Mia did GREAT at the cath lab! She is released to the hotel and all snuggled in for the night. Listening to her sing before falling asleep warmed my heart. She has been through so much and yet her personality is still shining through. What a sweetie! Why am I so blessed? Her cath showed narrowing of the left pa so he ballooned that and did nothing else! The doctor said he is confident she will make it to the Fontan. What a miracle. It is all surreal. Thank you for praying, God is blessing our family through your prayers. Praise be to God!!!

Today Mia is having a cath to get a closer look at her pulmonary branch arteries and other areas. I took her back to the cath lab with the nurses this time. I can't believe what a happy baby she is. She is so strong and amazing! She was so good on the flight last night considering that the bottle I brought for her had a hole in the nipple and wouldn't work! I didn't know it was ruined until we took off. The joys of having cats....

About halfway through the flight she figured out how to stand on the tray table and really enjoyed hanging over the seat in front of us..luckily there was no one sitting there! But then she saw the back of a man's head that resembled Clark and it was on. Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! What started out as laughter and joy at finding her daddy turned to despair when I wouldn't let her go to him...Dadeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Finally the plane landed and the man turned around. The look on her face was pure confusion! The whole plane got a laugh! Never a dull moment with Ms. Mia.

I will get updates every hour by phone. It is good to be back here, at our second home! Thank you for your prayers!

Mia is a social butterfly and loves other children and babies!

Mia saw the ocean for the first time. Her stats were in the high 90's!!! Since the elevation was lower her stats went up! Maybe we should move to Florida:) She loved the sand and even met a friend on the beach. She had no fear (of course) and rushed straight for the water every chance she got. Kept Mommy and Daddy and everyone else very watchful and busy! I am so thankful she was well enough to travel!

It has been too long since I have updated Mia's blog! Sorry, we are a very busy family with a very busy daughter! Mia keeps me running all day long. She is 16 months now and copies everything we do. She likes to help me sweep, put wet clothes in the dryer and climb on anything she can,mainly the kitchen table....but she is learning to stay off of it! She shakes her head yes and no and repeats a lot of words we say. Her doctors are very pleased with her heart function and growth. She is on the higher end of the length chart and average on the weight. Which is great! The last echo showed good heart function but they couldn't see the pulmonary branch arteries. So we will be flying to Denver in about 6 weeks for a heart cath. I am planning on going alone with Mia, leaving Daddy and the 4 big kids at home. This is a first for our family and I am nervous. I guess it must be having a sick baby, I tend to think of the what ifs and the worst case scenario. I pray I can overcome my negative thoughts and turn everything over to Christ..."taking every thought captive"

The last 2 caths have been good so I am praying this one is good too. The procedure has it's risks and because we spent so much time at the hospital I know too many babies that have not had a good outcome:(

So prayer warriors! Please pray for our flight and most of all the doctor and Mia's little body, that it will be strong and stable throughout the cath. Thank you! I am already anticipating the moment when the special nurses come and take her back to the cath lab...It is not easy seeing her look up into the nurses eyes, wondering where she is going....I feel the need to hug her one more time and hug the nurses and tell tell them just how special she is..It's a hard thing for a momma!

I am grateful that Mia is doing so well and we have not had any emergency trips to Denver for while. She is a joy and teaches me so much....

Blessings Abound

Mia will be turning 1 very soon! She is growing and changing so fast! She has said, Dada, Ball, Baby, Bye Bye and she says MAMAMA when she wants real FOOD! She definately said Dada first! It is for those big but small things I am thankful for! And she is coasting around all the furniture and getting into everything!
March 21st was the day she had her heart cath and she is doing well so far. The doctor put in a stint and a ballon in each of her pulmonary branch arteries. There was not much growth on the left one but it seems to be better now with the stint. Her stats are more in the 80's rather than the 70's. She is happy and keeping us smiling all day long! We are grateful for the good prognosis at this point. Her heart cath doc said he is more optomistic this time and that we might be able to get her to her third surgery at age 3 without a transplant. So glad and thankful! We also won't have to go back to Denver for 6 months or so, praise God! We feel like we lived a lifetime with Mia and it has only been a year! We are so thankful for everyone who has prayed for us and with us. We couldn't do this without God and YOU! Happy Spring!

Spring is in the air!

Today I woke up rejoicing. Another day, another chance to be all I can be for God. He has blessed us so much and we are grateful. Mia's heart cath is tentatively scheduled for March 21st and we pray everything goes well. I hope that by ballooning her arteries again she will make better progress. Her doctor called again and stressed how much they want to get her to the third surgery (Fontan) and will try anything. She is a bit of an anomaly, most of the time these arteries grow after the 2nd surgery. She continues to shock and amaze the doctors. Mia is growing and very active! She will eat anything and climb anything! In March before her cath a special doctor will check her development-milestone progress. I told her doctor what all she is doing and she said she sounds advanced for these heart babies. The theory is that all the time in the hospital would make a baby not reach some of their milestones on time....Mia is not letting anything hold her back! The doctor said they need to throw statisticsw out the window because often the babies are advanced~We know it is because of your prayers. Mia's doctor again told me it was because of all the great care we are giving her and that she is here because we are such great parents. So touching and so humbling. I can't thank her OR YOU for all the thoughts and prayers and encouragement. God Bless this season of our life!

Mia 2011

This month is going well so far for Mia. She is strong, happy and teething! At the moment she has just fallen asleep leaning on her boppy pillow. So sweet...
On Jan. 20th she will have an echo and hopefully they get better pics than last month. Then she will have a heart cath in Denver in early March. I talked to her doctor and she told me Mia is making history...It is unknown what will happen with her but we are grateful for each day and love her so much! She has made it through Christmas and already is in 2011! Praise God! Last Christmas we were praying for a CHANCE of survival and here she is!!! Thank you all for your prayers.