Erin Update 3

We just spoke to Holly, our surgeon's nurse. All continues to go well with Erin! She went on the heart and lung bi-pass a little after 1:00. So she is close to half way through the repair of her heart, which includes a patch for the VSD and stitching up two small openings, a PDA and a PFO. They expect to start heating her up (they drop her body temp during surgery) around 3:00 or 3:30 and switch her back to her newly repaired heart at that time. They are expecting about 2 1/2 hours on bi-pass. Erin's repair is being done through the right atrium, then through the tricuspid valve, which is only the size of her pinkie finger. Just amazing! For those of you who have had a child go through this, you know what I mean when I say that pediatric heart surgery is truly a work of art. It's not over of course, but we're starting to feel just a little bit of relief that it's going so well. Once again, I have to say, we are very grateful for the prayers!

Erin Update 2

Dear Family and Friends,

We're finally able to give an update on Erin (the computers have been down at the hospital). Yesterday, late afternoon, Erin's blood work came back with some concerns. Her blood was not clotting properly, so the surgeon wanted additional tests before her 7:30 am start time. Since we could not get lab results that quickly, she was moved back to the 12:00 start time. All blood results came back normal this morning, so we had the green light to get started. Erin went to surgery, smiling and happy, at 11:45 am, and all is going very well. They quickly started the anesthesia and put in all her lines with no complications. They were just about to start the heart repair at about 12:45. The nurse will be updating us again sometime after 2:00 pm. The surgeon said he expected her to be out by dinner time. We'll be posting more when we know. Thanks again for the prayers!!

Erin Update 1 {Moira}

Erin's pre-op testing went well, for the most part. Late yesterday afternoon my parents called saying that the doctors had found Erin's blood wasn't clotting properly. Then after an additional test, they have rescheduled her surgery for noon today.

Again, thank you for all the prayers. I'll keep trying to update you.

They Left...

Erin and my parents left this morning for Children's Hospital Milwaukee, as most of you readers know. As they were leaving some of us just couldn't stop saying our goodbyes!!!  We were worried about her getting kiss-itis from one morning of so many kisses.

Today are her pre-surgery tests. Then tomorrow morning at 7:30 she will be put under and probably around 8:30 they will start the surgery part. We'll keep ya updated:)

Here's Aidan getting one last kiss in before they drove away.

Big Sisters are the Best!

I am so thankful for this girl! Moira's work behind the camera, taking the majority of the photos, makes this blog possible.

Wanna See the Cutest Little Cheesehead?

There he is, nephew Conal, smiling as usual.

Erin Update

Dr. Strausburger called this morning, right after she presented Erin's case to the team of cardiologists and surgeons at Children's Hospital (which is done routinely the Thursday before each heart surgery). These doctors were unanimously in agreement over Erin's case, and surgery date, which just means that all is going according to plan. Erin will have her last sedated echocardiogram on the 18th and then surgery, starting at 7:30 am on the 19th.

We also discussed Erin's feeding troubles. Since mid-July Erin has decided that eating is a very low priority. While I attempt to nurse her or give her the bottle with each feeding, she inevitable ends up getting the large majority through the ng tube. Dr. Strausburger reassured me that this lack of eating is heart related. She went so far as to make an official prediction that Erin will take off and do wonderfully with her feedings after the surgery. She encouraged me to continue breastfeeding her. I sure hope she's right!

So now we continue to prepare. The kids are already saying how much they'll miss Erin while she's away. Teresa, Aidan and Molly Grace are drawing pictures for her to take with her to the hospital. Both grandmas are planning to arrive to help with the kids. Mike's co-workers will be preparing and delivering meals while we're gone. We are very thankful for the help, the Masses offered, and for all of your prayers!

Guess Who Weighs 12 Pounds???

Our little Erin does, today, on Sept.12, exactly one week before her surgery date!

It's been a long road getting to 12 pounds. Before her ng tube, we were feeding her around the clock. Because of the hole in her heart (a VSD), her heart inefficiently pumps already oxygenated blood back into her lungs.  It pumps up to eleven times more blood that a normal heart would. Therefore, her little heart has to work extra hard to manage the simple tasks of breathing and eating. She burns a lot more calories, with these chores alone, than a baby with a normal heart. Once the ng tube was in place, we could manage her feedings, both in number and in quantity, much easier.  It's been a good thing and I'm certain that she could not have had this weight gain without it.



Here's Erin before the ng tube. We tried everything in an attempt to get her to gain weight. We even tried this big "Jethro bottle", which my kids nicknamed after Jethro Bodine of the Beverly Hillbillies. It's almost as big as she is LOL!




Here's the little 12 pounder, with the ng tube, enjoying her excersauser that Grandma and Grandpa McKillen gave her.


Tomorrow Erin's cardiologist will present her case to a larger group of cardiologists and surgeons at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. They will examine her latest echocardiograms. If there are any changes, or differences of opinion, our cardiologist will give us a call later tomorrow. Otherwise, we are set to head out for Erin's pre-op on the 18th.

Thank you once again for all of the prayers! We appreciate them so much!

Two Peas in a Pod

Best Buddies

Aidan is Promoted to Co-Pilot

When Erin was born, our family of nine could no longer travel together. The reason? We could not all fit into our Suburban, which only holds eight. Many people seemed more concerned about this dilemma than we did. In fact, during my pregnancy, the clerk, the hairdresser or the stranger would always ask, first, "When are you due?" That question was almost always followed by, "Is this your first?" (After learning that Erin was our seventh, I would then get that shocked, speechless, dropped-jaw expression. Don't worry, nobody has actually ever fainted, thankfully). Inevitably, the third question was, "What vehicle do you drive?" We finally took the lead from these concerned people, and decided we had better do something about this problem.

We weighed our options. We could get one of those big ol' vans (we found that they are very hard to come by, unless you go with the 15 passenger vans). We could sell a couple kids and buy a brand new mini-van (very tempting!). We could add a fourth row, which faces out, into the trunk area of our Suburban (but then where do you put the big double stroller?). Or, we could keep searching for a very rare, nine-passenger Suburban with the front bench seat. We even threatened the kids, on occasion, with this solution.

Around the last week of May, we (well, Moira) found our new vehicle. We went with a nine-passenger Suburban, which we found right here in Green Bay. Aidan, being the right sized child, was the lucky one to saddle-in up front. He loves riding next to Mike, especially. They discuss diesel motors, motorcycles, trains, airplanes, or anything else that has an engine. He can see so much better, and thinks he has the second-best seat in the car, next to the driver. We're enjoying his company up front as well.

Here's Aidan, our co-pilot, lovin' his new spot in the car

Here are three other little dumplins' that I see in my rear-view mirror