All connected

Last night as I was rocking Blaise, and trying hard to keep him upright during one of his ng tube feeds, (ugh, long day with 4 vomiting episodes) I started talking with one of our favorite nurses named Natalie. I'll often compare notes and share stories of the many families we've met during this incredible journey. It's amazing that once complete strangers, I now feel like I have great friends that know exactly what we are going through. Of course, Kelli & Dillon seem like life-long friends now. I wasn't sure I could text someone 20 times a day like we do, but I couldn't image this journey without having someone else there to ask for help, vent, and share stresses with. Great friends like the Vorderstrasse's whose little boy Alex is having the same three step surgery process and is almost exactly a year older than Blaise. His mom has answered just about every crazy question I've come up with. They even  made a special trip to Omaha since we've been admitted this last time.

I was sharing with Natalie how after I had learned of Blaise's heart defects, instantly started googling as much as I could. I came across several other heart mom's blogs, and became enthralled, reading up as much as I could. Knowing their experiences, journey and success stories or angels makes it all easier. I randomly found a little girl named Charlie, whose mom does an incredible job writing her blog. She has similar defects as Blaise and was treated at Children's Omaha. Charlie passed away last May at 1 year old and her mom started making sock monkeys in her memory. She had donated a bunch to Children's in her memory. Last Wednesday, Children's hosted Christmas in July, and Mike and I took Blaise down to meet Santa. There were hundreds of toys everywhere, and all of a sudden I looked at the Christmas tree and saw some of Charlie's sock monkeys hanging on it. I knew this was the perfect gift for Blaise and of course asked if we could have one. I've never in fact met Charlie or her mom, but Natalie and I compared stories about her for quite a while last night. A few people have made comments saying they aren't sure how they would ever handle going through a situation similar to Blaise's. I always respond, we aren't doing anything any other parent wouldn't do in our situation. Trust me, there are times that are way more difficult than others, but God chose us, and that feels pretty awesome to me. A fellow heart mom shared this statement and I completely agree: It's always said God wouldn't give you anything you can't handle. I agree, but I also think that God gives us things that are harder to handle, in order for us to turn to Him and form a greater relationship.

Speaking of nurses, I have to give special thanks to the amazing women (and man) that get to take care of Blaise in the hospital. Incredible people who care for him as much as we do. He has a few ladies that have made an impact on him. His girlfriend is Jessica- he lights up when she comes in the room. She actually got him to giggle for the first time. Luckily mom and dad got to hear it, even if we weren't the ones making him giggle. Blaise is well-known throughout the hospital. I guess when you spend multiple weeks there, it will happen.

Now we just wait as the clock clicks down until his next surgery. This one is a bit more complicated process than his first. They will be completely shutting down his heart and putting him on bypass, which they did not do last time. I'll put up a post explaining the procedures they will be doing.

Also had some requests for videos and photos. Enjoy our sweet, cuddly, smiley, happy, adorable, gift from God baby boy!