Thursday, April 19, 2007

Jai's Paediatrician Appointment

I got a phone call from the Paediatrician's office saying that they had a cancellation on Tuesday afternoon.
Typically on the day of the appointment Jai's heart was beating regularly (no present arrythmia) so the Paed only heard the murmour.
After some extensive stethoscope work he decided that Jaiden has a hole in his heart. Which is not as serious as it sounds - apparently the hole is in a good spot (for any hole in ones heart!?!) So he is unlikly to go into cardiac arrest anytime soon (thank god!) He sent us for an ECG anyway which came back clear (of course cause his rythym was regular!) and has booked us in for an Echocardiogram on the 8th June to evaluate the size of the hole and to discuss if any action is required.
From what i can gather from over researching online it probably wont need fixing and if it does it is a fairly straightforward proceedure (no open heart surgery required!)
I didnt particularly like the man, (he had next to no personality and i dont think he liked kids..) but he knew what he was talking about which is of course the most importent thing.
So i guess now we wait.....

Monday, April 16, 2007

Easter


Easter was fun for all - Only Jaiden overdosed on chocolate but once he threw up he got right back on the horse....

Everyone came over and the kids did the traditional easter egg hunt and we all ate hotcross buns and a BBQ Lunch!

Life and Windmills....

Well here i am finally getting off my rear and creating a Blog!
Hi especially to Nadja who will probably be home by the time this gets online!
Not much happening at the moment really, the boys are growing more and more everyday!

Liam is already missing pre-school ( second day of the Holidays) but he has Lorelai over for distraction today!

Holger and Rudolf have been busy adding paths and pergolas to our house - Its really coming together now! I cant wait till its finished!

Lachie is starting to put words together now - i think im probably the only one who understands him though! All the practise desyphering Jaiden has helped me pick up on Lachies needs a bit quicker i think!

Jaiden has an appointment at a new Paed who has a great interest in Cardiology - so hopefully we will get to the bottom of the Murmur/ Arrythmia ASAP. He seems well enough at the moment, perhaps a bit more tired than usual and he gets short of breath quite quickly.
I was just deciding to stop researching WS as it wasnt productive, Jai is where he needs to be with or without WS and im imagining all of this because his heart is fine. The next day we found out about the Heart Murmur and Arrythmia. So now i am thinking its not always nice to be right and i think i may have Jinxed myself...

I will put below a beautiful poem i read recently called "Welcome to Holland". It really touched me, Have a read if you have the time:

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.