Breckyn - 6 weeks old

    Here are some random pictures of Breckyn when she was about 6 weeks old. It is amazing how
            fast she is growing and changing. She is really starting to smile a lot and cooing!

             Ready to go to the Graettinger - Terril Homecomming Parade! Daddy doesn't like the headbands and flowers, but we like to wear them anyways!

      Daddy time!! On Saturday mornings Jesse and Breckyn spend a lot of time together, since most   nights he gets home late and doesn't get to play very much with her. Normally they watch football and lounge around together...it is pretty cute!

 Go Hawks! We decided that we needed to get out of the house to watch some football. So we took Breckyn and went out for lunch for the first time with her to Tweeters in Okoboji. She slept the whole time, we got pretty lucky!! I love her smiles here...what a cheezer!

                     Sleeping Beauty!

         Breckyn loves her  bouncy chair!

    
It has been getting a lot colder up here in NW Iowa...so we bundle up pretty good when we go on walks! Her hat is a bit big for her, but I am sure she will grow into fast!

         "I think you are crazy Dad!"

               Breckyn loves bath time! She sits there and just relaxes...it is like her mini spa treatments everyday!

                                                      Daddy's Little Deer!!

                                                              
                                         That's all folks....it's naptime!

Breckyn's Surgery

I am sure that everyone is wondering why Breckyn had surgery, how we found out about the tumor and how she is doing now that we are home. I thought I would put it all in one spot where people find everything out!

When Breckyn was born she had an irregular heart rate, which is normal is newborns. At her 1 week check up she still had it so we let it go until her 1 month check up thinking it would go away, well it didn't. We did some further testing and our Dr. decided to send us up to Sx Falls to see a pediatric cardiologist. So on October 7th we headed up to Sx Falls for what we thought would be a quick appointment and then we would do some shopping and go out to eat. During the Echocardiogram, which the Cardiologist suggested that we have done, they found what the Dr. described it as "a massive tumor" in her right ventricle of her heart, which was causing it to have the irregular beats. We were shocked to find this out because she acted like a normal newborn. She did not characterize any symptoms.

At that time we were immediately air lifted to Omaha to the Childrens Hospital and we were scheduled for Open Heart Surgery that next morning @ 7am. We can't even begin to describe how we felt, mainly because it all happened so fast, we were so emotional and everything seems to be a blur looking back at it all. It was about 11:45 on Friday morning the 8th when the Dr. came into our waiting room to tell us the good news. He said that it went better then expected and he felt like he got all the tumor that was growing in her heart. She recovered extremely well in the PICU that day and her last dose of Morphine was at 10pm that night! After that she was just on Tylenol for pain which we are still giving to her a couple of times throughout the day. That next day she was moved to Med/Surg floor and within 72 hours of surgery we were on our way home with her!

We are still awaiting the pathology report, but the Dr. was pretty sure it was not cancerous. We will have to do frequent Echocardiograms with our Cardiologist for a few a while to make sure the tumor does not regrow.

Thanks again to everyone who came to see us, those of you who were with us in the hospital during it all, all the prayers, thoughts and messages. We could not of gotten through it without each and every one of you. She is such a strong little fighter! Jesse and I are truly blessed to have our daughter home with us in our arms. Everyday I thank God many times for keeping her safe and looking over the surgeons and nurses for all they did. Prayer is such an amazing and powerful thing! God Bless~

Jesse and Amy