Oliver at 18 months and Iliana at 2 months

The other day I took both kids in for Doctor's appointments.
Here's how Oliver is doing:
weight: 27 lb 8.9oz (71%)
height: 2' 9.5" (80%)

Here's how Iliana is doing:
weight: 11lb 1.6 oz (58%)
height: 23" (75%)

Both kids look healthy!

Hospital stay with Iliana

This is what I wrote in the hospital the last night we were there after Iliana's surgery. It is pretty scattered, and not thought out. I just wrote. (And I was pretty sleep deprived at this point)

Oct. 2, 2010
I am at the hospital while my daughter recovers from heart surgery. Nolan is working on homework and doing laundry so I'm by myself. It really began on Monday, September 27. Iliana was starting to act funny on Saturday and Sunday. She was extra sleepy and not eating well. By Monday she would not eat at all. So we brought her to the emergency room. There she was poked and prodded about a million times because they could not get a line in her veins. After many tests, echoes, x-rays, and blood tests, it was discovered that she had a congential heart defect. A coarctation of the aorta. Which means that her aorta was so narrow that blood could not flow to the lower half of her body. At home, her body temperature had dropped to 95 degrees. Terrified I called Mom to take Oliver so we could take her. Nolan sat in the back with Iliana to make sure she didn't stop breathing while I drove as fast as was safe. Throughout everything I was so scared that she would die that I could not stop crying. Luckily Nolan was a stoic man and stood by my side to keep me calm. And then I learned that she could die, and I was even more scared. Monday night she got transferred to the UC DAvis Medical Center. But before she left, Nolan, Matthew, and my dad gave both her and me blessings. I really don't remember what was said and I really didn't feel better right away. Then they took her away and Nolan rode in the ambulance. I got scared again when they turned the sirens on. Sarah drove me to the other hospital. Matthew drove our car. Melissa, Sarah, and Mom have really stood by my side throughout this whole thing. I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if she died. All the cute clothes she didn't get to wear and the tiny casket at the funeral. But mostly I kept thinking how long both of our families had waited for her and now we got one and God was going to take her back. But I knew that through God's plan she would always be our daughter. It's really hard not to cry even just writing this down. (Even typing it now, is making me cry again) Monday night she got settled in and they had her sedated and her poor face was just covered in tape. The only thing that happened that night was that her breathing tube came out and she had 5 or 6 people around her to get it back in. I stayed at the hospital that night, and Nolan went home to sleep. Tuesday came and it was just a day of talking to nurses, doctors, and surgeons. They said that they wouldn't even know what kind of surgery she would have until the next morning, and that they surgery might not happen til the next week. When they told me that I started to cry all over again. How could I wait a week for them to fix my daughter. Then recovery could take as long as 3 weeks in the hospital! I got so discouraged at that point, and Nolan's paternity leave was ending this week. Later that day they told me that she might have the surgery the next day, Wednesday. Then it turned into a definite surgery on Wednesday, woohoo! I went home that night to sleep while Nolan stayed. But I came back early to hear what the docs said after they had a conference about her. They saw that her VSD was already smaller and so they would only operate on her aorta and would not have to open her chest and heart. Her incision would be on her back. With that surgery, recovery could be as short as a week to 10 days. Woohoo! less time at the hospital. So she went into surgery around 3pm Wednesday afternoon. Mom, Melissa, Sarah, Nolan and I sat in the waiting room and kept ourselves busy while the docs kept us updated. The surgery went perfectly! They said it took longer to get a line in her than it took to do the actual procedure. Now, when they do an operation you have to sign consent forms for both the anesthesia and the operation. The funny thing that happened was that we had signed the operation consent form Wednesday morning but we didn't sign the anesthesia consent form until she was actually in the operating area. Like we would want her to go through this awake! Also, choices are much easier when they are a matter of life or death, which in this case they were. They brought her back to her room, got her settled in, then we were allowed to see her. She was hooked up to so many things that I couldn't even really see her. That night we were visited by Emily, and Matthew and Hillary. Nolan and I decided to both go home tht night since she was so sedated that we would be of no help. When we got back on Thursday they had already taken the breathing tube out. That day was just more talking and testing. I eventually got to try to give her some glucose water which she didn't really like. That night she was alert and awake and crying. But there was nothing I could do but hold a pacifier in her mouth. I stayed that night and Nolan went home. Around 4 am she finally went to sleep after a dose of morphine. So I got some sleep too, just to be woken up again at 6 am to talk to docs again. They told me I could feed her and hold her. (This was Friday morning) So I fed and held her and she went right to sleep. This was great because they had talked of her needing a feeding tube but we didn't at all. If it's one thing my kids can do, its eat. Friday was a super recovery day. They took her off IV meds and switched to oral, she got to eat all day, and the doctors even said she could possibly go home the next day, Saturday. The nurses however, know how much is really involved in discharging a patient and knew it would probably not happen. She looked better and better as the day went on. That night Melissa and Sarah stayed with her so Nolan and I could sleep. Melissa kept me updated. It was decided to keep her another day so the could see how she did without blood pressure medication, so they wouldn't have to send her home with it.

10/3/2010
Saturday was just another day of waiting. We got moved out of one PICU to another. The other PICU is where less serious kids go. We no longer had a private room but at least we had a window. We stayed there a while until they moved us again out of the ICU altogether. At Midnight. We were moved to another non-private room, but no window this time. Now it's Sunday morning and we are just waiting and waiting. All the paperwork takes a very long time. But her recovery has been so short we never thought we would ever go home this early. But they always say never believe it until you're in the car.

Iliana's birth

I have some stories to tell that I haven't done yet so I'll be trying to catch up, especially since I can't find my journal right now, so I'll have to treat this as my journal until I find it.

Iliana was born on Thursday, September 16, 2010. The night before I was craving donuts so bad. I was talking to my sister Melissa about it on Facebook, and she told me I should just go to the 24 hour donut place that was kind of far away. I decided just to go in the morning before Nolan went to work (since we only had one car). So at 5 in the morning (I told you I wanted them!) I got dressed and went. I came home and got Nolan up for work, and he said that he felt apprehensive for some reason, but I said that everything was fine, and that he needed to go to work. So he left and I stayed up and ate my donuts, and worked on some typing for Nolan's homework (he did all the work, I just happen to type faster than him). While I was typing I kept feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom, but then I couldn't go. This went on for a while, and it would come and go at regular intervals. Then I realized that I was probably in labor (This was around 7am). So I tried to wait the hour that they say to wait before you call or go to the hospital. In the meantime I called Nolan's mom, who was going to watch Oliver, and e-mailed Nolan, but told him not to come yet since I hadn't called the hospital. I tried calling my mom but couldn't get a hold of her. By 7:45 the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart so I called the hospital, and based on how I sounded on the phone they told me to come in. I e-mailed Nolan again and told him to come home fast and now! So I wondered around in between contractions making sure we had everything we needed for the hospital, each contraction feeling worse than the last. After over an hour Nolan and his mom both showed up at the same time. I had finally gotten a hold of my mom and let her know waht was going on. I told her to finish what she was doing since I figured I still had plenty of time (I had only been in labor for a couple of hours). By the time Nolan got home, however, the contractions were less than a minute apart, and I was feeling nauseous, and hot. Nolan got me to the car, then went back to get the bags and Oliver into his Mom's car. Then we were off, I knew in my head that if there was any traffic at all, I could possibly have this baby on the side of the road. So I had the cell phone close by ready to call 911 if needed. Luckily, there was no traffic at all for 9 in the morning on some major freeways on a Thursday morning. We got to the hospital in record time, the whole time I was telling NOlan all the things I wanted when we got there. I wanted drugs right away, and a wheel chair since there was no way I was walking. We drove up to the valet, demanded a wheel chair, left all bags in the car, and went running. We got to the emergency room entrance went in, where the receptionist pointed to the door we needed to go through (it was pretty obvious I was deep in to labor, screaming and everything) and yelled for someone to open it for us. Then we had to wait at the elevator, since labor and delivery is on the second floor. We got to the entrance where we had take the phone off the wall and be allowed in. I grabbed the phone, yelled "Mary storz" and the door immediately opened. We get to that desk where they try to ask the preliminary questions, but then realized it was too late. So one of the ladies said, "Get her to a room now!" We got to a room, I stood up and they said "We have to get this gown on you." So I stripped down right in the middle of the room in front of everyone and got the gown on and laid on the bed. I told them I wanted drugs as soon as possible but they said I had to be checked first. So they checked me and I was already at an 8 and my water hadn't even broken yet. They said an epidural wouldn't work and it was too late, so I asked for narcotics, and they tried to get that but they decided it would be better just to break my water and get the baby out. I told them to just give me a placebo and I would convince myself that it was really drugs, but they didn't go for that. So they broke my water, which pretty much put me at a 10, and I started pushing, and pushing. Oh, my gosh, it was agony! I was gripping whatever I could find, and screaming with each push. Finally (ok so it wasn't that long) Her head came out. Then they told me I had to push again to get the shoulders out, and I remember thinking to myself, "what? I didn't have to push to get Oliver's shoulders out!" So one more push and she was out, then I heard the words that it was a girl, and I thought, good, so I'm not crazy (I was pretty sure it was a girl but so many people made me doubt). Then cutting of the umbilical cord, which Nolan will not do, and then I had to push again for the placenta! I swear, once the baby is out, there should be no more pushing! They placed her on my chest, without cleaning her up at all, and I knew right then that I loved her so much! The first thing I said to her was "I love you already." So we began to make phone calls. My mom was in the parking lot when Iliana came out, so she was with us right away, but had missed the birth. The nurses took care of the all the post partum stuff, stitching, cleaning, pushing on my uterus, etc. Oh, the stitching hurt so much! And she took to nursing right away! The nurses were all impressed. My mom went and got us some food, because after all that I was starving! Nolan went and got the bags out of the car so we could finally take some proper pictures, and we signed the papers that you are supposed to sign BEFORE you have the baby. Her stats: 8lbs 8oz, 20 1/2 inches, Apgar scores of 9. Beautiful baby girl! We had some visitors in the evening; Melissa, Sarah, Daniel, and Ashley, and received baby girl clothes to take her home in. That night we just spent time together, and tried to sleep, but she would not let me! Finally at 3 am I called the nurse and asked them to take her to the nursery so I could get some sleep. So they did, and I finally got to sleep. they brought her back fast asleep. That next morning we just waited to go home. My parents both visited and we took some pictures of course. They checked to make sure, we were both ok. One nurse thought she heard a heart murmur, but then a pediatrician stopped by and didn't hear it. (that nurse was right by the way! In a major way) So we went home, and Nolan's parents brought Oliver home and they got to meet their new granddaughter, with more pictures of course! I love pictures. And we had more visitors throughout the day. That is not the end of the story however!To be continued...

Nursery

Yesterday was Oliver's first official time in Nursery at church. He's been a couple of times, but now is actually old enough to go. I found myself wanting to go in there with him so I could see how he interacts with the kids. I found myself not wanting to miss anything cute he might do. I love my little man so much! I'm also so glad to be a stay-at-home mom, and to have a husband who supports us.