Happy Halloween!

I do believe Jake had a fantastic first Halloween. He might not know why in the world I kept putting him in this silly costume, but I believe he did have fun. Sunday night we took him to his first Halloween party at a park in the Woodlands hosted by some friends from church. Ty played with him on the playground and put him in the baby swings. He stole some of his friend Claire's puffs and smiled at everyone. Tonight we took him over to our friends, Steve and Michelle's house. Michelle and I took her kids and Jake trick-or-treating at a local shopping center. He enjoyed watching all of the other kids although his costume didn't last long since it was in the 80s here this evening. There were even many mosquitoes out...crazy Houston weather! We went back to their house and Ty and Steve met us for some chili. Maddie is Jake's age so they crawled around together while Sean ran around entertaining them. Earlier this afternoon I put Gilbert in his dragon outfit and put Jake in his lion costume and took pictures in the backyard. I wanted to document better the world's cutest lion! Gilbert tore the head off his costume and tried to eat it...I wouldn't expect any less :)

The picture below here is of Jake on Sunday. The reason I posted it too is because it is the first time I've seen myself in Jake. He actually looks like my baby pictures here...it proves he IS my son! Also, I had to include Jake in the "I want my Mummy" shirt--I obviously picked this out for Jake. He's smiling in the picture just to make my day :)

The Pumpkin Patch

On Friday Jake and I ventured to the Oil Ranch Pumpkin Patch with several other moms and kids from church. We rode up with Misty, Caden, and the triplets. It was a beautiful day and the kids all had so much fun. There were about 8 babies Jake's age that went and of course they were to young to ride the ponies or milk the cows, but they enjoyed the train ride, hay ride, and our picnic lunch. We are blessed to have many friends with kids all the same age. This was Jake's second pumpkin patch adventure so he was an old pro at sitting in the pumpkins! We got most of the kids to sit still for a picture under the Oil Ranch sign. The bigger kids are all sitting still because they just got sno-cones and were busy eating them. Jake was busy trying to steal Jackson's pacifier during the picture. He had dropped his so he just took Jackson's instead and popped in his mouth before I could stop him. He loves those pacifiers! I love the other picture below of Jake and his friend Claire in the pumpkins. They're always so sweet together. It really was a beautiful day and we had a great time!

Surgery Date

We got a call last night from Texas Children's surgery department that Jake's surgery will be on Tuesday, December 11th. I think Ty and I both feel very relieved that it is scheduled and are ready to get Jake "fixed." With that said, we both have many questions about the operation and effects of it. I probably have more questions than Ty since he has gone through this himself and better understands the process. I've been told that the first day of surgery is the hardest for the family since Jake will be connected to so many tubes and wires. I've also been told that babies/children bounce back incredibly fast. From what I understand, he'll just be in the hospital 5-6 days, but will be in the ICU the entire time for monitoring. I'm not sure what limitations Jake will have after the surgery. I know he is not allowed on his stomach for sometime obviously while his breastbone/chest is healing. He is quite a busy little boy so I'm not sure what he'll be able to do for the month or so after. He is crawling everywhere and pulling up. I have a feeling after he heals from his surgery, he'll be really fast when his heart is actually pumping blood properly! I'm even unsure about using his car seat since the strap would seem to bother his chest. My mom told me her friend's grandson wore a protective vest after his open heart surgery to protect his chest. That sounds like a great idea to me...I do know my birthday is on December 17th and the best birthday present I could ever ask for would be for Jake's surgery to go well and for him to be home for my birthday. He should be able to enjoy Christmas too although we had planned to go to Oklahoma for Christmas. Instead, we will have a very warm Houston Christmas and celebrate Jake's repair! We appreciate so much all the friends and family who continue to lift Jake up in prayer. We just ask that you pray that he stays healthy until his heart surgery and that the surgery is successful.

The pictures are from our trip to Oklahoma. Jake loved his cousin Hendrix's car and was a natural at "driving" around the backyard (with Poppy's help). He and Hendrix had fun together and loved the pumpkin patch we took them to. He also had fun with my friend Amber's little boy, Finn (in the picture). Finn loved "baby Jake" and was so sweet and gentle with him. We saw lots of friends and family and had quality time with my parents and Ryan, Crys, and Hendrix. It is always so wonderful to be home...red dirt, strong winds, and all!

We're approved!

I just got a call that Jake is approved for the Synagis. They should deliver it in the morning and then I will take it straight to our doctor's office for the nurse to administer it. We thank God for this answered prayer! Dr. Grenier wrote a letter to our insurance that explained if Jake got RSV he would either not survive or be in ICU for a very extended period of time. That was honestly hard to see in print, but we're thankful for her candidness and for the insurance company approving the Synagis. The next step is getting Jake's surgery date--hopefully we'll know within a week.

Jake and I are headed to OKC tomorrow afternoon. We'll spend tomorrow night in Dallas with Jen, my best friend from high school, and then be in OKC Friday afternoon. We'll stay for about a week and spend time with my parents and brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, Hendrix. Ty's dad is coming to visit him this weekend so he won't be lonely!

God is good and is taking care of our Jake!

Insurance and Red Tape

Well, we still are waiting to hear the date of Jake's surgery. We should find out this week or next, but we're hoping this week. Once we get the date, it will be easier to wrap our minds around what's coming next. Another dilemma is keeping our minds off the surgery for now. Several weeks ago we along with our doctor's office were told by Pharmacare, a pharmaceutical company, that Jake was approved for Synagis, the vaccine for RSV. Last week once we found out that surgery was in Jake's near future, I called to find out when the medicine would be delivered to us. Since RSV is a virus that settles in the lungs, it is even more vital that Jake avoid it with surgery coming. On Thursday, the rep. I talked to said we were not approved and that they were still waiting to hear from our Insurance company for approval. I was quite confused since I had been assured several times we were approved. After 5 hours on the phone with Pharamcare and our insurance company, we discovered the woman who had been telling us we were approved was new and didn't read Jake's chart correctly. Apparently our application was collecting dust on someone's desk but was not being processed. Ty, being the assertive person he is, called Pharmacare's corporate office and somehow got through to the Vice President. The vice president called me back within 30 minutes with many apologies. Pharamacare has promised to deal directly with United for us and to try to hurry our application through. Dr. Grenier wrote a letter for us explaining that Jake's condition is worsening. We're waiting for her office to fax it to Pharamacare who should then forward it to the United...Our prayer is that the process will be expedited and that Jake will get the Synagis!

Meanwhile, you would never know Jake has the heart defect by just looking at him. He is crawling everywhere and this weekend started pulling up in his crib. He has two teeth and is full of smiles to light up the room! He does tire easily and after a few hours of crawling, he's ready for a nap. Today we got him his flu shot and he didn't shed a tear--he's one tough little boy! I did notice at the doctor's that he has lost 3 ounces over the past 3 weeks. That makes me feel better that we are going ahead with the surgery. Once he has the surgery he should grow normally and start to catch up. In the meantime, Destin gave me some OT tips for weight gain like adding formula or olive oil to his baby food for extra calories.

This post is long enough and probably a little on the dry side. It was therapeutic for me to write though. We continue to appreciate the prayers of everyone. Yesterday at church I was so encouraged by all the people that told me they were praying for Jake. I know many of our family members have their churches all over the country praying too. God is a BIG god and I know he's watching over Jake!

Surgery Update

Just a quick note that we heard from Dr. Grenier today. She conferenced with Jake's surgeon, Dr. Heinle, and they've decided to move forward with Jake's open heart surgery. They are working on getting us a surgery date in the next 2 to 3 months--possibly around the holidays. We should hear from Dr. Heinle's office in the next week or two and I will post the definitive date.

Ft. Worth Road Trip

Jake, Jonesa, and I left late Friday night to go to Ft. Worth to visit Ty's sister, Destin. We had a wonderful time and Jake endured lots of shopping with the girls. Jake did watch some football with Uncle Mark on the couch which made up for some of the "girl" time. Jake loved their Boston Terrier, Tootsie. Tootsie would lick Jake and he would laugh and laugh...it was so cute. Aunt Destin gave him a baby massage (she's an OT) and showed me how to do it here at home. It is good for his digestion and can even help with weight gain. He really is a great little traveler and made the 4 hour trip really well there and back. I managed to find him a Halloween costume while we were there too...look for pictures later in the month. Ty stayed home to catch up on some sleep and watch football. He and my brother both graciously called frequently on Saturday with updates on the OU/Texas game since I was out shopping with Destin and Jonesa. Luckily, OU pulled out a win and also LSU beat Florida so all was well in the land of football.

Yesterday we took him to Texas Children's Hospital for his sedated echo cardiogram. They gave him some medicine by mouth to make him sleep. He fought that for a good 30 minutes before succumbing to the drowsiness. They did the echo and soon as the technician removed the last sensor from his chest, he sat straight up wide awake. He was supposed to take much longer to wake up. We've decided that Jake is one tough little boy which will only help him when it comes time for surgery. The rest of the afternoon he was pretty drowsy...he crawled very crooked :) As soon as we hear the results and find out what Dr. Grenier and the surgeon recommend, we'll let everyone know.

Update on Jake

Our cardiologist, Dr. Grenier, emailed us yesterday to let us know she hadn't had a chance to talk to the surgeon yet because of his busy schedule. She did confer with two other cardiologists and they decided in order to make the most informed decision, they need to do another echocardiogram on Jake. They have scheduled it for Monday afternoon and this time he will be under sedation so they can spend as long as they need examining the heart and mitro valve. It will be at the Texas Children's in the Medical Center around noon, but he can't eat anything after 6:00 because of the sedation. I hope he will miraculously sleep a lot Monday morning because if not, it will be a long ride to the hospital with a hungry baby :) We're praying that this procedure is successful and that they will be able to make a wise decision with the results.

This weekend Jake and I are going with Grandma Jonesa to see Ty's sister, Destin, in Ft. Worth. It will be good to get our minds off all of this for awhile. I'm sure we'll get lots of shopping in with Aunt Destin. Ty has opted to stay home and watch the big LSU/Florida game in peace and quiet. I'm still shell shocked from OU losing to Colorado so I'm not really up for OU/Texas weekend anyway. Since they both lost last week, the game has definitely lost some of his luster. I plan to wear my OU shirt this weekend though since we'll be in the Dallas area. I know I can call my brother for updates too.

I'll update after Monday with the results of Jake's echo. We appreciate everyone's prayers so much!

Prayers

Yesterday we had Jake's cardiology appointment and met with Dr. Grenier. They did an echocardiogram to check on Jake's defect and he held surpisingly still. The technician put a cartoon on for him to watch, but he was more interested in watching his heart on the monitor. Dr. Grenier saw how fascinated he was with all the machines and thinks he might be an engineer like Ty. She determined that the right side of his heart is more enlarged and is encroaching on the left side. Because of the strain this puts on him doing every day activities like eating, crawling, etc..., she suggested we move the surgery up again and have it done between 6 months and a year from now. She will conference with our surgeon, Dr. Heinle, sometime this week or next and have him examine the echo as well. They have to look at the risks and benefits of the timing of the sugery and agree on a date. Dr. Heinle had said before he really wanted to wait, but Dr. Grenier sees more of a benefit to do the surgery now as not to hinder Jake's development. Please pray that Jake's heart is fixed at the exact right time so that he can be healed and the surgery can be safely performed. Dr. Grenier said yesterday to get a prayer chain going for Jake. It is so comforting to have a doctor who is a believer in the Lord. I know God is in control, but it is hard to let that happen and know there is nothing I can do to fix the situation. Its amazing how much you can love such a little baby!

Hello and Goodbye

Yesterday afternoon Jake was able to say hello to the Astros for the first time as the team said goodbye to Craig Biggio. In the last game of the season, the Astros honored Biggio as he put on the Houston uniform for the last time and retired. It was a great tribute to one of the best baseball players Houston will ever see. In this day and age and especially in sports it is rare to see someone who excels in his field, gives back to the community, and more importantly is a great father/husband but Biggio is the complete package. Biggio finished number 20 on MLB's all time hit list and is one of only 27 players in the history of MLB to have 3000 hits. It was fitting that Biggio had one of his trademark Minute Maid Park doubles as his only hit in the game and left the field with dirt (as was the case most of the time) and a tear on his pants from diving for a ground ball. After the final out, the record crowd of 43,823 people in Minute Maid Park were as quiet as I have ever heard 43,000+ people. You could almost hear a pin drop while waiting for the Biggio video tribute because no one could believe the moment for goodbye had finally come. I remember watching games back in 1988 when I first moved to Houston enduring many of those who were speculating if this tough little guy from NY could keep it up. He proved many wrong and will be remembered by all when he's inducted to Cooperstown in 2012.

Jake loved the game and thought the fans were tamer and alot less noiser than the Yankee fans he came across the other night. He smiled at everyone around us and even took a little nap during the seventh inning stretch. Amy singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch didn't even wake him up.