A much needed update

So the last week of October and first few days of November we spent time in Idaho with family. It was nice (at least for me) Brad took the two older girls on Tuesday and I flew out on Friday with Lauren. A little tricky but hey when you are working with free tickets you take what you can get.

While there the girls soaked up cousin time with sleep overs, parks trips, an early birthday party for Kenna, and an early Thanksgiving, and

some much needed family photos.

We Also blessed Lauren. It is much easier and cheaper for five to go to Idaho than for 30 people to fly to Pennsylvania.

in the future when you are questioning a dose

don't call the pharmacy (we called 3 times and they said we had the right instructions) call your MD. So here is a photo of her new self at a whopping 12 lbs (finally).

Photos

I took the girls to get some pictures taken today. Lauren hit her 2 month mark, and I hadn't had Kenna or Bryn's pictures done professionally for over a year. I was nervous about taking all 3 by myself but it turned out really well. Bryn was uncharacteristically good about following her instructions, Kenna was a great helper, and Lauren graced us with waking up so we could get some shots with her eyes open. My mom got them these adorable matching leopard print dresses and pink sweaters. I have decided that the best part of having girls is dressing them, and it gets even better when they can match. Here is what we got.

McKenna

Brynlee

Lauren

anyone see the resemblance

In Greek Mythology, Medusa was a gorgon, a female monster; gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. At the Murray house Bryn is an adorable monster; gazing directly upon her turns her onlookers to mush. Even if she has just done something "wrong". Medusa is said to have 2 sisters as does Bryn. The parallels here are outstanding. We will just have to teach Bryn to watch out for her form of Perseus. Although Bryn would look very cute on a goddesses shield.

Another Visit with the Cardiologist

We had another appointment with our pediatric cardiologist today. It was a much less emotional visit than we had last time, mostly because he didn't use words like: surgery, cut her open, crack open her ribcage, scar, or complications. Instead, this time there was a lot more optimism. We are still by no means out of the woods yet, but at least we have something to hope for. Since she has been on the diuretic to relieve her pulmonary edema, we haven't had to deal with the constant reminder of her coughing and difficulty breathing. Nevertheless, it's always something as her parents that we have had in the back of our minds. She had gained weight, and although she is still hugging the lower end of the growth curves, at least she is making gains. The doctor examined her and listened to her heart for several minutes. Then the doctor said, "Okay, well please make an appointment to come back and see us in two months". We kind of just looked at him confused, after all we were bracing for him saying that we needed to make surgery plans. We asked if she was doing better. He said that she seems to be doing well, gaining weight, and it would be something we would continue to monitor. We asked him what the chances are of this thing resolving itself without surgery. He said that according to the literature, and with her progress, there was about a 40% chance that it would resolve, or at least resolve to the point of not needing to do surgery. We just wanted to thank everyone for your concern and prayers. Although we know that this chapter is far from over, we have felt the influence of loving friends, family, and the Spirit of Our Father in Heaven.

Just because I feel like I have been repeating myself a lot lately here is the deal with her heart (up to this point we go to the cardiologist again on Friday). She has a moderate to large hole in her heart between her two ventricles. This condition is called a VSD (ventricular septal defect). This following link explains it quite well and has a nice little illustration. Hers being moderate to large, it may not close on its own, but that is what we are going to find out more about on Friday. She has been on a diuretic for the past 2 1/2 weeks because she was in heart failure (just meaning that her heart wasnt doing what it was supposed to) and had some pulmonary edema (water around the lungs). I anticipate that they will start her on some digoxin (a heart medicine) this Friday. Due to the diuretics, she has had a slow weight gain. This is normal with the medicine, as well as the condition. She was 6 lbs 5.5 oz at birth at her 4 week check up she was only 6lbs 8 oz, she is now finally 6lbs 13oz so we are slowly making progress. https://www.google.com/health/ref/Ventricular+septal+defect Other than this, she is a normal happy 5-week old. She is starting to smile a little and is trying to hold her head up. She loves to snuggle. This works out great as we love to snuggle her. My mom went home today and so far, so good. Nothing horrible has happened, other than my house looks like a war zone as I have been to busy with McKenna's school, Bryn, and a new baby to do much cleaning.

Week three at our house

Dressing up in Kenna's cowboy hat and flip flops has been fun for Bryn. As well as talking to Aunt Jessica and Ryan on the phone. What she is saying here to Aunt Jessica is that she would like some dorky boy socks to go with her outfit and would like to borrow some of hers. Actually she was asking if Ryan could come and play next Sunday. Cuddling and snuggling with Lauren has been fun for all. Kenna is looking forward to starting Kindergarten on Tuesday. She will be participating in an on-line charter school available to PA residents as an alternative to public schools (we live in a crappy school district) and you had to be 4 1/2 by September 1st to start this year. She is beyond ready. Brad and I have looked at the lessons, she will be done with Kindergarten Math in 2 weeks. This has its advantages where ever we move she can test out of Kindergarten and go 1st grade. Lauren has enjoyed her bath time. The wash clothes that we have are as big as she is, and she loves to have a warm one wrapped around her. As you can see from the photos it produced a smile. Summer wouldn't be complete without a trip (or two or three) to Linvilla Orchards. We went and picked some peaches, pears and two of the biggest tomatoes Kenna had ever seen. Bryn had a good time even though she was a tidge on the short side. She stood on her toes and got this one. She was very proud of it. She carried her peach around in a little box. Here is Bryn and her Giant Peach!

Kenna and her load of peaches.

Jessica was right (feel free to gloat Jess)

Photo #1 is Lauren

Photo #2 is Brynlee

Photo #3 is McKenna