My Hope and Stay: 2012

Happy 2012! The new year has started off with a BOOM! That'd be a little funnier if you spent any time around the Murphy house. JG usually flourishes his stories with a lot of sound effects, particularly, "BOOM!"--he somehow manages to make this word have two syllables with a southern accent. bu-oom! ;-) So, on with the new year! Although, I am holding out on taking down the Christmas tree.

Audrey finished her string of doctor appointments. She has been cleared for everything but water so we are gently introducing juice. She's not quite sure what to do with a cup or a sippy cup. It'll be a challenge... The pediatric surgeon who met with us says that we've come about as far as we can with her NG-tube and that Audrey would be a good candidate for a g-tube, now that she's been cleared by pulmonology and cardiology. In fact, our appointment with the cardiologist brought great news! Her pressures and structure are normal, so Dr. Garn gave her a free-and-clear pass until October when she turns 2! She'll continue her meds for pulmonary hypertension, but they have not increased since she first went on them in the hospital. She's essentially "normal" in the heart department and weaning herself off the medicince as she grows. So...g-tube...We still are waiting on the official medical clearance by cardiology because she will require a cardiac anesthesiologist. Amazingly, this will be her first surgery despite her involved history. And, not so surprisingly, there's a whole new emotion for Mom and Dad for this one. The doctor says the procedure takes 20-30 minutes and it requires one night in the hospital. She'll have a few days of pain medication and we're not sure what the practical challenges will be. I think the biggest question is how it will affect her sleeping, since she has always slept on her tummy. I fear a huge interruption in her sleep schedule with a lot of long nights. I'm hoping that the absence of the NG-tube will help to reduce her reflux, too, since it won't be there to hold open that upper sphincter. We're still unsure of when the surgery will be--maybe next week or the end of January. Audrey is having more and more difficulty with the NG-tubes. They are lasting only a week and changing them is absolute torture for her. I think it's the cause of much, if not all, of her gagging and I believe it is not helping her feeding/swallowing progress. Who would want to swallow anything when you have a tube down the back of your throat?! Yet, she is definitely growing! At her 15-month well-check appointment on Monday she was in the 25th percentile for weight (21.3 lbs!!) and 44th%tile for height (30.3"!!)--most significantly--that's for a 15-month old baby! If you compare her against 12-month old babies (her "adjusted age," which she is "supposed" to be), she is in the 54th%tile for weight and 85th%tile for height!! Dr. James said that babies who arrive early, even as early as Audrey did, typically make up all the ground that they're going to make up by about 18 months....at least size-wise, not developmentally, such as motor and communication skills. But our little girl is "gaining" great ground in those arenas, too! She is crawling! She is pulling herself up on tables and cribs, etc. She is laughing so much more than ever before. She's added words and signs just in the past few weeks! I captured her "scrunchy face" in one of the pictures below. She is turning into such a ham! She is such a happy little girl right now! A fact that lends itself to one of my main hesitations about having the surgery right now...it seems terrible timing to upset the apple cart now that she's doing so well overall, but we do believe that she'll be so much more comfortable in the long run.

JG is back to school. We had his parent-teacher conference last week. He received terrific reports. His strongest skill seemed to be his ability to communicate his ideas, both verbally and in writing. ;-) He says he enjoys playground, friends and bible stories the most. He was a little reluctant to get back into the swing of school. We managed to get farther off our bedtime schedule than ever before, so it was a little rough getting back to early nights and early mornings. He and Daddy did a lot of fishing during vacation. The three of us went fishing on New Years...absolutely no luck, but he was perfectly content! He got a new bow as a late Christmas present from our friend Bill and I can hardly stand it. He's becoming such a big boy! And so much like Daddy...well, make that Dad...and Mom. According to him he's too old to call us Mommy and Daddy as of last week. I knew that change isn't all it's cracked up to be!! :'-( I begged and pleaded for him to still call me Mommy at home...I respected that he didn't want to in front of his friends...he has obliged me a few times, but I am afraid that train is fastly disappearing on the horizon.

Our kids are doin' us in, that's all there is to it! I will post updates on Audrey's surgery date and results. Please say an extra prayer for her as we all meet this new challenge together. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the photos! We have some beautiful kids if I do say so myself!