Yet another hospital stay...

I wish I updated my blog more often. Our internet at home is so slow and it takes forever to get enough time to get on and write.

Since my last update, I got in a car accident (no injuries, thank the Lord) and I turned 25! That feels old! Josh and I went out to a nice dinner and movie, alone with no kids (Thanks Nana and Papa). We really should do that more often. It was nice to have adult conversation and not having to feed someone else before I ate! With the accident, I was hit from behind which pushed me into the truck in front of me. My truck is in the process of trying to figure out if we want to have it fixed or just to get a different one.

More importantly, Malakai's belly started increasing in size and his bloodwork showed he was anemic and his albumin levels were low. His transplant team requested we come to St Louis one week earlier for clinic, as we were supposed to go out there the last week of January. We were told to expect to stay a few days and that's exactly what we did. He had a narrowing in his hepatic vein which restricted the bloodflow. He developed ascites because of this. We were admited on Wednesday. Two more nights in the hospital to add to our list of admissions. He had a procedure on Friday where they went in through his jugular vein and basically ballooned out his vein. I feared he would be a mess if I had to hand him off to a nurse so I asked if they could give him something to relax him. It helped alot, but then they let me take him straight to the OR table. I was able to stroke his hair and hold his little hand until he was completely out. He cried a little bit because it made him feel so funny, but only about 5 seconds of crying and he was out. It was definatly scary watching him just leave the room, in a sense. I was glad I was able to be there with him, he wasn't scared because I was there. It took him a little while to wake up but once he was awake, he wanted to nurse right away. He took a pretty good nap and we were able to go home that night. I'm hoping this is our last hospital stay on 2010! I know it's only January, but I have to be positive, right?!?!

Malakai is doing amazingly well! He's crawling all over the place and starting to walk with our help. He climbed the stairs at our house all by himself (with daddy close behind) which was quite the task. We have alot of stairs! He loves bubbles and still LOVES to play with any kind of ball. He calls them "ball-ball" trying to say basketball. He is also a little love-bug. He wants to give kisses to anyone wanting one :) He'll pucker out his little lips and expect you to walk across the room to give him a kiss. Then he'll keep kissing you until he's tired :) It's absolutely heartwarming. His favorite 4 words, which he uses correctly, are Ball, DaDa, PaPa and Momma (newly using it as of yesterday....before he would only say Momma when he was crying in his crib) He can use the sign language signs for Nurse (milk), Please, more and recently all done. It's so sweet to see him expressing himself.

Malakai has a new liver buddy, London. She recieved her "Gift of Life" just a few weeks ago and is doing amazing! Check out her blog www.LiverforLuLu.blogspot.com Her momma does an awesome job on updating her site :)

Busy month, lots to update

The last four weeks have flown by! So much has happened since my last post. I'm sure I won't remember everything, but here I go...

We had Makena's third birthday party at the house. I stayed up late the night before putting up decorations so when she woke up in the morning the house looked ready for a party! She was so excited. She said "Mommy, this is the best birthday EVER!" No cake or presents needed, just a few balloons and streamers and I had already made her day. She got lots of cool presents and had a great day! She was dressed in her princess dress, complete with matching tiara. Her cake was a big castle and before she blew out her candles she closed her eyes really tight and said "I wish for a castle" then blew out the candle. All in all it was a great day and we were surronded by wonderful family and friends!

Then Christmas was right around the corner. We were so busy the few days before. Makena had her Christmas program at preschool. She was the kid running infront of the line, yelling to us in the audience, twirling and dancing when she wasnt supposed to. But it made us all very proud! It was so cute!! Rita, Sarah and the kids came over to make cookies. They had a blast and it's a tradition I really hope we keep. Christmas Eve we went to my aunts house and then to Josh's parents house. Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents. Makena got her Loving Family dollhouse. We waited until the last present to give it to her. She was waiting so patiently (which is very hard for her) and then she tore it open and the expression on her face was priceless!

Josh and I left for a Caribbean cruise on the 28th and were gone 6 days. It was so nice to get out of the Indiana cold and into very warm weather. We basically soaked in the sun during the day, and at night we went to the nice dinners and shows they had. Josh was a frequent in the casino :) He would've lived there if I would've let him! It was nice to have some adult time and it was wonderful to have some alone time with Josh. The kids stayed with Perry and Cindy (Josh's parents) and Makena spent one night with each of my sisters. They were both thrilled to see us. Malakai wouldn't let me out of his sight for the first two days were home. It was hard leaving right after Christmas because I came home and had alot of work to do (still have alot to do) like take down the tree...

Malakai is doing well. We're looking into starting physical therapy with him. First Steps is a service he's currently working with, but they only have an occupational therapist available. I might be contacting Riley to see if they can get him in. I'm not super concerned with him, but I know he should be doing more than he is. He's 15 months old and I feel like he's no where near walking. He's pulling up on things, but not moving at all once he's up. Other than that, he's thriving and growing everyday. He's getting to be a little stinker, just like his sister :)

I wrote a letter to his donors family last night. I haven't printed it yet, and I need to get some pictures printed of him to send with it. I feel like I need to let the letter sit for a few days and then make some changes if necessary. I hope they know how much I love them and appriciate their decision to donate their childs liver to Malakai. I hope they write back, but understand if they don't. We shall see...

Well, hopefully the next time I write it won't be a month in between...I have a little boy who is begging me to lay him down for a nap :)