Born With CDH

On july 14th I went to the hospital in labor and and my son was born at 10:59 pm. They had to force him to take him first breathe but couldnt breathe after that. They rushed him out of the opperating room and into nicu to work on him. My DH and I had no idea what was going on. In the recouvery room the nurses and doctors kept asking me a ton of questions and thought maybe his lungs were just filled with fluid so they incubated him and took xrays. Turned out his issue wasnt that simple. He was born 5lbs 7oz and 18.5" and with a birth defect called Congenital Diaphramatic Hernia, aka CHD. I wasnt allowed to hold my baby or even see him until he was 6 hours old, right before they medi-vacced him to UCSF childrens hospital. I was stuck at kaweah delta recouvering from the c-section and couldnt get to him until 2 days later. Not only was my son born with CDH but when they opened my up to preform the csection they found that my scar from the previous csection was open. I had been complaining to the doctor that I was in massive pain but nothing was ever done. So I sat there for two days at kaweah delta healing and crying and getting one bad news call after another from UCSF doctors. KD rushed me out as soon as they could so that I could get to Liam in sanfrancisco. I rushed home, threw together whatever clothes I could grab and took off to UCSF on july 16th where ive been ever since. My son had to be put on ECMO which he is now off as well as a breathing machine and several others. Liam under went his repair surgery July 21, also my bday and the surgery went very well. It was the best bday gift ive ever recieved. Now he is being weaned from his breathing tube as well as the morphine. As soon as his chest tube stopped draining he can have it removed and when that happens I will finnaly be able to hold him. Its been a very difficult journey and its hard to watch my son go through all these issues. CDH is a dissorder where the diaphram didnt close so there is a whole between the abdomen and chest cavity. The organs and stomach end up going into the chest cavity pushing the heart over and causing pressure on the lung making it almost impossible to breathe as well as not allowing the lungs to develop. Its very serious and thanks to so many prayers being sent up for my son his condition wasnt as severe as the first thought it to be. Please keep little Liam in your prayers and thoughts. He needs everyone he can get. While ive been here ive met another family who has a DD born july 4th with the same condition and not doing as well as Liam is and I would appriciate it if you would keep little Maddie in your prayers as well. I never thought that this would happen to my son nor did I know this condition was out there. They dont know what causes this but are researching it. I want answers, what causes it? Can it be passed on? Could my DD even pass it on even though she doesnt have it? is it genetic? was it something I did? So when I was approached about a 2 different case studies that would hopefully one day give us answers I jumped on it. No one should have to watch their child go thorugh this and if theres a way to prevent it then Ill do whatever I can to help. All I want is to hold my baby boy and rock him. It could be months before we can bring him home and even though he gets stronger everyday that passes, everyday that passes is another weighed of emotions sitting on my shoulders. I finnaly got to change his diaper today for the first time and almost cried. He's finnaly of the paralytic and their letting him move around and it means so much just the little things are huge right now.

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*07/22/11 Day after surgery fist day he had his eyes open..9days old

www.votecdh.org
www.savethecherubs.org

Please pray for our little boy born yestetday who is fighting for his life. Every prayer makes a difference

UNSTOPABLES

I was confused when I opened up my mail box today to find this black box sitting there waiting for me. Truth be told I didn't want to touch it because at first it didn't look like a normal package but more like a bomb. Thank heavens it wasn't. It was actually a free full sized sample of the new Downy UNSTOPABLES. With it being really hot outside today you could actually smell the scent through all the packaging. Let me tell you it's a really really good smell. I just can't wait to use it. All the new Downy UNSTOPABLES are is a scent booster that you add into your washer. The packaging states that the fresh scent last for 30 days, so you have 30 days of your closet or dresser smelling awesome or even your bedding. I always loved how fresh sheets smelled but the scent never lasted but maybe a few days max. I'm excited to be able to try this. What actually came in the mail today as a free sample is a full sized 13.2 oz container of the Downy UNSTOPABLES, the fresh scent, and a pair of new black socks with their label on them. It was a pretty awesome find. I got all this free for being a part of VocalPoint.com So if you would like to score your self a free sample head on over and join VocalPoint http://www.vocalpoint.com Once you join you can request a sample. Just remember samples are very limited so hurry on over to http://www.vocalpoint.com/UNSTOPABLES

Argeneau Vampire's By Lynsay Sands

I started reading this book series as part of a Goodreads.com challenge. I needed both an author I've never read before and a series that I have never read before. I found the Argeneau Vampire series after some research and started reading the books. I was captivated from the first book, A Quick Bite, where Margarite Argeneau seeks out the help of a phycologist to help her daughter with a problem. Unfortunately Margarite's way of getting his help is to control his mind to have him crawl into the trunk of her sports car after work one day then take him back to her home where she ties him up on her daughters bed. The whole situation was comical, and the added touch of him being there to help Margarite's daughter Lissiana with her himophilia and Lissiana being a vampire. It's a great book and at points I couldn't hold my laughter in. Thankfully I was at home reading and not in public and only got dirty looks from my husband. The whole series is great. Each book has its own story line and even continues the story of each character from previous books so you never loose track of what's going on with the family. Some books are more serious than others but theres always something that Sands added in the book that made me laugh. When you get to book 10 your also starting a new series. Book 10 for the Argeneau series is book 1 for the Rogue Hunter series. The books are the same quality it's just they start moving onto characters that aren't in the immediate Argeneau family but are associated with them in some way. I would give the Argeneau Vampire series a 4.5 out of 5 stars for sure. If your curios about this series and would like to check it out for yourself, here's the book list.

Argeneau Vampire Series by Lynsay Sands

1. A Quick Bite
2. Love Bites
3. Single White Vampire
4. Tall Dark and Hungry
5. A Bite To Remember
6. Bite Me If You Can
7. The Accidental Vampire
8. Vampires Are Forever
9. Vampire Interrupted
10. The Rogue Hunter (Rogue Hunter #1, Arg #10)
11. The Immortal Hunter (Rogue Hunter #2, Arg #11)
12.The Renegade Hunter(Rogue Hunter #3, Arg #12)
12.5. Bitten By Cupid (Arg #12.5)
13. Born To Bite
14. Hungry For You

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Someones Views On Mother's Day

There are some people out that that believe Mother's Day and coincidental Father's Day is stupid and that there's no reason to celebrate. I for one think that's a crappy view. As a mom I seem to be on duty 24-7. I'm taking care of my daughter every day without a break. I make sure she's fed properly and bathed and put to bed. I work with her on her preschool curriculum to get her ready for preschool. I keep her mind occupied by doing arts and crafts with her, taking her swimming, watching cartoons, reading books and more. I make sure she gets the medicine she needs daily for her allergies. When she's sick I cuddle her and sing to her to help her feel better. I as the mom get her dressed in her pj's and read her a good night book and say our nightly prayer. When she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, I'm the one that gets up with her and rocks her back to sleep. It seems my job is never done. I never ask for them to say thank you because it's just something I do. However, that one day a year I feel I should be shown some gratitude. I should be told thank you that one day a year. More than told, I should be shown. Now some peoples views that Mother's Day is a waste is based off of money. How much a gift or a card or whatever will cost. They think that the cost of something isn't worth the joy that something brings to the mothers day. Something so simple can make a moms year. It reminds us that even though we don't hear it daily that our families really are thankful for all we do. There are things that don't even really cost money that can be done. You can pick flowers from the yard, make the mother breakfast. Instead of buying a card, make one or have the children make one. If there aren't any small children then go to the dollar store and buy a 50 cent card. Make a picnic lunch and go to the park or just have a picnic in the yard. For heavens sakes, look at the mom and say "Happy Mothers Day" at the very least. For me that's enough. What you don't want to do however is pretend that its just another day and when its brought to your attention that it is Mothers Day don't turn into a jerk and say things like 'its stupid'. You also don't want to tell the mother that they should be at home doing laundry or dishes instead of them enjoying their day. Take some advice from a mom that has had 3 consecutive horrid Mothers Days. These are thing you don't want to do unless you want it to come back and bite you. After 3 horrid Mothers Days, this year I decided to take the day into my own hands. I made a picnic lunch for my 3 year old daughter and I then just the two of us took off to the park. I finally refused to sit at home and sulk and be mad and it was the best decision I ever made. I ended up having a great day with my daughter and other family members. I got a great picture taken of my daughter and me. I didn't even worry about anyone else or stress out in the least. Sometimes you just have to take life by the reins and do it yourself. I always say 'you reap what you sew'.