Cole's Dedication

Awwwwwwwwwwwww

Here's to Cole and his official dedication to Jesus. On May 4th, 2008 Cole Thomas Griffin was dedicated. He along with his cousin Shepherd Winfield Stone. We also learned that this is Gail and Judi's moms birthday. So both her great grandsons were dedicated on her birthday. So a very special day for many reasons for all of us!


As always with our family where we will eat is right up there with the event taking place, so Red Rock Cafe` won the vote. It was a great way to end the festivities of the evening.






Here are a few pictures before trying to exit the house without looking as teeth grinding, wanting to pull our hair out, making sure we had absolutely everything we might need to ward off any meltdowns or throw yourself on the ground and writhe around tantrums that could arise and of course trying to capture a special day and make the pictures try and capture the perfect day.
We still aren't sure why we ever attempt to leave the house with children this age, lapse of memory I guess or you just forget how interesting it can get sometimes. So enough of that and here are some pictures until next time! Love, This 4 Top

Cole at his pre-dedication bath.

Cole and Mommy

Daddy + 2 = A beautiful picture!

Cole is a changin

We apologize to all of you who have been waiting patiently for an update on Cole! For some of you this is the only way for you to know or see changes in Cole. We are going to try getting better about getting pictures up instead of waiting to post just when there is a doctor appt.

I was re-reading the blog and comments left and reminded of how far we have all come and especially how far Cole has come since we found out at 5 months pregnant what he was facing and we were facing. Cole really is a miracle in how well he has done and is doing. We were also reminded of how many people have blessed us with their support and love.



Since the last post Cole has been to he and Ava's pediatrician, Dr. Martha Edwards, who is incredible as a doctor and a person! That was April 1st. He received shots for his first set of vaccines. Just normal baby stuff. Still not a fun visit.

Cole and I went to see Dr. Bensky, his cardiologist, on April 17th. It was a nice boring appt., which is exactly the way we like it. Dr. bensky did the usual, checking weight, height, the sound of the murmur from the shunt, his color, his breathing, his oxygen level. Everything looked and sounded great! Cole is almost 15 lbs. now and he is 24 inches long at 3 months! Dr. Bensky just laughs when he sees Cole now. Cole broke out his charming smile for him and even a few laughs. He sounds sort of like he should be in the mafia like he's the godfather.


The next cardiologist appt. will be an ultra-sound of his heart along with all the normal checks. We will do that on May 19th. Cole's Dr. is still saying the next surgery looks like it will be at 5 to 6 months instead of the normal 7 to 8 months because Cole is growing so well. We will do anything to see another one of his smiles! We have no shame!



We hope these pictures bring a smile to your face and encouragemeant to your prayers!


Just a last minute note, we are very excited about May 4th. This is a big day for Cole.........us too of course. He is going to be dedicated!

We just found out that our nephew Shepherd is going to be able to be dedicated on the same night as Cole! We are so excited that they will share this as cousins and all of us as a family!

Here's to our little chunk-a-munk, Cole. We visited Dr. Bensky, Cole's cardiologist, yesterday.

We went through the normal routine - weight (13 lbs. 10 ozs.), height (24 inches), and oxygen level (read from strapping the device to his big toe to get a reading). Cole also had his first "Echo" since coming home from the hospital. For all of you who are "cardiology information challenged," like we were before all this, it's basically an ultrasound of the heart. The stars must have aligned just right because "No Tolerance For Having My Arms Held Down in Any Way Cole" let us hold his arms at his side for about 20 minutes while we all looked at the screen to make sure everything is doing what it should be doing right now. The "paci" usually is a big player in all of this too.

We went back to our room to wait for Dr. Bensky and he said "Everything couldn't look better." We'll take that any day and thank the Lord for continuous good news and answered prayers!

I selfishly had a question and that was can Ava, Cole and I please leave the house with Matt and at least go out to eat. We told Dr. Bensky we wouldn't get all crazy or anything - just something outside the house and we'll be very careful. We were given permission, but we are still not out of the clear 100%. Thankfully we have a little more freedom to venture out of the house now.


This Thursday is Cole's last RSV shot which will carry us through April.

Dr. Bensky said it looks like the second surgery will possibly be the beginning of June, July or August and for now Cole will see him once a month to see how he is progressing just in case we need to do the surgery before.

We will be back in a month unless there is some new development. Or, if we catch any great pictures, we might post those beforehand.

Giving Thanks,

Laura

Some Updated Pics and a Cardiologist Visit

On Monday, Laura and I took Cole to see his Cardiologist, Dr. Bensky. Everything is looking great according to the Doc - color, size, etc.

His current weight is 11 lbs, 11 ozs. Dr. Bensky commented that he has gained approximately 1 pound per week since he has been at home which has put us on the "fast track" to his second surgery. Initially, we were told that his second surgery would be when Cole was 6-8 months old and the new estimates are that he could be ready as soon as the end of April. This is good news for Cole because it means that he is growing and getting stronger more quickly then they had thought and the bigger and stronger he is, the better he can handle the second surgery and recovery. However, it is not as good for Mommy and Daddy who are still paying hospital bills from "surgery uno."

At this rate, we should have most of the bills paid by the time he enters college. Cole is like Texas....everything is bigger in Texas....his size, his hospital bills, his eating, and his "unusually large phallic." We are now considering ammending his current nickname, "Hoss," into "Hoss Texas Ranger." Any and all feedback appreciated.

Well, Ava is waiting for us to "play in her closet" so we are gonna run for now. God Bless.

Matt and Laura

Second RSV Shot

Laura took Cole in for his second Synagis shot this past Tuesday. Synagis is a series of shots that help ward off RSV. They are VERY expensive and in Cole's case, are covered by insurance, because of his condition. Also, he was born at just the right time to have the shots covered by insurance. This is just another example of the Lord intervening in this situation because when we say these shots are expensive....we mean expensive. As in $1,500-$2,000 per shot and 3-4 shots are needed.

Anyway, the shot went fine. Cole's updated measurements are 11 lbs, 4 ozs and 22.5 inches long. This means that Cole has gained 3 pounds in his first month at home (0.75 lbs/week).

After examining all of the info in Cole's chart, Dr. Cook said "if I did not know he had *insert all heart defects here* I would not know that he was a heart baby with these problems."

Dr. Cook also checked Cole's breathing and commented on how great his color is. This is a big deal because most heart babies look very tan (referred to as a "blue baby" even though they are not blue), whereas Cole looks a normal shade of pink.

The Bible says in James for us to consider it "pure joy" when we face trials because it helps build patience and perseverance. From talking to other parents of babies with heart conditions and seeing many other scenarios, we get to see "what could have been" for us. These people are not folks that have had tragic outcomes necessarily, just more "normal" ones. They have experienced the types of things that the Doctors told us to expect with Cole and thus far, we have been spared. This reminds us constantly how faithful God has been throughout this trial.

Lastly, I apologize for not updating the blog more frequently. Since he is at home and doing well, there is really not all that much to update on a day to day basis. However, rest assured, that if something changes, we will update the blog.

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

One Month Old!

This past Thursday was Cole's 1 month birthday! It seems like it has been 6 months since he was born and since he looks 6 months old and eats like a 9th grader, we tend to lose track of time.

He is doing very well - better than anyone expected. He is holding his head up on his own already and can almost roll over onto his stomach. He is very strong for his age and he will need that strength later on in life. Cole is also very alert - when someone enters the room and he hears their voice, he immediately turns and looks at the person as if to say "can I help you with something?"

Laura and I are trying to find a nickname for him. Ava's nickname was "chubby" when she was young and it later morphed into "Blondie McGoo" since her ears look like satellite dishes on the sides of her head. Well, Cole has these little wrinkles on his forehead that become visible when he raises his eyebrows...so we are considering "wrinkles" as his early nickname. We also like "Wrinkles McGee" and "Hoss." Ava's favorite is "Hoss" because she can say it clearly.

Sleeping is not going as smoothly as it once was. Our plan so far has been that I take the midnight shift since I am usually still awake and that leaves Laura with the 4 am shift. Our thought process was that Laura could go to bed early (around 9 pm) and sleep until 4 am and I could go to bed at 1 am and sleep until 7 am. This plan works pretty well, but sometimes there are "hiccups," pun intended.

Thank you all for your cards, gifts, meals, visits, e-mails, comments, etc......we appreciate it all and it all means so much. We will try to update this blog to keep you all informed.

God Bless!

Cardiologist Visit - Check Up

*DR. VISIT*
This past Thursday, Laura took Cole to see Dr. Bensky for a check up. Of course, everything checked out perfectly. Dr. Bensky commented on how well Cole has recovered and informed us that his second surgery will be in the next 3-6 months. The reason for the variability is because the timing of the surgery will be dependent on how fast Cole grows. The shunt that Cole has inside of his heart is a small piece of gore-tex. Imagine a small cylinder that has a diameter of 0.8 mm. As Cole and his heart grow, the small shunt becomes obsolete. When this happens, they will schedule the second surgery.

*THE SECOND SHUNT*
There has been some confusion on our part about exactly what happens at the second surgery. Initially, I was told that they would put in a larger shunt which I assumed would be just a larger piece of gore-tex similar to the one he has now. I assumed wrong. What will actually happen is that the surgeons will use part of Cole's existing artery to build him another larger shunt. So, there will be a "shunt" and it will be larger, but it will not be synthetic...it will be made out of Cole's artery. I apologize for the confusion.

*GENERAL UPDATE*
Cole is eating like a small village. He eats 4 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours. To put that into perspective, Ava ate 2 ounces of formula every 4-5 hours. So, he eats as much in one sitting as Ava did in 8-10 hours.

For those of you who want an update in the sleep department...I think Laura covered that in her last post. Let me just say that "Senor Sleep" moved out to make room for Cole to move in. Actually, we should not complain because Cole does sleep for 3-4 hour time blocks on occasion and we have friends with 5 year olds that do not sleep more than 1-2 hours at a time. Still, when you are used to "8 to 8" Ava's sleeping habits, it is tough to adjust to anything less than that. Cole will get there too, in time....at least we hope he will...you hear us Lord? Let there be no mistake what the "desire of our hearts is."

Well, I gotta run to the dumpster to throw out the 416,372 dirty diapers that Cole has assembled. We shall talk soon!

MG