Latest news

The best news as regards Anna at this particular stage of the post-op period would be no news, of course. Yesterday evening, however, she had a fever and had to go back to be evaluated by the doctors at Egleston. Fortunately, it turned out to be nothing surgery-related. Thomas and Iain have both had colds, and Anna's fever was probably related to her runny nose, not to her recent operation! The most difficult thing for us now that she's home is keeping her from playing to vigorously--and keeping her out of the pool, as those who have seen her in the water may well imagine. She will be allowed to go back to school (we assume) following her post-op check up with Dr. Kanter on Wednesday.

Anna is home

Anna came home today! She's recovering well: on our walk today, she and Thomas were their usual silly, giggly selves. I hope to post some cute photos of Anna on a wagon ride with Iain this morning at the hospital, but as I wasn't the photographer, it will have to wait. I did want everyone to know, however, that Anna is out of the hospital and doing wonderfully. She has her post-op checkup next week, and we expect that will go well also. She has come home on a couple of medications, which is a challenge, since Anna hates taking medicine. We're working on creative solutions, and hoping she's not on the medication long!

Life is returning to normal (the usual chaos, that is) at the Ayres household. Thomas and Iain may get their share of the spotlight again soon. Iain's big achievement of the week: learning to drink from a straw. The third child just has to keep up, I guess! Look for more news and photos in the coming days.

Anna goes for a ride

Anna has been out and about in the wagon yesterday afternoon and this morning. She is sitting up and eating bagels and watching TV. With all that, plus a new dog puppet, things are looking good. We hope today she will go home, but we have to wait for Dr. Kanter's say-so later today.

Anna's recovery

Good news: Anna was moved from the cardiac ICU to the stepdown unit today. She is still groggy, but has asked for a drink and watched some TV. Lewis will stay over with her tonight, so he's in for hours of Bob the Builder. We still hope to be home Thursday or Friday. She can receive visitors, but she isn't particularly interested in anyone but Dad--and Bob the Builder, of course!

Anna's surgery 3

Anna is recovering in the cardiac ICU. Her surgeon was pleased with the outcome of surgery and estimates a day or two in the ICU. After that, she'll be in a room in the cardiac stepdown unit, where she will spend a day or two. We look forward to her moving from the ICU, so that she can have a visit from Thomas, who is understandably anxious to see her. If everything continues to go well, Anna will be home by the weekend.

Anna's surgery 2

Anna's out of surgery. It went well. We are waiting to see her in the cardiac ICU.

Anna in surgery

Anna has gone into the operating room, just in case anyone's checking regularly. There is a computer in the waiting room, so I will post updates. It will be a few hours...

New surgery date

We have just heard from the hospital that Anna's surgery will be Monday morning. This is good news, since we have all been thrown a bit by the postponement and not knowing when the operation would take place. Fortunately, it seems that she is the first patient on Monday morning--we just hope that it remains that way. I did have one photo from pre-op, but it's on my phone! Anyone who knows how I can get the picture from the phone to the web is welcome to email me with the information!

We will keep you updated! Thanks to all for your concern and prayers.

pre-op news and notes

The most important pre-op news is that Anna's surgery has to be postponed until next week, because the cardiac ICU is full. Dr. Kanter (Anna's surgeon) and his staff expect next Tuesday to be the day. It could be as early as Monday, though, if enough patients move out of ICU into the stepdown unit and no babies in need of immediate surgery are born over the weekend. We are fortunate never to have had this occur for Anna's earlier surgeries.

Anna enjoyed playing with the toys and talking to people in the pre-op clinic, but was not especially keen on having vital signs checked. And drawing blood--well, who enjoys having blood drawn? Fortunately both Lewis and I were there for that, since Anna needed one parent who wouldn't pass out! But after it was over and I picked her up, the first thing she said was "I need DAD!" It is all over now, and she won't have to repeat any of it even if her surgery isn't until late next week or even early the week after. Whew!

After the party

The day after Anna's birthday and party, cupcakes and balloon lingered. Iain got his chance to smear cupcake everywhere--I see it as a foretaste of things to come on the 5th of October--and Anna proved once again that she doesn't miss much. The photo of Iain and the cupcake speaks for itself, but Anna's balloon shot deserves comment. I wanted to get a photo of Anna with her "happy birthday, Princess" balloon, so I pulled it down from the ceiling and was about to hand it to her when Thomas reached for it. I asked him (Anna was looking at the television, apparently paying us no attention), "Are you a princess?" He promptly replied, "no," having become quite insistent on his boyhood and non-princess-ness lately. But Anna turned to me at the same moment and said, "yes," and reached for the balloon.

In other news, Anna had her six-year-old well check today. She's doing fine, measuring 39 and 3/4 inches and weighing 39 pounds. So, she still can't ride on all those amusement park rides that require riders to be 40 inches, but she can still get a free ice cream at Bruster's. Being not quite 4o pounds means she stays in the carseat for now! We will post the schedule for her surgery on Friday after her pre-op visit tomorrow.

Anna's birthday

Anna had a great birthday! She had just a few friends over, to play and swim, and to eat cake, of course. Quite possibly her favorite present was a copy of Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book. Both Anna and Thomas love the storybook and video versions. But our copy was twenty years old at least, and in a very worn book with lots of other stories in it. So a fresh, new copy was just the thing. the weekend was fun for all, and even involved Iain in some very messy cupcake-eating. (Photos to follow...)

Iain's big day

Iain's favorite foods: yogurt, and anything he can feed himself. Hence his delight in a very ordinary meal. Smallish bits of fettucine turned out to be just the thing. Of course, his brother and sister are the pickiest eaters in the world and would have none of it. We hope that Iain's attitude toward food evolves differently than theirs did. They would eat most things as babies, too.

Apparently the pasta gave him the energy boost he needed to start walking in earnest, which he did this evening. For the first time he took the hands offered to him and crossed the floor, laughing all the way. He was certainly pleased with himself! His biggest adventure so far has been walking from the couch to the TV, so we're not signing him up for the next 10k.

If I were giving each child his or her turn, it would be Thomas's turn for news. It just so happened, though, that Iain had the Big Events today. Thomas's milestones are farther between, now, and many of them look small: he can just about say a "th" sound instead of the "f" we usually hear in names like Bethany and Catherine. (Somehow we managed two babysitters with that sound...) Besides his obsession with hummers, he is all about construction. We frequently hear that he's laying concrete, painting and making foundations. This all comes, I think, of having a new cul-de-sac of houses under construction in the neighborhood.

Next time it will be pictures from Anna's birthday party, barring any huge events between now and Saturday!

Anna

Anna is still far more likely to be sporting her swim goggles (which, incidentally are pink, not the blue ones pictured) poolside than diving for treasure in the shallow end with Thomas. Still, she enjoys the combination of splashing and dress-up that is the essence of goggle-wearing for her. Thomas and Anna continue to play in the pool most afternoons, although the water temperature has dropped to the upper 70's. Chilly! We will keep the pool open until after Iain's birthday, but swimming will stop well before that.

Anna's heart surgery is going ahead as scheduled, barring illness or fever in the days preceding the surgery. Her pre-op appointment is on Thursday the 20th, and her first meeting will be with the Child Life department. She will tour the hospital with someone trained in helping little ones know what to expect on surgery day. We hope that this experience will help prepare her for the waiting and getting ready for surgery on Friday. The good news, as far as she's concerned, will be that she will be allowed as much TV as she wants that day!

Mr Personality

As Iain grows up--it's hard to believe he'll be a year old in just less than a month!--his personality more than keeps pace. It just might be that he walks less than he might because he's better at chasing Anna and Thomas when crawling. And he gets into everything in a way neither of them did. He keeps us on our toes! Anything in the kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, or on the floor is worthy of investigation, as far as he's concerned. He regularly empties the cupboard in which baby food and snacks are kept, as well as the drawer with all the plastic containers. One of our favorite Iain-isms, though, is his babbling: he really does say goo-goo and ga-ga quite a lot.

everyday stuff...

Thomas continues to amuse himself with the legos. He'll have to wait for the smaller ones until Iain is older and won't eat them! So far, he seems satisfied. His main complaint is that Iain regards whatever he builds as destined for demolition.

Anna will be having surgery in a couple of weeks. Between now and then, we're looking forward to having her 6th birthday party on the day--September 15th. Her desires for that event: ice cream, party hats, and DAAAAD!

Iain's first ice cream cone was exactly as you would expect: messy. But he seemed to enjoy it (despite it being so cold...) and ate the whole thing. His walking is coming on slowly. Now he walks 2-3 feet before deciding crawling is faster! He has also discovered books, and become quite an adept page-turner.