Lynnlee's pictures

Here are pictures from today. Since she can't wear clothes, just her diaper, my Mom brought a cute pink bow to put in her hair to make her more girly.

Post-Op Day 2

Lynnlee's condition is always improving and she's healing so fast. When I got to the hospital in the morning she was getting morphine every 2 hours because otherwise she was uncomfortable and irritable like she was in pain. By the time we left the hospital she hadn't had it for 4 hours and she was sleeping like a baby:)

Through the night they continued to wean her oxygen and she handled it really well.

This morning the surgeon took out her chest tubes and some other lines. I got to feed her some pedialyte a little while after that. She got so excited just at the site of the bottle. It was so funny. She was kicking her legs and kept kicking them the whole time I fed her. If I even tried to move the bottle she would grunt. She went 2 1/2 days without eatting I don't blame her for being hungry!

If she keeps eating well and tolerating the lower oxygen then she'll get to move out of the CICU and up to the surgical floor. I'll post some pictures tonight.

Post Op- Day 1

We spent yesterday afternoon with Lynnlee in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). She was on the ventilator and connected to lots of IVs, chest tubes, foley catheter, monitors, etc. They told us she had been doing a lot of breathing on her own so they wanted to take her off the ventilator. They just wanted her to wake up a little more before taking her off. We were going to stay there late so we could be there when they took her off but we were so tired. All the stress had caught up with me and so I just wanted to get some sleep. The nurses and doctors take such great care of her that I knew I didn't have to worry if I left. My Aunt is letting us stay at her house (She's only a few minutes away!) so we left a little earlier than planned and were able to get a good sleep! The hospital called and woke us at 11:00 last night and said she was off the ventilator and breathing on her own. We were happy to hear the good news, even if it meant waking us up.

Today she is doing just as well. They have taken out some of her IVs and her foley catheter. They are still keeping her mildly sedated so she doesn't try ripping out any other tubes. She seems very comfortable.

She doesn't get to eat yet but hopefully soon. She's on a high amount of oxygen. Once she is weaned to a lower amount they will let her eat.

Thank you for your prayers. All the doctors tell us they are impressed with how well she is doing. We know it is because of everyone's prayers!

Post Surgery

We got to the hospital at 7:00 this morning. Lynnlee was pretty happy considering she hadn't had any milk for 8 hours. They took her back at 8:30. We were nervous but also felt peace. The nurse gave us updates through the whole surgery. The surgeon just came and talked to us and he said everything went very well! We will be headed to the cardiac intensive care unit to see her in just a minute. Thank you for all of your prayers!

Lynnlee's Surgery

Lynnlee is having open heart surgery tomorrow. It wasn't scheduled until the 21st of October but we found out yesterday that they moved it to tomorrow. She had a test a few weeks ago that indicated she needs surgery sooner so that is why they changed it. The name of the surgery is The Glenn. Click on it for more information if you are interested. I will post daily updates while she is in the hospital.

Idaho Falls

We spent the weekend in Idaho Falls. We attended a funeral and celebration of life for my good friend's husband. It's hard when a person passes away at such a young age and unexpectedly. I'm so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and eternal families! There was an amazing feeling of peace and comfort at his funeral. My heart has been broken since finding out this sad news but I've been so grateful to feel peace knowing Heavenly Father is watching over his family. My friend has been so strong through this trial and she is an amazing example!

Saturday we had a picnic before priesthood meeting at a park near the falls. The falls are so beautiful and we were hoping to get some fun pictures with the kids but they weren't in the mood for pictures.
While Marshall was at Priesthood meeting I pushed James and Lynnlee in the stroller on a path around the falls. It was so beautiful. James loved feeding the geese.

James and Lynnlee were really good on the trip.

James brought some toys and had fun playing in the hotel room.

We headed back home this afternoon. James and Lynnlee slept most the way home. We enjoyed listening to conference. I thought the talks were great!

First Family Camp Out

We went on our first family camp out. I don't know why but we never took James camping last summer. We love to camp so I'm glad we got to go before the weather gets too cold. We went with the Tibbs family. James and Camden were entertained by rocks, sticks, and bugs.

It was cold after the sun went down. We enjoyed sitting around the campfire.

Lynnlee was bundled up the whole time. She did really well camping.

We started out the night with James in the pack n' play and Lynnlee in her travel bed but by the end of the night the kids were both in our sleeping bags. It was fun to snuggle. Saturday morning Marshall and Brandon made a yummy breakfast.

Then we went for a walk. The trees are so beautiful right now. Here's the Tibbs family.

After our walk we cleaned up camp and then went fishing at Tibble Fork Reservoir. It was a fun and memorable first family camp out.

Marathon

Saturday I ran my first marathon. Here's a little summary of how the weekend went:

Friday afternoon we drove to Logan. When we got there we drove the last 8 miles of the race so I could know a little of what to expect at the end. Later we had a big spaghetti dinner with Miranda's (Marshall's sister) family. We slept at Marshall's Aunt's house that night. Saturday morning at 5:00 Marshall drove me to the bus stop. It was 55 degrees in Logan. From there I took a bus to the starting line at Hardware Ranch which is up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. I was so nervous the whole way up. I don't know the exact temperature at the starting line but it felt freezing and I could see my breath. My toes were literally numb while I was waiting for the race to start.

The race started at 7:05. I was excited to start running so I could warm up. At mile 2 I finally got feeling back in my toes. I was so tired and cold the first few miles. I just tried to stay focused and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

I got into a good groove from about mile 5 until I hit the half way mark. It had been mostly downhill so I ran a faster pace than normal since I had the downhill helping me. Miles 14 through 18 went by fast and I was looking forward to meeting up with Marshall. Luckily his Aunt and Uncle suggested someone run with me the last few miles of the race. That was the best advice!

At mile 19 I started to get a cramp in my calf. I had never had this before in all my training so it freaked me out. I kept trying to stretch it out while running. Marshall met up with me at mile 21 and by then I started to have leg cramps in both my legs. It was bad. I had a hard time keeping up a good pace. He told me how to stretch it out while running and also I decided to eat a banana at the next aide station and within another mile all my leg cramps had gone away! Marshall really had to push me the last few miles. (Thanks Miranda for watching my kids so Marshall could run with me!) I was so tired but he got me through it and ran with me to the end. My official time was 4 hours and 2 minutes. I couldn't have been more happy.

I had 2 goals for the race. First goal was to run the whole race, no walking and second goal was to finish as close to 4 hours as I could. So I'm glad I was able to meet both goals. Thanks to everyone for your support!

This is right as I'm meeting up with Marshall at mile 21.

This is after the race. I couldn't stand to have my shoes on anymore!