The Phamily Blog

Today is my 31st post for the 31 for 21 campaign! I am so relieved I got through it despite a couple of unfortunate bumps in the road! ;) I hope you enjoyed these last 31 days as much as I have!

I have been reading many-a-blogs lately, the majority of them written by mothers of designer babies. Tonight I realized something....something so powerful and encouraging. Out of all of these mother's, not one of them feels sorry for themselves. In fact, I will venture on to say these mother's are the HAPPIEST mother's there are, myself included.

Of course, 5 months ago I could have never imagined I would be typing these words. But HOLY SMOKES, I am HAPPY!

Almost six months ago I was thinking to myself how craptastic my life was. I was thinking about how we would never go on cool vacations...how my daughter would never get married or go to a highschool dance...or have sleepovers. I wish I could travel back in time and slap myself across the face and say "WAKE UP SHEREE!" I wish there would have been a crystal ball for me to peer into. That would have been fabulous.

I hear a lot of people say "your attitude is amazing" or "wow, you've really got it together." I find myself trying to disect those words after the fact, like when I am laying in bed at night..."Is my attitude really amazing? Do I really have it together?" The more I think about it, the more I realize...Gabby is a freakin' miracle worker. She makes my job of "doting mother" easy as pie. How could I not have anything but an amazing attitude?

In fact, it's not just me she has this effect over...it's anyone she happens to cross path's with. She brightens people's days...I see it often. I have yet to go out in public with her and NOT hear at least two people SQUEAL over her.

Four years ago I had a vision of "the perfect life." My perfect life consisted of my husband and I living in our fabulous home, driving our fabulous cars with three fabulous carseats in the back. Cameron came along and added more to my dream...my handsome boy. He would protect his baby sister...whenever she came along. We would have the all-around perfect, multicultural American Dream! My kids would excel in school and go to great colleges. Maybe one would be a doctor, a lawyer, or a school teacher. Then, we would retire and move to our beach house somewhere in Southern California. Our kids would come to visit every weekend. My husband and I would travel the world...just like in the movies.

Then the stork with the pink scarf came five months ago and crapped all over my dream... or so I thought at the time. I was happy for my beautiful girl, but let's get real...I was pissed off. I was in serious mourning. Where was my baby girl that would grow up to be a beauty queen, a cheerleader, a mother?!

Next is the Ventricular Septal Defect. This is a hole between the hearts two lower chambers.

Partial AV Canal Defect: There are two common types of atrioventricular canal defect — partial and complete. The partial form involves only the two upper chambers of the heart. The complete form allows blood to travel freely among all four chambers of the heart. Both types allow extra blood to circulate to the lungs. Ensuing problems overwork the heart and cause it to enlarge.
Atrioventricular canal defect is often associated with Down syndrome.

Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava...this isn't really an "issue" but she has this going on too...

Okay and now I just realized that I forgot to do a diagram for her PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) so I'll just copy and paste about that:

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a heart problem that occurs soon after birth in some babies. In PDA, there is an abnormal circulation of blood between two of the major arteries near the heart. Before birth, the two major arteries—the aorta and the pulmonary artery—are normally connected by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus, which is an essential part of the fetal circulation. After birth, the vessel is supposed to close within a few days as part of the normal changes occurring in the baby's circulation. In some babies, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent). This opening allows blood to flow directly from the aorta into the pulmonary artery, which can put a strain on the heart and increase the blood pressure in the lung arteries.

So there you have it! The princess was among the 40-50% of babies with Down syndrome born with congenital heart defects. She is monitored very closely by her regular pediatrician as well as a pediatric cardiologist. In fact, we had an appointment today for a follow up EKG. Everything looked well. We are scheduled for another one in three months. To be honest, the more it get's put off, the more nervous I get. Of course I am terrified of my baby having open heart surgery, but at the same time, I just want her fixed.

Her cardiologist noted today that in the past seven weeks she has gained exactly one pound...no more, no less. This isn't great and it isn't horrible. We will have to continue to watch her closely through these winter months, especially. Gabby has qualified for Synagis which is a series of injections given monthly from November through April to help preven RSV. RSV is common in premature babies as well as babies with heart problems. Dr. Riverra told me today that if Gabby get's RSV and heart surgery is needed, it CANNOT be performed for at least two months after the onset of RSV. So, we were sent home with special instructions to be EXTREMELY careful around ill people. Everyone in my house HAS to get a flu shot. No way around it. It's going to be a stressful winter.

I have been tagged by Julie today. Thank you, Julie...now I don't have to try and come up with something, haha.

that's me. I have justified my not posting in over 24 hours by the fact that I posted twice on friday (I think it was friday?)...so there.

That's right. It's "THE CLUB."

I apologize in advance because this will be ALL over the place. Just little things running through my mind on display for you all to see ;)

**does anyone know what's up with the blogger gadget "blog list?" I have recently come to realize that it isn't always updating when someone posts something new on their blog. People that I thought hadn't blogged in weeks were actually blogging everyday and it wasn't informing me. Also, some of my blogs disappeared from my list? And this has nothing to do with all that drama- some blogs completely fell of the list WITHOUT me actually removing them? What's up? If you know, fill me in.

**one of my best friends, Jenny, is in town from MED SCHOOL in tennessee. Her and I were planning on surprising our other best buds but she just couldn't wait. I forgive her ; )

**I miss my friend Ashley. She has been living in England for what feels like FOREVER and I am ready for her to move home.

**I need to charge my camera battery.

**Gabby has been waking up every morning between 5:30 and 6:15, crying. I guess she is just hungry but I don't get why it took her almost six months to act like a newborn. She spoiled me. Sleeping through until 6:30 is just not enough for me. She does go back to sleep though...I guess I should quit complaining.

**Cameron is knocked out. I love Benadryl. Well no...not really. I love it for when he is sick (which he is, for the FOURTH time since starting school.)

**We went to get Nguyen fitted for arch supports today. If you saw the bottom of his feet you would laugh. I have never seen flatter feet in my life. Poor guy.

**This is the stupidest post ever.

**The political drama was exhausting.

**Last night I went out with the girlies to the dessert diner again and AGAIN, I ate things I shouldn't have eaten.

**I bought the third book in the Twilight series yesterday. I am hooked. Except I am mad because I had to buy a hardcover since the paperback for the third book, Eclipse, doesn't come out in paperback until MAY. They got me...they really got me.

**I need to start Christmas shopping. It's almost November. Wha?

**Why do I have acne now, at 25 when I didn't have it at 16?

**Chrystal- when we doing dinner?

**I need to go take a shower.

Night!

sorry it's SO dark. My little camera officially needs to be thrown away. I don't even know if you can see much. Oh well...she does make one little sound so at least you'll hear that ; )

On Tuesday, we went to the local pumpkin patch. It's the same one Cameron got to visit last week on his first ever field trip. We figured we'd go in the daytime on a tuesday to avoid the crowds. Wow did we ever! We were pretty much the only people there. It was quite nice, actually.

for some chocolate. Seriously, I knew I had a problem but until today, I didn't realize how severe it was.

There was a beautiful smallish box of Godiva milk chocolate covered cashews teasing me in my refrigerator today.

I finally caved and grabbed them and sat down at my computer. I got a couple of heavenly bites in before Cameron caught me off guard and ran over to me. I quickly tried to shove the chocolatey goodness underneath a bill laying next to my computer.

As Cameron sat there asking me whatever it was he was asking me, it happened. He SAW it. My heart started beating eradically as I knew I had to act fast.

It's almost 7pm and I have been telling myself all day that I need to do a post about something. Yet, here I am, postless with nothing really to say.

I would tell you all about my day except, well...there wasn't much substance to my day. Cameron went to his grandparents, and Gabby and I went grocery shopping. Normally, Gabs and I go to the mall on Sunday but I have already spent too much this month so I banned myself from shopping until November.

So that was our day. Groceries, and oh yeah...LAUNDRY. Fun stuff. Hope you all had a more exciting weekend than I did ;)

peace.

Hello again everyone... It's me Nguyen... And I woke up this morning to my wife asking me if I had any blog ideas... Are you kidding me??? My life is a non-stop blog, so let me jump right into it...



Sheree and I are not very political people at all... This election will be the first time we both vote for a president... Hell, I don't even think I voted for class president in Jr. high or high school because I didn't care enough.... I mean seriously aren't those kids who won those school elections either crackheads, got pregnant on senior prom night or in jail now? I know this to be fact because I personally sold them crack and got them pregnant on prom night... Call that a win/win situation.



So lately Sheree and I have been pissed off because our neighbors are putting up "yes on 8" signs all over their lawns... To sum it up, by voting "yes on 8" you are saying gay people can't marry and have the same benefits as married couples that consist of a man and a woman. There's more to it but that is the basic premise of this bill. Listen, I don't have any openly gay friends. I am uncomfortable watching Brokeback Mountain. I will admit it makes me uncomfortable when I see two gay men holding hands or kissing. (It's a different story if it's two women of course) It is just a negative physical reaction I get when I see things like that, because it's not something that I am used to. I was even shot at (like literally, with a gun) by an armed security guard because my friends and I were water-ballooning a gay bar when we were 16 (we were very young and immature)...



The thing is, I believe in equality. I believe in acceptance. And most importantly, I don't condone preferential treatment or hatred in any form. I remember walking with my best friend Jay, who happens to be black, down this country street that his family lived on, and every time someone in a (yup, you guessed it) raised pick up truck drove by, they would yell "Nigger" at us. I am not exaggerating. This happened everytime because his family was litterally the first black family to move near the town of Wilton, which is a major meeting place for the KKK. Except everytime we had a chance, we walked down that same street because I believe deep down inside we knew that one day the world wouldn't be like this anymore.

We knew that if these rednecks saw enough of us they would one day come to accept that we were not going anywhere. Well guess what? My backyard now backs up to that same country road where we used to have "Nigger" hurled at us, and now my neighborhood on that same street is populated by every color imaginable. No seriously... you should see the color of some of the people in this neighborhood, I can't tell what the hell kind of race they are.



Well to make a long story short, I am not a perfect person, but I do know the difference between right and wrong now that I am older. I just know that the same ideology behind the attacks on gays and their rights, are the same exact imagery and scare tactics as the attacks on "Niggers," "Gooks," "Retards," and "Jews" throughout history...

So as a "Gook" who spends like a "Jew" and has a "Nigger" as a best friend and a daughter who is a "Retard", I can not sit back and watch as some ignorant people try to pass this shit off as some kind of bill that is going to save the American family. Our divorce rate is fifty percent, and I don't think gays have anything to do with that. I may be young and dumb still, but at least I am not filled with hatred and ignorance.

Hmm. So I forgot to do my post for today...I usually prepare them the night before but I was a slacker and went out to dinner with my mom. Oops.

So I can't think of a single thing to write about. This might be all over the place and extremely boring. Sorry.

Last night mom wanted to take us out to dinner in Folsom. It was SO yummy. We actually couldn't get out there until 7:30 and Gab's is usually in bed by about 7 so you can see where this is headed. Actually, she wasn't terrible but she was definitely not pleased. Eventually she fell asleep and I was able to ever-so-gently get her back into her carseat. I had to use moms sweater and some napkins to throw over the carseat so it was dark for her. I'm telling you...she is a diva. Do they make those sleep masks for babies?

After she was out, I was finally able to enjoy some grub. It was SO yummy! I ate way too much and was in serious discomfort for the rest of the night! Thank God we didn't take the leftovers home.

We got home and both kids were passed out so it was a pretty smooth transition from the car to the house. I thought for sure Gabby was going to decide she needed to be topped off with some formula but she proved me wrong ; )

Nguyen and I both passed out HARD thanks to our over-full bellies. It didn't last long though...by 1:30 Cameron was crying about something. Nguyen went and got him, and brought him to our bed. That's when I decided that the couch was a much comfier place for me to sleep. I cannot sleep with a tossing and turning Cameron in my bed. And what a good decision it was! Cam woke up about five more times that night requesting milk, bathroom breaks, etc. And to top it all off...he peed the bed too. Ayayay.

So now it is morning and Gabby is chatting to herself in her crib. Cameron is sipping his morning hot chocolate in his Christmas mug. He is unable to drink from any other mug. He's showing a little bit of OCD. Great.

Cam has his first ever field trip today and he is super pumped up about it. More so because of the ride on the school bus, I think. I was originally planning on going but it's going to be such a hassle with having to feed Gabby, not having her stroller since I would have to ride the bus too, etc. So I decided I will stay behind this time. Cameron could care less anyhow!

So yeah...that's my post for the day. If you suffered through it, thanks! I promise to come up with something better for tomorrow. Maybe Nguyen will feel like posting ; ). Whenever he posts, he always asks me how many comments he has. It's like a popularity contest, ha! So if he does post, make sure to give him some blog love!

peace.

The weather is definitely getting cooler so I decided, since we were bored, that we would go to the park while we still could! Cameron was stoked! Plus, I had a half loaf of expired bread so, why not?

continued from yesterday...


After the aquarium, we all chilled out at a local coffee house that C&D introduced us too. We got to talk in peace and quiet without millions of people up in our faces. Nguyen and I decided that C&D are awesome, and we know we're definitely going to be getting together with them again soon! We already have plabs to go out to dinner soon, and we can't wait!

Thank you again C&D for everything!