Lucky

I hate to be so sappy, but really, how did we get so lucky??? We are so blessed to get to have these little crazies (okay two crazies and one sweet girl) in our home.

Also a big Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dad's out their, including both my own father and Nathan. The sacrifices made by a good father are both tiresome and endless yet day after day they continue to make them. Thanks guys for always putting your families first.

2 months

9lbs 4 ounces
22 inches
sleeps 5-7 hours a night
loves to be held
loves the swing
drinks 4 ounces of soy formula every 4 hours
wearing 0-3 month clothes
tolerates baths
loves being outside
loves being in the stroller
is so happy and easy going
constantly pulls her hair and then cries
smiles and coos when you talk to her
is loved by her brothers
spits up massive amounts
sat in the bumbo chair for the first time
had her first trip to San Antonio and Houston

We're still alive...

but just barely.

This is just going to be a photo dump (for my records) of the last few weeks. We are counting our blessings tonight because there are so many. As I am digging through these pictures I am being reminded of how much I love these CRAZY boys. These two are all boy and they are a handful but we are feeling so lucky to have them in our home.

We went to see Disney on Ice a few weeks ago because our friends have a suite at the American Bank Center. The boys had such a great time. They had great views, unlimited treats and good bags complete with stuffed animals.

Nathan's work is a big sponsor of March of Dimes. We joined the FHR team in the march of dimes walk.

For Mother's Day Nathan and the boys bought me a juicer. We have been having so much fun juicing. Every morning when the boys get up they ask if we can make juice.

We spend a lot of time browsing the toy isles at walmart and target. Luckily these two little boys just love to look and actually never ask to buy anything. I'm not sure they even know you can buy these toys.

We have also been spending a lot of time searching for nature trails in our community. There are not many but we are loving the few we have found so far.

This little girl gets so much love from her brothers... sometimes a little too much love.

They can't do anything without making a mess.

 

We have been watching the NBA finals with some friends lately and I am amazed at how much the boys are getting into it.

These last two months have been fun and crazy but we are hoping life is going to settle down a little bit now that Nathan has a break from school, I am released from my much loved calling working with the youth at church and we have most of Molly's health issues temporarily worked out.

blessed

Life has been a little crazy and having 3 kids is an adjustment but as I was trying to sort through pictures on my phone so I could free up some space I came across these from the hospital. It was just a sweet reminder of how truly blessed we really are. What a glorious day April 6th was. When Molly was born both Nathan and I felt her little spirit so strong. We knew she was something special. She has brought an insurmountable amount of joy into our little home.  

carpet

We have been talking about replacing the carpet in our house for almost three years. The biggest reason is the noise level. Our home is open and the ceilings are high so everything echos. The other big problem is that a few weeks after Ethan was born the boys room and guest room flooded and we ripped up the carpet, let it dry out and laid it back down. After Molly was born Nathan was home for two weeks and only a few days in he decided he couldn't handle the noise level and basically ordered the carpet. Well this was only a few weeks after Molly was born and in the middle of us finding out she had a large hole in her heart and galactosemia. Needless to say things were already chaotic but we thought why not add to it and rip out our carpet. So we ripped out the carpet and when Nathan was pulling off the baseboard in Molly's room we found mold. We then had to cut out all the mold and replace the insulation and drywall. 

 We also ripped out all the laminate in the living room and put tile down in front of the fireplace.

 Due to Nathan's school and work schedule we were forced to live like this (all our stuff in the kitchen and concrete floors) for a few days. It was a ruff few days but we made it through.

 Now we have this wonderful new carpet. Our house is so quiet and the boys love all the space they have to rough house. A lot of people questioned our decision to pull out the fake wood floor and put in carpet but honestly we couldn't be happier about the decision. 

health update

Molly and I have spent a lot of time at the Doctors this past month and there have been plenty of appointments with nothing but grim outlooks but this week we had two really good appointments.

Monday Molly had an appointment with her cardiologist and the hole is still there but other then the size of the hole and a slightly enlarged left ventricle she looks good. Her growth is their number one concern at this time and she is growing. Because her Dr. is so pleased with how she is doing we don't have to go back for another EKG and Echo for another month. It's amazing how we went from her first appointment where he was certain she would need surgery at three months to this last appointment where he just wants to monitor with the possibility of not even needing surgery if she continues to do so well. So as for her heart we will continue to play the waiting game and see how things go. 

Today we heard back from her galactosemia test results and we were able to talk with the specialist in Austin and her body is producing about 15-20 percent of the enzyme needed to break down lactose. So as for now we will continue to keep her strictly on soy formula because anything else would be to much for her body to break down and become toxic. In 5 months (October) we are going to Austin to meet with the specialist and he is going to run some tests to see how well her body tolerates lactose. Those tests should give us a better idea of what her needs are as far as her future diet. As the liver matures it is able to process things better so there is a hope that as her liver matures (it won't ever create more of the enzyme) it will be able to handle very small amounts of lactose so an accidental ingestion of something dairy won't be as toxic as it would be now. Basically we won't know anymore for the next 5 months.

We do feel blessed and like our prayers are being answered. She is a strong little girl and we love her so very much. We feel blessed that she has so many people who love her and are concerned about her. The outpouring of love and support for both us and Molly from friends (especially those here in Corpus) and family has been  wonderful. So please continue to keep her in your prayers because it is working.

one month

Weighs 7lbs 6 ounces
21 inches long
sleeps 2-3 hours at night
drinks 2-3 ounces of formula
loves to be swaddled
loves to have a pacifier
gets pretty fussy at night but is great during the day
loves to be held
doesn't like baths
doesn't like having her diaper changed
gets a little to much attention from her brothers
is really gassy since switching to soy formula
sleeps in the swing (not moving)
has lost all of her yellow coloring and is now perfectly pink

Galactosemia

Oh sweet child of mine, you have been poked and way more then anyone your tiny size should ever have to. Nonetheless you have been a real trooper. You are far healthier then anyone expected and you are a fighter.

Let's put Molly's heart condition on hold right now, after all there isn't much we can do while we wait for her body to either close up the hole or not. So in the meantime we are dealing with something new.
Last week I got a call from the pediatrician and he said there was a potential problem with her newborn screening. He wanted us to meet with him the next day so we could talk about her results. After meeting with the pediatrician we learned that Molly has galactosemia. Galactosemia is a rare genetic metabolic disorder that affects an individuals ability to metabolize the sugar galactose properly. We don't know exactly how serious Molly's case is but we know her body is not producing enough of a certain enzyme that is needed to break down and digest lactose. Friday Molly had several more blood tests done and we should get the results back sometime in the next 2 weeks. As soon as we get that back our pediatrician is going to talk to a metabolic specialist (which there isn't one in Corpus so we have to talk to the one in Austin) about what Molly's needs will be. We are hoping that her case isn't very severe and so far with the testing that has come back that is what it looks like. This means that the only real change will be in her diet. Right now we put her on a soy formula because breast milk is no longer an option since she can't digest lactose. As soon as she is on solid foods we will have to adjust our families diet to cut out dairy. It's going to be a drastic change for us but if it is what Molly needs to be healthy we are happy to do it.

VSD

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Our little Molly is a little over two weeks old now. She is back to her birth weight and has grown almost a full inch. Her growth is actually pretty remarkable and better then both her pediatrician and cardiologist expected so we are very happy.

Yesterday she had her second appointment with her cardiologist. Molly has VSD ( Ventricle Septal Defect) which is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart. In normal development the wall between the chambers closes before the fetus is born so that by birth oxygen rich blood is kept from mixing with the oxygen poor blood. When the hole does not close, it may cause higher pressure in the heart or reduced oxygen to the body. Although this is pretty common Molly's hole is rather large, measuring 8mm by 3mm. Because her hole is so large her cardiologist is afraid that it won't be able to close up on it's own. At her appointment yesterday we decided that we would start her on medications that would help keep her lungs from filling up with fluid and hopefully keep her heart from working so hard. She will be on those for the next three months and the cardiologist will continue to monitor her heart and look for signs that the hole is going to close on it's own. If it doesn't close on it's own she will eventually have surgery. The risk of death and complications for children who have this surgery before 3 months is rather high so they won't do any type of surgery before 3 months. 

So what does that mean for us right now? Well first of all we are waiting for some tests to come back to make sure her liver is working properly and if all is well then we will start her on medication Monday and we will continue to monitor her heart. We will watch for things like heavy breathing, no weight gain, enlarged liver, sweating, fatigue and trouble eating. If she has a lot of those problems then we will know her condition is getting worse. Basically right now we are just playing the waiting game and hoping for the best. 

We are a little concerned but at this point anything could happen and we know her Heavenly Father is watching over her and will also help us make the right decisions for her future.

Molly Wilcoxson

Our little lady arrived Sunday at 6:48 p.m. and weighed 6 lbs and 4 oz. She was 37 weeks and 2 days. 

Now I will try and recount the birth experience but the craziness of it all made it really feel like an out of body experience so hopefully I can remember everything.

Friday I went to the Dr. and found out that I was still 5cm dialated. I had been there since at least Monday so I figured I would just stay there for awhile and hopefully Molly would come before the 11th. In order to try and induce my labor I raked leaves all afternoon Friday, cleaned the church Saturday morning and then helped Nathan and a friend unload 6000 lbs of mulch for a garden. I figured if all that didn't get Molly here she wasn't coming anytime soon. 

Well to no avail Saturday night and all morning Sunday I had no contractions. Because I wasn't having any contractions I told Nathan we should take the boys to the park Sunday afternoon. The park is a little over a mile away so I figured it would be a nice little walk. We left the house about 5:30. As soon as we started walking the contractions started. They came on really fast and hard the whole walk to the park but as soon as we got to the park they slowed down so I figured it was just from walking. After about 10 minutes at the park I told Nathan I needed to go home so we headed home. About 5 minutes into our walk home I asked Nathan if he could run home and get the van because walking was getting to hard. Nathan sprinted home and grabbed the van while I continued to slowly walk back to the house. On the way back I sent a text to our Dr. telling her that I thought I might be in labor but wasn't sure. I sent the text at almost exactly 6 pm. It seemed like it took forever but Nathan finally came back with the van and I jumped in. By this time the contractions were excruciating but I still wasn't 100 percent sure this was it so I filled up the tub and hoped in while Nathan very frantically called a friend to come get the boys, called the Dr. and packed a few last minute things. Our Dr. told us to meet her at the hospital but by this time I really couldn't move. I told Nathan to have her meet us at the house because I couldn't move and I was pretty sure I could feel Molly. We are so lucky she lives only a few minutes away. 

As soon as Tia got to the house she checked me and said the baby will be here in 20 minutes so we need to get to the hospital. The problem was I really couldn't move. She gave me the option of getting in the van or calling 911. I felt like it would have been a little dramatic to call 911 so with the help of Nathan and Tia I got in the van. By this time I really though I was going to die and we were going to have a baby in the van, neither one of which is a good option. Luckily Nathan was driving like a pure maniac to get us to the hospital, he even spent some time driving and passing people in the turning lane. While on the short drive to the hospital my water broke and I was ready to push. I could feel that she was ready to enter the world. Luckily we had a wheelchair in the car because we had gotten it from Tia the day before to loan to a friend but hadn't dropped it off yet. 

Nathan pulled into the emergency room and Tia helped me into the wheelchair. Tia then sprinted up to labor and delivery while Nathan parked the car. As soon as I got to labor and delivery I was ready to push and in an extreme amount of pain. There was literally no break in between the contractions. Unfortunately Nathan was still parking the car and trying to get into the hospital. They had stopped him at the emergency room and tried to make him register me in. He just signed a blank paper handed them my ID and took off for labor and delivery. The nurse was out in the hall waiting for him so she could show him where the room was. As soon as Nathan stepped in the door I gave Molly everything I had and one long excruciatingly painful push later she was here. There was a total of 4 minutes between the time I arrived at the hospital and the time that Molly was delivered and a total of 30 minutes from the time Nathan called the Dr. to the time Molly was delivered. It was one crazy experience and we are so glad she made it safely and we made it to the hospital. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to make it through that experience with out Nathan, our good friend and Dr. Tia, and the wonderful labor and delivery nursers. It took about an hour after the delivery for Nathan and I to process everything that had just happened and settle down from the experience but we are so happy Molly is here and we are absolutely smitten and I hope to NEVER have a labor and delivery experience like that again.