Pictures from the night before surgery

First update...so far so good

It is now 11:00 and we just got our second call from the surgical nurse that Reid is now on the heart and lung bypass machine and ready for the repairs. It has been a really long morning. They wheeled Reid over to the holding room before entering surgery around 7:00 but there were some delays and they were very busy in there so Reid stayed with us until about 8:00. You could clearly see he was getting a little agitated and tired of this whole thing already, so Luke and I sang and danced for him the best we could to keep his spirits up and we were able to get a few giggles out of him. He actually finally ended up falling asleep in my arms at 8:05 and then the anaesthesiologist came and gave him something through his IV to knock him out further....what a complete blessing. It was so nice to be able to hand him over in this peaceful nature and he is none the wiser of what is happening to him...at least not yet! :)

This is not the first time we have been through this...yet somehow this time is so, so much harder on us all. I wish I could post pictures but I brought the wrong thingy ma bob to plug into the camera and computer, so I'll post pictures later. But...picture this if you will... Reid had a crib ride over to the room where they pick him up for surgery...but he was not going to sit down for this ride. He stood up the whole way holding on to the edge of the crib, he wasn't quite as flirtatious as last night...he was now too suspicious by this time and had quite a look of angelic ferociousness on his face if that is possible, but still managed to pass out waves and kisses along the way. One nurse called him, "dangerous guy" because he was standing the whole way... oh I just love my angelic, ferocious, danger guy!

Heart Surgery in the Morning...

We have been up at the hospital since 3:30 this afternoon to have Reid admitted and prepared for surgery in the morning and only now getting back home. I had this whole wonderful "The night before heart surgery..." post I was going to write, but, for now just a quick note to ask for prayer and I will write more detail later of our special moments leading up to surgery. Surgery time for Reid has been switched now to 7:30 AM. Toby decided to stay the night with Reid so I could get home and get a good night's sleep....Thanks Toby! Luke has already fallen asleep but not before telling me he was going to sleep with Reid's Blue's Clue's pajamas he found laying on the bed. He is seriously curled up with these PJ bottoms next to his cheek.

Reid was all smiles for the nurses and ever so flirtatious! We ended up in the same room we had for surgery #1 a year ago....only this time Reid was walking back and forth in his crib and flung one leg over the top trying to escape! He is such a big boy now!

We are praying for a full repair of his mitral valve and to close up a hole between his heart chambers.

Thanks for checking in on our little Reid!

Cheri and family

Brotherly Love

Yesterday at school Luke had an all school BBQ where families could come and have lunch with their children (now, we all know that BBQ is cafeteria lingo for "mystery meat"...but nonetheless we went!). I knew Luke was excited to have us come join him for lunch so I popped Reid in his stroller and headed over. Just as we entered the campus Luke's class was heading over to the lunch line....when Luke saw us he came bounding over shouting along the way, "Mom, I just wrote about Reid in my journal and read it in front of the class!" and then proceeded to give his best little buddy a hug. It was fun to be there with the other families and to hear Luke's conversations with his friends which were riddled with spontaneous giggles. He loves school! After lunch and before heading out to play what is now his new favorite sport, "handball", he gave his brother another hug and a kiss. He loves being big brother, most specifically to Reid!

Later that night I asked Luke what it was that he had written in his journal about Reid... below is his journal entry. You just gotta love this sweetheart of a first grader!

MY BROTHER

My brother is very cute and funny. He sometimes scratches me. He has this disability called Down syndrome. Down syndrome means it takes him longer to learn stuff, but I still love him. Do you have a brother?

Luke has such a tender heart and adores his brother! It just makes my heart swell!! I love being "Mom" to both of my beautiful boys!

Heading out to go camping!

Snuggle Bugs!

Rough Housing

Lost My Groove

I haven't posted lately...I lost my groove I think. Actually, I guess I got the wind knocked out of me so to speak when I learned that Reid's little friend Zoey is now battling leukemia and then learning that our littlest buddy will have his second heart surgery December 2nd. I have gone into numb mode I suppose, which has been taking turns with task mode...trying to check off my list all that needs to be done before going into the hospital.

But, this post is an attempt for me to pull out of it... to take life by the lapel as the quote below suggest though really I feel like life needs to take me by the lapel right now... but I'm working on getting my groove back.

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: "I am with you kid. Let's go." ~Maya Angelou