Well, no matter how much we tried to keep him healthy, Blaise officially has a full-blown cold. I guess the only one to blame is myself, as I somehow got it first. I'm really not sure how a family that NEVER goes anywhere gets sick, but it even hit us. Thankfully, I'm now over mine and hoping Blaise can kick his in the rear soon too. He has been super congested, and not sleeping well at night. With how much fear the doctors put in us of not going anywhere or letting him get sick, I'm a little on edge with this. As long as it doesn't go to his lungs and turn into RSV or pneumonia we should be okay. Extra prayers for healing!
Thursday Blaise will drop by his pediatrician and have his February round of Synagis, the shot to protect against RSV. Friday is the BIG appointment at Children's with his Cardiologist Dr. Danford. We haven't seen cardio since November, and of course I am very very anxious and nervous for these appointments. I've decided they'll never get easier. We ask for everyone to join us in sending up prayers to God for a great appointment, that his heart function looks great, his SAT levels are also great and in the lower 90's or upper 80's!!! Things can change so quickly for him, and we pray that he looks as great as he did in November!
The squirt decided the last time he was at the pedi that doctors are NOT his thing. WOW! What a temper and fit this kid can throw! A pinched nurse, broken tongue depressor and lots of tears later we made it out. Friday is going to be a very, very long day. Blaise will be shuffled from office to office, and endure a half hour or longer ECHO of his heart. Essentially there is no pain associated with this- it's just like getting an ultrasound done, but knowing how scared he is of strangers and strange places, I foresee a half hour scream session in front of us. This is not good because they need him to be as still and quiet as possible to get good pictures.
We will be updating as soon as the appointment is over to let everyone know how it goes. Ideally, we'd love to hear we wouldn't need to be back for six months! That would be the longest we have gone! Thanks in advance prayer warriors!
Tonight, Blaise learned how to "throw" for the first time! So much fun! I love watching him learn new things and the excitement that goes with it! Easily this is the best part of being a parent! We've not progressed any further on eating table food. I keep trying new things each night, and hopefully he will eventually get used to something being in his mouth.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Our Thanks!
Wow! What an amazing turnout on our wear red campaign! We were so amazed and loved seeing all of the wonderful pictures of you all wearing red for Blaise Andrew and friends! SO NEAT! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Can you believe we have an almost 11 month old on our hands?!? I think we were already on pins and needles with nerves at this time last year!
Mr. B has still not gotten any of his teeth in. He's making it fun for us all. Not really. Last Friday he was pretty fussy and running a 102 temp, so I took him down to the pediatritian to find out he had an ear infection. Sounds like his daddy always got those while teething. He was put on amoxicilian, and we are about done with the dose. He has been chewing on stuff like crazy, and started running a low grade fever again the last two days. I'm not sure what this is related too since he is on meds, but if it's not better by Monday, I suppose we will be headed back to the doctor.
We are still not on table food. Probably more so because Mom hasn't had the energy to try again lately. Blaise has had a new baby sitter Jessie the last two weeks and she will be with him through April. They get along great!
If he is not being held he is walking holding your hands. Absolutely his favorite thing to do. When sitting on our lap, he will grab each of our hands and kick his legs over ours and slide of our lap by himself now to go walk. Smarty! He can also walk behind a walker across the room too. His army crawl gets him around pretty good. He doesn't use it too much, but it works. Not to many words, but when he gets very tired and mad, he does say ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma.
I can't believe we are starting first birthday preparations!! Mike and I went to a heart function last weekend and met some other parents who have children with similar heart structures. It sounds like we will still be able to "break free" come spring, but next winter will go into lock down again for fear of sickness. It's always so nice to meet other parents going through the same thing.
Hope all is well! This afternoon Mike was chasing Blaise around our coffee table, as Blaise was crawling away as fast as he could. Love moments like this!
Since it's been almost two months since I've uploaded pictures, this might be one of the most pictures in one blog ever! They are a bit out of order, but enjoy!
Warm enough for a stroller walk in January
Reading
Rocking horse
I was nine months old January 12th!
Stroller Walk again
By babysitter Natalie
Worn out after a weekend in Des Moines
Still worn out
I ride my doggy by myself. I don't go anywhere, but hold on by myself when i get pushed.
Eating.
Reading cow mag with my cousin Parker
Mom and Dad went to Heart Connection function, then out by themselves for the first time since I was born. They went to see my nurse Natalie and her band play at Ameristar.
Just standing
One of my shirts for heart week. Walking with dad.
Another of the shirts my Aunt Jenna made me for heart week.
Throwing a fit getting put in my high chair. I do this EVERY TIME. Mom says it's old.
Heart week.
I turned 10 months old on February 12th!
CHHHEEESE!
Last of my awesome heart week shirts.
Yep, I crawl and get into everything.
Love dad
That's funny!
I loved being nine months old!
Mom and I went to visit Jenna and Mitch in Des Moines!
Crawling to the dinning room!
Sitting in my big chair. I love being 10 months old too!
Better take the picture quick. I"d rather jump out of this chair o my own!
Blaise sent mom these puppy flowers for Valentines day! CUTE!
Eating with my Valentines day bib!
With my dad
Another doggy ride
Eating lunch on the kitchen floor. Lazy Saturday. Notice all of the ziplog baggies I pulled out of the box behind me.
Can you believe we have an almost 11 month old on our hands?!? I think we were already on pins and needles with nerves at this time last year!
Mr. B has still not gotten any of his teeth in. He's making it fun for us all. Not really. Last Friday he was pretty fussy and running a 102 temp, so I took him down to the pediatritian to find out he had an ear infection. Sounds like his daddy always got those while teething. He was put on amoxicilian, and we are about done with the dose. He has been chewing on stuff like crazy, and started running a low grade fever again the last two days. I'm not sure what this is related too since he is on meds, but if it's not better by Monday, I suppose we will be headed back to the doctor.
We are still not on table food. Probably more so because Mom hasn't had the energy to try again lately. Blaise has had a new baby sitter Jessie the last two weeks and she will be with him through April. They get along great!
If he is not being held he is walking holding your hands. Absolutely his favorite thing to do. When sitting on our lap, he will grab each of our hands and kick his legs over ours and slide of our lap by himself now to go walk. Smarty! He can also walk behind a walker across the room too. His army crawl gets him around pretty good. He doesn't use it too much, but it works. Not to many words, but when he gets very tired and mad, he does say ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma.
I can't believe we are starting first birthday preparations!! Mike and I went to a heart function last weekend and met some other parents who have children with similar heart structures. It sounds like we will still be able to "break free" come spring, but next winter will go into lock down again for fear of sickness. It's always so nice to meet other parents going through the same thing.
Hope all is well! This afternoon Mike was chasing Blaise around our coffee table, as Blaise was crawling away as fast as he could. Love moments like this!
Since it's been almost two months since I've uploaded pictures, this might be one of the most pictures in one blog ever! They are a bit out of order, but enjoy!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wear Red!
This Friday, February 1st, marks the official start of HEART MONTH 2013!
Congenital Heart Disease Awareness week is February 11th, and Heart Day is February 14th.
To Celebrate, we'll be dressed in RED
here at the Hartwell house on FEBRUARY 14, and we would love if you would join us and
help raise awareness for congenital heart defects.
What
do you say? Will you join us? On Valentine's Day pull those red shirts out
of your closet and help celebrate Blaise, Landon, our sweet heart angel
friends including Charley, and all the other kiddos who are still fighting!
If you would like, snap a picture and email us at erin.sudmann@gmail.com Another way to share is through Facebook. Here's what do do...
1. WEAR RED
2. Take a picture
3. Upload your photo to Facebook with one of the following captions
"Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD. I wear red in support of Blaise (or Landon or any others you choose)."
"Each
year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a
congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first
birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood. I wear red
in support of Blaise (or Landon or ay others you choose)."
"Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. I wear red in support of Blaise (or Landon or any others you choose)."
I
know that lots of people who read this site have heart kiddos of their
own. Simply swap out the name and help us turn Facebook RED! Special thank to Kristen at www.charleysheart.com for this great message and idea!
4.
Tag myself (Erin Sudman Hartwell) or my husband
(Michael Hartwell) in your photos so that we can see them all!
HAPPY HEART MONTH, EVERYONE!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wrapping Up January
I have a feeling God is going to be giving us some of the biggest blessings in our life in 2013. At the crack of midnight- welcoming this new year- I turned to Mike and told him I was ready for a year with no surgeries, and hopefully no stress. A year of making memories ad spending time together as a family. God blesses us each day with pure joy and happiness.
We've been extremely lucky enough to spend some quality time with the Sudmann side of the family lately. A weekend trip to Aunt Jenna and Uncle Mitch's, and a two week stay at my parents with Blaise has been wonderful. I know my parents love getting to spend so much time with Blaise, and he loves them just as much. In fact, at the moment Blaise prefers my mom over me! We are very thankful for all the time we've spent with them!
Blaise had his 9 month check up, and finally got his 4 month shots. We are still pretty behind on these. He didn't handle them quite as well, and had a restless night and icky feeling next day, but a little Tylenol did the trick. The look he gives his nurses after they give him the shot is priceless. I think he could shoot daggers with his eyes! On Monday the 21st, he weighed in at 17 lbs 7 ounces! He FINALLY broke into double digits on percentage on the growth charts in weight at 12% and was as high as 30% on length! We went back tonight for another round of synagis and he weighted 17 lbs 14 ounces!! BIG BOY!
What's new in the life of Blaise?
- He is spoiled. Very spoiled. And I think I'm okay with that :)
- He constant holds his hands up to be picked up. He hates sitting, and would prefer standing all day.
- Still army crawls, doesn't really have any interest in actually crawling.
- Will walk clear across the house when you hold onto his hands.
- Can stand on his own when leaning up against stuff.
- Eats three meals a day of baby food purees.
- HATES eating any sort of table food with texture. I'm taking any advice in this area. PLEASE! Won't eat it and just gags.
- Has learned how to play peek a boo himself. He think it's hilarious.
- Has just learned how to wave bye bye.
- Recently got 9 month pictures taken. I can't wait to share them- they are all for heart week!
- We are pretty sure his first word is "Up" He says it all the time.
I don't have my camera cords to download pictures, so you will all have to wait until next time.
Don't forget- February 14th is Wear Red day!!! Check back for more details!
We've been extremely lucky enough to spend some quality time with the Sudmann side of the family lately. A weekend trip to Aunt Jenna and Uncle Mitch's, and a two week stay at my parents with Blaise has been wonderful. I know my parents love getting to spend so much time with Blaise, and he loves them just as much. In fact, at the moment Blaise prefers my mom over me! We are very thankful for all the time we've spent with them!
Blaise had his 9 month check up, and finally got his 4 month shots. We are still pretty behind on these. He didn't handle them quite as well, and had a restless night and icky feeling next day, but a little Tylenol did the trick. The look he gives his nurses after they give him the shot is priceless. I think he could shoot daggers with his eyes! On Monday the 21st, he weighed in at 17 lbs 7 ounces! He FINALLY broke into double digits on percentage on the growth charts in weight at 12% and was as high as 30% on length! We went back tonight for another round of synagis and he weighted 17 lbs 14 ounces!! BIG BOY!
What's new in the life of Blaise?
- He is spoiled. Very spoiled. And I think I'm okay with that :)
- He constant holds his hands up to be picked up. He hates sitting, and would prefer standing all day.
- Still army crawls, doesn't really have any interest in actually crawling.
- Will walk clear across the house when you hold onto his hands.
- Can stand on his own when leaning up against stuff.
- Eats three meals a day of baby food purees.
- HATES eating any sort of table food with texture. I'm taking any advice in this area. PLEASE! Won't eat it and just gags.
- Has learned how to play peek a boo himself. He think it's hilarious.
- Has just learned how to wave bye bye.
- Recently got 9 month pictures taken. I can't wait to share them- they are all for heart week!
- We are pretty sure his first word is "Up" He says it all the time.
I don't have my camera cords to download pictures, so you will all have to wait until next time.
Don't forget- February 14th is Wear Red day!!! Check back for more details!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Heart Awareness
Last Friday night, Night Line did an amazing report on new research being done on stem cells, to reproduce heart tissue. This science blows us away! We pray this type of technique may be available in Blaise's lifetime.
click on link to enjoy!
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stem-cells-bill-weir-nightline-sees-cells-turned/story?id=18252405
Also, the week of February 11th is known as Congenital Heart Disease Awareness week, with February 14th being the Official CHD Awareness Day. We are encouraging all of Blaise's friends and family to wear red on February 14th to support Blaise and bring awareness to this disease that affects 1 in 100 babies born.
click on link to enjoy!
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/stem-cells-bill-weir-nightline-sees-cells-turned/story?id=18252405
Also, the week of February 11th is known as Congenital Heart Disease Awareness week, with February 14th being the Official CHD Awareness Day. We are encouraging all of Blaise's friends and family to wear red on February 14th to support Blaise and bring awareness to this disease that affects 1 in 100 babies born.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Cruising along!
It's hard to believe we are half-way through January! Wow, time has flown since Blaise was born! We are already starting to think about first birthday plans! Unbelievable! Blaise is cruising along- quite literally. He army crawls a lot these days. I'm not sure if we will ever get actual crawling figured out. His absolute favorite thing in the world is standing. He can now stand by himself as he leans over to play on one of his toys. Makes him look like such a big boy! He has his first owie last night when he was playing too hard and tipped over and bonked his head. A little bump and a little bruise later and he's no worse for the wear.
We were able to sneak out for a walk today since it was close to 50! He sure does love the change of scenery from being cooped up inside all day. The past few days he has become such a jabber box. Of course, just babble but he likes to "talk" non-stop. He is also doing MUCH better on eating baby puff cereal. Before, he would just gag on them, but he's actually started gumming/chewing them and eating them more easily now. I'm probably going to jinx myself by typing this, but he is also sleeping much better at night. We almost always make it to 5 am before he is ready for a bottle!
He has his 9 month pediatrician appointment on Monday. He'll get more of his shots, (I believe the 4 or 6 month round, he is pretty far behind on these.) I'm anxious to see if he has gained any weight and caught up on the growth charts. My guess is no, but that's okay too.
Lately, I've been trying to teach him to crawl more, to say actual words and to clap. We will see which he conquers first! Here are some pictures to enjoy!
Cheering on the K State Wildcats during their bowl game
Cheese!
One year after we found out we would have a baby with half a heart!
Giddy Up! Riding my rocking horse
Sitting in my big boy chair, wearing my sperry shoes.
I got this picture of Blaise blown up and I love it!
Checking out the snow for the first time.
What is this stuff?!?!
Kendra baby sat me a few weeks during Christmas break, and my other friend Natalie is also baby sitting me a couple!
Bad picture- but first time in dad's semi! We went for a visit while he was cleaning it.
Hoorah! It's my nine month birthday!
I was just lounging- this toy was a good spot to rest my leg.
Blurry picture- but my new bruise is on the right side of my head.
A winter walk!
We were able to sneak out for a walk today since it was close to 50! He sure does love the change of scenery from being cooped up inside all day. The past few days he has become such a jabber box. Of course, just babble but he likes to "talk" non-stop. He is also doing MUCH better on eating baby puff cereal. Before, he would just gag on them, but he's actually started gumming/chewing them and eating them more easily now. I'm probably going to jinx myself by typing this, but he is also sleeping much better at night. We almost always make it to 5 am before he is ready for a bottle!
He has his 9 month pediatrician appointment on Monday. He'll get more of his shots, (I believe the 4 or 6 month round, he is pretty far behind on these.) I'm anxious to see if he has gained any weight and caught up on the growth charts. My guess is no, but that's okay too.
Lately, I've been trying to teach him to crawl more, to say actual words and to clap. We will see which he conquers first! Here are some pictures to enjoy!
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