang out with her Mommy and Daddy. The nurse let me walk her down to the surgery suite. Walking back to the waiting room was hard. My heart was hurting for my baby. My stomach was in knots, not knowing if her heart would be ok during this. I swear the procedure took less than 10 minutes! The nurse came and told us that she was out of surgery and that someone would be coming to take me back to recovery with her. This is where it does downhill. I waited for about 5 more minutes before someone came back to get me. I was kinda already irritated because I had told them that I wanted to be back in recovery when she woke up, because if she woke up and didn't see me she would freak out and it would take a long time to calm her down, and calm that little heart of hers down.
FINALLY, someone came and got me and took me back to see her. When I walked through the doors I washed my hands and out of the corner of my eye I saw Faith being held down by two nurses who were trying to hold an oxygen mask on her face. I ran over to her and started talking to her. I let her know I was there with her, and to calm down. It was too late though her heart rate was over 200 BPM and she was super upset.
I could feel my blood boiling. I had one of the nurses tell me that I needed to get her to quit crying and she tried shoving a bottle of pedialyte in her mouth. That didn't work. Faith hates pedialyte and it only upset her more. I finally picked her up and started rocking her, and would get her calmed down just a little when someone would mess with her again and she would get upset all over again.
Faith is typically a laid back, sweet, doesn't complain or cry type of girl. BUT when she does cry, it is a cry like no other. It is a cry like someone is trying to kill her. Which was how she was in the recovery area. Which in turn made all the other patients in recovery start to cry and get upset because they were freaking out by Faith.
She cried, and cried, and cried and cried some more. The poor nurse was freaking out, and thought we needed to call her cardiologist. I told her she was ok, but that is why I wanted to be with her when she woke up.
We never got her calmed down. She was hyperventilating, and had snot coming out of her face, and her eyes were blood shot red. Not a good look for her.
Finally we decided that it would be best if they let us go home. We knew if we could get her out of the hospital she would calm down. Which, Mommy knows best! As soon as we walked out of the hospital she quit crying. Poor thing fell asleep in the car but whimpered the whole way home.
After we were home things went well. She was a little crabby, but nothing too bad. What surprised us the most was how much more she walked today. She seemed to have better balance and did a lot more than usual. So I am hoping the tubes are helping already.

I got a couple pictures of her today whole we were waiting. She was sedated already so don't mind her drunkenness.

Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow Faith gets her tubes in her ears. I am worried sick, but know she will be in good hands. Since she has PJRT she will have her procedure at Dell Children's Hospital. Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Nowlin have gotten together and discussed Faith and think there should be no problems. BUT that doesn't keep me from worrying. I am her Mommy and I will always worry about her. I will try to post tomorrow and let everyone know how it goes. We have to be there at 7:30am tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers.

Crunch-O- Meter!

I have seen some other mommy blogs take this little test to see how "crunchy" they are. Crunchy is like a granola mom, or like Damian like to call me a hippy mom.
The Crunch-O-Meter is based off of 6 different topics.
Since Damian and most of the rest of the world thinks I am a granola mom, I decided to see for myself just exactly where I stand..

Birth: I tried to give birth vaginally, but in the very end, I ended up with a c-section. Dr. Edgerton says I just don't have those child bearing hips.
So I get 0 points for that.

Vaccines: I am always torn on vaccines. I want to vaccinate, but don't want to over vaccinate. So what ended up making me feel more comfortable is doing all the recommend vaccines, but spacing them out.
So I get 1 crunchy point.

Sleeping: Faith slept in our bedroom for the first 7 months of her life. She slept in her bassinet for about a week, and then in our bed until she was about 7 weeks old. At that time she went into the PICU at the Children's Medical Center for her heart, and when she came out she started sleeping in her pack in play in our bedroom. At 7 months we moved Faith into her own bedroom and she slept there until she was admitted back into the hospital for her heart again. She was back in our room for about a month, and is now back in her own room again.
I loved and still love sleeping with her, and having her near me. And she loves it too! Before I had Faith I would always say " I will never let my kid sleep in the bed with me!" All that goes out the window when you are breastfeeding and you want to sleep. It was so much easier to just put her in the bed with me and nurse her and then go back to sleep. I feel bad for Damian and Conway, because they often got booted to the couch, so Faith, Gracie and I could have the bed all to ourselves. I am sure you are asking yourself " why did Gracie get to stay?" That is a whole other story and being that Gracie is my first born ;) I couldn't kick her out of the bed. Conway loves his daddy and happily goes wherever.
1 more crunchy point.

Diapering: Up until recently I have only used disposable diapers. It wasn't until my good friend Brittany started cloth diapering that I became interested. I cloth diaper on the weekends, and after Faith gets home from daycare. I honestly don't like having to do all the laundry. It is a lot of water to be using, and takes up a lot of time. But the diapers are so darn cute! I just recently got some colorful ones! I am in love with my new clothes line that Damian put up in the backyard for me. I just love the way it looks with all the diapers on it. Puts a smile on my face.
I am only going to give myself 1/2 a crunchy point for this one.

Feeding: I am so proud to say that Faith never had any formula, only breast milk. When it was time for her to start solids at 5 1/2 months, I made EVERYTHING she had. She has never had a jar of baby food, or any of the Gerber junk. It freaks me out thinking of those jars of baby food sitting on the shelf in a factory and then sitting on a shelf for God knows how long in the store.
I am happy that I knew exactly what I was putting into my child.
Another crunchy point.

Transporting: I have had three different types of baby carriers. I had a maya wrap, which Faith hated. The baby Bijorn, which she liked pretty well, and my recent carrier, the Ergo baby carrier. I am in LOVE with that carrier. It is amazing. You can carrier the kiddo on the front, back or on your side. I love baby wearing. Faithie seems so happy when she is hanging out in her Ergo.
One more crunchy point

So Lets see, that is 4 1/2 Crunchy points. Not too bad huh?
How Crunchy are you?

Wordless Wednesday

Faith is 13 months old!

Spring has Sprung here in Texas and little Miss Faith is 13 months old.
I can't believe it. I know I say that every month but, really where did the time go?
Faith is going to get tubes in her ears on Monday April 19th. Super simple procedure for most, but since Faith has a heart problem, we will be going to Dell Children's Hospital to have it done. The ENT, the cardiologist and an anesthesiologist will all get together before hand to get a game plan together for Faith. I hope it all goes well. I am freaking out, but it needs to be done. She has had 6 ear infections in the past 8 months. Poor baby!
Other than the ear thing, Faith ( knock on wood ) is doing great!

On March 30th, she took her first 7 steps. It was amazing, but frightening at the same time. Since then she walks when she wants to but usually thinks crawling is a lot faster.

She has 11 teeth now!!!! 4 bottom teeth, 3 top teeth, 2 molars on the top and 2 molars on the bottom. She is a SHARK!!!!

Her signing is really good. I need to make a list of everything she can sign, but I just get caught up on the day to day things and don't do it. I am terrible about updating her baby book, and getting things on video. Horrible mommy.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, we are going to meet Margaret Ramirez, from www.oldworldstudios.net for Faith's 12 month pictures. A month late, but Owell, it will get done. The weather has been such a hit or miss lately, and I want to take them outside.
I will leave ya'll with some new pictures of the sweetest girl in the world.
I need to get off the computer and gets some stuff done around the house while Faith is down for a nap.


Easter 2010





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