We made the obligatory stop at the big orange moose.
We did some hanging out.
Silje got her first real haircut.
And we got some family photos.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Fall Break - Minnesota
After delaying our trip for a day, we headed north for fall break on Sunday.
We made the obligatory stop at the big orange moose.
We did some hanging out.
Silje got her first real haircut.
And we got some family photos.
We made the obligatory stop at the big orange moose.
We did some hanging out.
Silje got her first real haircut.
And we got some family photos.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Cardiac Cath
Silje's cardiac cath went fine. It was not as successful as they had hoped, but they did open up the aorta some. Hopefully it will prove to be enough. They will keep an eye on it. It could get larger on its own, stay the same size, or get smaller again. There is just no way of knowing right now. They can do a cardiac cath again or they could do surgery. Let's hope she doesn't have to have either done.
The procedure was in the morning. Silje and I went down to Indy and Kris took Stian to school, then he came down to meet us. I was really worried about her having to fast, but she did fine with it, even though the procedure started about two hours later than scheduled. It was hard to hand her over to the nurse when it was time for her to go. The procedure took about two hours. Kris and I waited in a waiting room. When it was done the doctor took us back to see video of the procedure. I believe it was an x-ray image, though I'm not sure. We could see the catheter up in her heart and the balloon expanding. I have seen an awful lot of my daughter's insides.
When she started to wake up they took us to her. She was pretty upset and very drugged up. They let me crawl up onto the bed with her and hold her. We had to be very careful to hold her leg still for about 5 hours. So I held her and nursed her and Kris held her leg still. She was pretty upset. When it was time to go up to her room I was able to ride up on the bed with her holding her. They got me situated in the room on the sofa so I could hold her for the 5 hours she needed to be held still. Kris had to leave at this point to go get Stian at daycare. So it was just Silje and me for the rest of the afternoon and into the next morning. This was my view for the first couple of hours.
When she woke up she was much happier, and not so drugged up. After the 5 hours had passed she could move around more. So I continued to hold her, but I didn't have to hold her leg still. Then she looked like this. (her arm is out of the sleeve because she had an IV in her left hand)
We stayed in the hospital overnight. She slept fine. I slept intermittently, but better than I thought I would on a hospital sofa. They let us go the next morning and we came home.
The day was pretty uneventful. We hung out and I packed as we were planning to head to Minnesota and Wisconsin the next day.
That night at 2:00 am though Silje woke up and seemed to be having a very hard time breathing. She freaked me out. She appeared to be gasping for air. So I woke up Kris and then I took her to the emergency room while Kris stayed home with Stian. We don't really know what the issue was, but it appears that she was just coming down with a cold that day, and probably having been intibated for the procedure irritated her throat exacerbating the problem. They did a breathing treatment on her, gave her some steroids and sent us home. Before we left they discouraged us from heading to Minnesota that day. We got home around 6:00 am and went back to sleep.
We hung out at home for another day. Later that afternoon Stian came down with a very high fever, so it was probably for the best that we hadn't gone north that day. We did go north the following day though, and Stian continued to have a high fever for a few days. We're not really sure what it was. Possibly the same thing Silje had, or possible something else. Once the fever broke he did get a bit of a rash, so it might have been rosiola.
The procedure was in the morning. Silje and I went down to Indy and Kris took Stian to school, then he came down to meet us. I was really worried about her having to fast, but she did fine with it, even though the procedure started about two hours later than scheduled. It was hard to hand her over to the nurse when it was time for her to go. The procedure took about two hours. Kris and I waited in a waiting room. When it was done the doctor took us back to see video of the procedure. I believe it was an x-ray image, though I'm not sure. We could see the catheter up in her heart and the balloon expanding. I have seen an awful lot of my daughter's insides.
When she started to wake up they took us to her. She was pretty upset and very drugged up. They let me crawl up onto the bed with her and hold her. We had to be very careful to hold her leg still for about 5 hours. So I held her and nursed her and Kris held her leg still. She was pretty upset. When it was time to go up to her room I was able to ride up on the bed with her holding her. They got me situated in the room on the sofa so I could hold her for the 5 hours she needed to be held still. Kris had to leave at this point to go get Stian at daycare. So it was just Silje and me for the rest of the afternoon and into the next morning. This was my view for the first couple of hours.
When she woke up she was much happier, and not so drugged up. After the 5 hours had passed she could move around more. So I continued to hold her, but I didn't have to hold her leg still. Then she looked like this. (her arm is out of the sleeve because she had an IV in her left hand)
We stayed in the hospital overnight. She slept fine. I slept intermittently, but better than I thought I would on a hospital sofa. They let us go the next morning and we came home.
The day was pretty uneventful. We hung out and I packed as we were planning to head to Minnesota and Wisconsin the next day.
That night at 2:00 am though Silje woke up and seemed to be having a very hard time breathing. She freaked me out. She appeared to be gasping for air. So I woke up Kris and then I took her to the emergency room while Kris stayed home with Stian. We don't really know what the issue was, but it appears that she was just coming down with a cold that day, and probably having been intibated for the procedure irritated her throat exacerbating the problem. They did a breathing treatment on her, gave her some steroids and sent us home. Before we left they discouraged us from heading to Minnesota that day. We got home around 6:00 am and went back to sleep.
We hung out at home for another day. Later that afternoon Stian came down with a very high fever, so it was probably for the best that we hadn't gone north that day. We did go north the following day though, and Stian continued to have a high fever for a few days. We're not really sure what it was. Possibly the same thing Silje had, or possible something else. Once the fever broke he did get a bit of a rash, so it might have been rosiola.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Silje's Heart
Silje had an appointment with her cardiologist about a week and a half ago. The news wasn't particularly good. She had an echo and a couple of the issues the cardiologist had been concerned about before - in particular the pulminary arteries - are no longer an issue. So that was good. But unfortunately the site of the repair she had during her open heart surgery is too narrow because of scar tissue. She is getting decreased blood flow to the lower part of her body and very high blood pressure in the upper part of her body. We were told this could happen, but were hoping that it wouldn't.
So what this means is that Silje will be admitted to the hospital in Indianapolis on Thursday morning of this week and undergo a cardiac catheterization with balloon catheter dilation to essentially rip that scar tissue open. There is some risk involved, but it is, of course, much lower risk than the open heart surgery she has already undergone. We are still nervous. I'm more nervous than Kris, he feels pretty confident all will be fine. If all goes well she will spend one night in the hospital and come home the next day. (I can stay with her in her room over night) She should only need to have this procedure done once; once that scar tissue pops open, it stays open.
So keep her in your thoughts on Thursday morning.
So what this means is that Silje will be admitted to the hospital in Indianapolis on Thursday morning of this week and undergo a cardiac catheterization with balloon catheter dilation to essentially rip that scar tissue open. There is some risk involved, but it is, of course, much lower risk than the open heart surgery she has already undergone. We are still nervous. I'm more nervous than Kris, he feels pretty confident all will be fine. If all goes well she will spend one night in the hospital and come home the next day. (I can stay with her in her room over night) She should only need to have this procedure done once; once that scar tissue pops open, it stays open.
So keep her in your thoughts on Thursday morning.
Cupcake hat
I made this hat for a friend and took a picture to send her before I put the hat in the mail. I thought the pictures of Silje turned out pretty cute (the hat too). I had also mentioned to Kris the other day that I'm not ready for Silje to start getting teeth because I'll miss her big gummy grin and Kris wanted to know if I had a good picture of her big gummy grin. I think the second picture here counts!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
School photos
These were not nearly as funny as I thought they were going to be. I was there the morning they were taking the pictures so I went with them and both kids were being rather uncooperative. I had to bribe Stian with M&Ms to get him to get his picture taken at all. And we tricked him. I was sitting next to him, he thought I was in the picture too. And then normally happy, smiley Silje just stared at the photographer. But they're not as bad or as funny as I expected them to be. I expected matching scowls.
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