Last summer memories...

One week from today and Harlie's wires will be OUT!!! WooHoo!!! I am SO excited! It is hard to believe that 8 weeks have already gone by. And it really wasn't that bad. Just the first couple of weeks and then we all seemed fine. Harlie recovered faster than us, that's for sure.

Murphy's swimming lessons are going great! It was a rough beginning, but I think he finally realized that he CAN do this. Today was his 6th day and he swam with his head under water from one side to the middle of the pool, turned over and got some air, and then turned back underwater and swam the rest of the way to the other side. I was so amazed. And the instructor threw a toy in the pool and he had to swim to the bottom (in shallow water) and grab it and bring it to the surface. I cannot believe how fast he has progressed! I took some video today and will take some the next two days, and then I'll post it so you can see. It is very hard to believe how long he can hold his breath. I certainly did not expect that. He said he is so proud of himself! I love it!

Tonight he asked me with some impatience, "when is the baby coming out already?" It is hard to believe that I still have 9 weeks left. As I've been told many times (by both strangers and loved ones) I am quite large. Paige (my favorite photographer) came last night to take some photos of the kids and my belly. I am excited to see how they turned out. Hopefully I'll be able to post some on here for you. You should check out her site, http://www.picturepaiges.com/ when you get a chance. I just love that I can insert links into my entries now!

So, lately, I've been thinking a lot about how far we've come with Harlie. At this time one year ago, there were so many times I was seriously afraid she wouldn't make it. She was working so hard to breathe with her respirations often over 100 - even at rest! That's taking 100 breaths in one minute, which is a lot! We visited the ER many times, and we all (the docs included) realized that there was nothing anyone could do except to remove her bad lung lobes (the upper and lower right lobes). I remember one day when I was scared and I realized that - for us - calling 911, would not help. I remember thinking how lonely that felt. What a crazy realization! So many times I wondered how I was going to get through the day feeling so scared.

And now, a year later, things are SO much better! Here are some pics from this time last year. Here's Traci, her physical therapist, showing us that she's not helping Harlie sit up. She lasted a few seconds before falling over. By her first birthday (September 25th) she was sitting up completely on her own. Oh, these pics were taken on July 20, 2007. She was still on oxygen 24/7 then. And she weighed 14 pounds. She weighs 22 pounds now.

And here's a short video of her in the hospital after her 2nd heart surgery. Granted, this was in April, but it does show you what it looks like to see her breathe really fast. And it only got worse until August 14th - the day of her lung surgery. What a turning point that was for her!!! There's been no stopping her since! And how cool is it that I can do this (insert a video into my blog, I mean)?

Well, that's it for tonight. I really must get some sleep. Oh, and thanks for the supportive comments about my blog! So far, it looks like most of you like it. Kristie, that is a real bummer that you can't view it at work. I'll probably do some dual posting for a little while. But these comments about the photos and/or videos won't make much sense in Babysites. Oh, and I uploaded some more pics under the vacation album. There's still more to upload, but there's only so much time in a day...

Take care,

Christy