The Christiansen Family: 2012

When Leighton was born we knew there was the possibility of her needing to have surgery very early on. Some baby's with tricuspid atresia need the first surgery, other's don't. It just depends on how well they do. She had been thriving, eating well and gaining weight better than we ever imagined. Just when I thought we were in the "safe zone" and we could forego the first surgery we met with her cardiologist. It all happened so fast. We had an appointment with her pediatrician on a Wednesday, her Oxygen saturation levels had gradually gotten higher -- a little too high. I thought high was good, much better than low, but turns out neither are good. We met with her cardiologist Monday where he gave us her surgery packet and told us to head to SLC for all of her pre-op work-up the next day to prep her for surgery on Wednesday. [like I said ... it all happened QUICK] With her heart defect, the high saturation levels meant her lungs were essentially being "flooded" with blood to oxygenate. She was faring just fine, but in order to protect her lungs we needed to put a "band" on her Pulmonary artery to restrict the blood flow, lowering her o2 saturations.

Leighton was first on the docket Wednesday morning. In a way, I'm glad it all happened so fast that I didn't have time to think (or overthink) things. Her pre-op day was a zoo, so chaotic and busy. She was an angel. Best baby ever. The morning of her surgery she did amazingly well also. She had to be admitted on an empty stomach, I was so nervous she'd be cranky because of the hunger (especially since she ate very little the day before ... again, tests & echo's were done on an empty stomach) but it didn't even seem to bother her. We did her paperwork etc. and then had a mini tour of the area. That's where we had to hand over my precious six week old baby. Her anesthesiologist scooped her out of my arms and told us to give her hugs and kisses and he'd take good care of her. I believed him. I'm not sure what quality he possessed, but if you have to pass your baby off to anyone - he's the guy to do it with. Dr. Mulroy: amazing guy. Even the nurses post-op said he took extra special care of our girl. It was the hardest thing I've had to do, ever. What a long four hours. They give you a pager and tell you to leave if you can. Get some breakfast (yeah right). and try to keep your sanity. Our nurse called the waiting room from the OR periodically to let us know how great Leighton was doing. Finally, after four long hours, Leighton's amazing surgeon, Dr. Kaza, came and found us in the waiting room to tell us he had finished and she had done so well. 20 minutes later, I got to go and meet her in her room in the ICU. I'll never forget that moment, I'm not sure what I expected, but she looked amazingly well. I could see where her chest had been doused with a layer of iodine, giving her torso a yellow-ish tint, and a thin incision on her chest - very neatly done and one drain tube. She was still just as chubby as when I handed her over. Her eyes were glazed over and groggy as she "sucked" on a phantom binky for comfort. She moaned a bit here and there in discomfort. I could tell she recognized my voice when I came in the room and wanted nothing more to scoop her up and love on her. That sweet babe. I learned quickly that her entire body ached (naturally). The only form of comfort I could give her was to stroke her forehead (the only place that probably didn't hurt). It quickly became her solace over the next few days when she needed some "love" but I couldn't hold her. Leighton's recovery went remarkably well. The first 24 hours post-op they say is really critical. That's when we learned of her extreme sensitivity to morphine. In the ICU, from 7-8 morning and night - parents have to leave for an hour. It's mandatory. That's when there's a shift change and it gets dr's and nurses thru faster. We had just gotten back from our mandatory "evacuation" when we heard Leighton's nurse calling for the other nurses help. After quickly tracking down another nurse we quickly found that her O2 saturations were at an extreme low. She had been sat'ing in the mid 80's and was down into the 20's and dropping quick. Her latest dose of morphine was causing her to stop breathing. We quickly became the "popular" room in the ICU and were flooded with additional nurses, dr's and attendees. They had to bag her and begin to manually breathe for her. I'll never forget watching them squeeze that plastic bulb over and over again to breathe life back into our little girl.There was talk of having to intubate her, but after a dose of medicine to reverse her morphine - she started to gradually gain her breath back. She likes to hold her breath periodically, and was having a really hard time coming back from each "episode" of that. The first night was horrible. After our scare with morphine, she got a half a dose and then was strictly on Tylenol to help manage her pain. [that's right, my girl is a rockstar.] By the next day she was on her way up. She looked much better, was breathing better. Her saturations and heart rate were holding steady. That night (night #2) we were transferred out of the ICU to a private room on the surgical floor. That's where I got to hold her for the first time (YAY) and feed her a bottle. Most amazing feeling ever. The next few days she continued to recover amazingly well. I'm still amazed at her ability. What an amazing little girl, so strong and resilient. Surgery happened on a Wednesday (November 14th) and by Sunday (18th) afternoon we were on our way home. Just in time for her very first Thanksgiving. Oxygen free, tube free. Just our sweet baby girl, what a fighter. We have been so blessed.

[trick.or.treat] smell our feet!! we had fun doing some Halloween crafts this year! Jackobi loved making "Candy Corn" feet :)

Leighton's [first] Halloween!! she's such a sweetie. She was really too tiny for any of the costumes (and the ones that I could find small enough in good ol' Rupert were not very cute) :: so we decided she would be a pumpkin. Cutest pumpkin I ever did see!!

Jackobi and Kashton loved [LOVED] trick or treating this year!! Kashton caught on first :: Jackobi stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's with Leighton and me while Grandpa and Nate took Kash from house to house. It didn't take him long to decide that free candy in his bucket was a pretty cool thing! He would profusely say 'thank you, thank you' even as he'd walk down the drive to the next house. Not long after Kashton got back from "round one" of trick-or-treating, Jackobi saw his loot and decided she was game too! She loved it and overall it was such a fun Halloween! My favorite yet!

Kashton beyond hated his lion costume at first ... but once free candy became involved, decided he loved it!

Part of Jackobi's dance class in their Halloween costumes :: some of her best buddies! Evie, Presley, Peyton and Hadley!

The rest of our Halloween pictures are on my desktop at home :: I'll have to update this post later! Stay tuned!