Life has really been flying by lately! It seems like time just keeps going and I can never quite take it all in! My blogging has been lacking for the past month or so, so I guess it's time for a serious update on what's been happening with the Justices!
Brad continues to work hard as the managing director at Northwestern Mutual. It keeps him busy, and he seems to really be happy there. This semester is his first not teaching early morning seminary in five years, so it's been weird for him knowing it's all going on without him! I'm know though that he is definitely loving the extra sleep in the mornings. He is now a counselor in the Stake Sunday School Presidency which has definitely been a decrease in workload compared to what he was used to. He is anxious for the new learning experiences it will bring though.
I still do the weekly program for Sacrament meeting, and I also just officially got called to be a nursery leader in Eden's nursery. It seems it hasn't been too long since I had a nursery calling, but since I have to be there with my trach dependent daughter anyway, they might as well make it official! Other than that though, my life just consists of Eden and her schedule. Eden has definitely been keeping me super busy these last few weeks and there's no slowing down for a while. Here's our typical week:
Mondays: 8am appointment with either developmental specialist, or occupational therapist (these two rotate weekly, but one is always every Monday) and then we also have a 10am appointment with the physical therapist
Tuesdays: gymnastics
Wednesday: no set appointments, but it always gets filled in with something usually of Eden's
Thursdays: developmental play group/class
Fridays: speech therapy
Every afternoon is nap time for us both, and by the weekend, we are definitely worn out!
So as I mentioned, Eden has recently started two new group classes which have already been so good for her! She has only been to one gymnastics class so far, but she loved it! It was so adorable to watch all the little 2 year olds doing the balance beam, or hanging on the bars, or trying summer saults. It is definitely an entertaining hour for me, and it will be such a good muscle strengthening activity for Eden. Her favorite part though was definitely getting a stamp on her hand after class was over. She is way into stamps these days for some reasons.
The Thursday play group class is basically like a little preschool class where the parent stays with the kid and helps with activities, crafts, songs and other various things. The social time is so important for Eden and she has already been doing much better at being a little more involved with the other kids. Her teacher just loves Eden and gets a kick out of her and what she calls Eden's "adult mannerisms". :) Eden also loves to help her wipe down the tables after craft time which her teacher thinks is really funny.
As far as medical updates go, we leave to Denver this week to get the stint removed from Eden's airway. The procedure should be pretty short and quick, but he will have to reopen part of her neck incision to snip the stitches that are holding the stint in place. Once the stitches are all cut, the stint will be pulled out through her mouth and her incision will once again be sealed shut. We will then have to stay the night in the hospital for observation, and then hopefully we will be heading home the next day.
At this point we have absolutely no idea what to expect. Most likely I would think we won't be getting to much information from this appointment, because the stint will just come out, but my guess is he will want to see her again in a couple weeks and at that point we will know a little more about what her airway is going to do without the stint in place. We are hopeful that this will be a big step forward for us, but are also hesitant to get our hopes up too high.
I don't know why this has been especially true lately, but I have just been marveling at Eden and the miracle that she is. I just love to watch her and am just in awe at her petite little features, and her adorable smiles, and her silly sense of humor. I still just can't believe I was entrusted with such a special spirit. I know most parents probably think this about their first kid, but I honestly can't imagine ever loving another child like I love Eden! She just continues to amaze me every day.
Yesterday we went to the annual Lovelace NICU reunion which is just a huge carnival type party for all the families who have ever had a baby in their NICU. Eden loved all the fun prizes and games, and Brad and I were able to reconnect with some of the nurses and doctors who cared for Eden while she was there. They all still remember her by name and are also amazed at how far she has come and how well she is doing.
One nurse in particular came up to us at the party and reminded us again just how scary our road with Eden was. I recognized her face as someone I had seen in the NICU several times, but she was never actually assigned as Eden's nurse. However, a couple of the reintubations (getting Eden back on the ventilator) were extremely traumatic and whenever something big is happening, all the nurses in the room come to help. She was one of those who ran to help one day when they couldn't get Eden reintubated and she was not breathing for quite a long time. We had a couple of these experiences, but she remembered one day in particular that they all thought for sure Eden wasn't going to make it. She said she still remembers turning and seeing Brad's face and wondering how they would tell him that they couldn't save Eden. She said after 22 years as a nurse, and taking care of many babies, experiences like the one with Eden that day are ones you never forget. She just told us over and over that Eden is a miracle, and they were all so amazed that she lived through those very scary few experiences. They said that to this day, two years later, they still talk about Eden and the miracle of her life, and what she made it through.
I appreciated her telling me this so much because it is just yet one more reminder to me that I have so much to be grateful for with Eden. Yes, some days are hard, and this medical stuff is so sad and frustrating to me, but my gosh... what a blessing she is and there really is no reason I should be complaining at all because things could have been so much worse. It's no wonder that I marvel at all the little things she does. I still just can't believe that I am blessed with such an amazing little girl.
I know I've said this before, but I truly feel like a different person since Eden was born. Sometimes I feel a little sad when I look back at pictures of myself before Eden, it's like there is a light in my eye, or an innocence of life that I no longer have. I guess I never expected anything in life to be anything other than perfect. But since then I've realized there are lots of different kinds of perfect. Eden to me is perfect, and what an amazing example she has been to me. I have grown in ways that I know I never could have grown if we didn't have the experiences that we have had with Eden. In many ways, I really feel like we were both born that day back in Lovelace hospital in June of 2009....
