HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!

I have the BEST mom anyone could ever ask for! My brothers and I are the LUCKIEST kids to have such an amazing, caring, loving, devoted mom who bends over backwards for everyone!! She's ALWAYS there when I need her, she's ALWAYS doing anything and everything to help Nick and I out with Elli when we have appointments for Briggs. She is always willing to babysit when we ask. She is just the GREATEST!!! She lives in Lincoln so we see each other A LOT! I love you mom!!! Her birthday was Wednesday, May 27th and we celebrated at Grandmother's with margarita's and great food!

Briggs is Bilateral!!!

Briggs left ear activation was Wednesday. They set him up with programs and sent us home. We went back yesterday and they did sound booth testing and he showed great response. They adjusted his programs a little and we are to test them over the next month. They feel very confident that he is close to where he needs to be on his left side and they don't want to be too aggressive since everything is louder having both ears anyway. So we don't go back for a month and we are to gradually play with the volume and programs. Now that he is implanted and we don't have all this crazy running around and appointments every week I'm VERY excited to really concentrate on "teaching" Briggs and developing a routine for every day.

Elli's 4th Birthday!!!

Elli's birthday celebration started on Friday (22nd) with her WONDERFUL Chocolate Milk Grandma (my parents are chocolate milk grandpa and grandma, because she always has chocolate milk when she's at their house and Nick's mom and step-dad are merry go round grandma and grandpa Chick, because they have a merry go around at their house). My mom's birthday is the day after Elli's so every year they go do something special (aka. my mom spoils her :). This year they had lunch at Arby's (Elli's choice) and then they went to Target and Elli left there with all sorts of goodies. Then they went back to my mom's house to play for a while.
Elli's birthday party was Sunday, May 24th and she wanted a butterfly party this year. We had fun finding butterflies to decorate with. We had home made ice cream and cake. Our families came and she had a great time! She even got a new bike from her Merry Go Round grandma and grandpa Chick!

Picture of the cake table.

Elli blowing out her candles. I couldn't find the candles so we had to use matches :)

Opening Presents

More presents...

Her new Barbie bike from Merry Go Round Grandma and Grandpa Chick

Her actual birthday was Tuesday, May 26th and it started with breakfast at Village Inn. We dropped Briggs off at daycare and Elli and I went for breakfast. We had a great time! Then we did a little shopping, and after that headed to HyVee to pick out treats for her daycare birthday party. Then we headed home to get dad and go pick up her friend Macey. Nick and I took Elli and Macey to Champions Fun Center. The girls had a blast! They bowled and played games and played in the balls and got to pick out prizes with the tickets they won. After about 4 hours at Champions we went to Pizza Hut. That's where Elli wanted to go eat. She opened her presents and we had pizza. Then we headed back home so the girls could play. It was a REALLY great birthday for Elli and it was nice to spend the day with her and give her all of our attention!

On our way to Village Inn

Waiting for our food

Elli and Macey in dads truck on the way to Champions

Elli and Macey playing the Clown Game

They loved this game!

Pizza Hut!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Elli enjoying her cookie

Boys Town Memorial Day Run

I made it!!!

The sun is SO bright!

My new shades they handed out for finishing the race!

Getting ready for our run - I mean WALK :)

On Monday we participated in the "Boys Town Research Hospital Memorial Day Run". All of the proceeds went to the Lied Learning Technology Center for cochlear implant, hearing impairment and vision disorders research. The Lied Learning building is where we go for all of Briggs C.I. appointments. We participated in the "1 mile Children's Fun Run". It was a gorgeous morning and we had a lot of fun. Elli and Briggs both received ribbons after crossing the finish line. Elli also got her face painted. We plan to participate in this event every year.

I've Been Tagged...

My friend "Catching Up with the Christie's" tagged me to play this game. You're supposed to do the following.

1. Open the 4th picture folder on your computer

2. Open the 4th picture and post it to your blog

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 4 people to do the same

So here is my picture.... a few years ago we decided to remodel our bathroom and this is one of the "final results" pictures. Not to interesting, however the story behind it is a memory. The remodel took less than 2 weeks and that included tearing up the floor (the entire floor - we could see down to the basement), stripping out old tile, vanity, sink, toilet. Tiling the floor, plumbing, the back splash (which was my project), installing new sink and toilet and in the middle of all of it Nick got influenza. Oh yes, the week long HORRIBLE influenza virus. He was SO sick, but got Tamiflu from an Urgent Care Clinic and recovered quicker than usual and got right back to work. We also broke Elli of her pacifier that weekend. We figured since we're staying up all hours and making a ton of noise (a pin drop woke her up) we figured no better time to let her stay up late and be so tired she wouldn't need her pacifier to fall asleep. She was also almost 2 years old and she was potty trained so it was definitely time.

I don't know who to tag. :)

Today is the day!! Briggs will be bilateral!!

Today we head back to Boys Town for Briggs post-op and left ear activation! I still remember almost a year ago (June 17th to be exact) Briggs was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss and we were given this huge envelope with information of cochlear implants. What is a cochlear implant??? Then after A LOT of research we couldn't WAIT for Briggs to turn 10 months old but it seemed like an eternity away! Now we're here and today he'll be BILATERAL!!! I'll post more tomorrow.

We had a VERY fun weekend and celebrated Elli's 4th birthday yesterday! I forgot my camera but will post pictures tomorrow.

Fun Weekend and Week Ahead!!!

Yay it's Friday!! Elli's birthday is this coming Tuesday (May 26th) and Sunday is her family birthday party. We are making homemade ice cream (my all time fav) and having cake and cupcakes. She wanted a butterfly party and it has been fun finding cute decorations with butterflies (I'll be sure to post pictures next week).

Monday morning the kids, Nick and I and my parents are headed to Omaha to participate in the "Boys Town Memorial Day Walk/Run". There is a Children's 1 mile Fun Run (which is what we're signed up for), an Adult 1 mile Walk/Run, and an Adult 5 mile Walk/Run and all the proceeds go to the Lied Learning Technology Center (this is where we take Briggs for all his C.I. stuff, activation, follow-up appts., etc.) for Cochlear Implant Research and treating hearing impairment and vision disorders. I'm REALLY excited to participate in this and following the walk there is all kinds of kids stuff set up (face painting, snacks, activities, etc.). Now that things are starting to settle down a little (aka. no more surgeries!!!!!!!!!! pre-ops, keeping Briggs in a bubble etc.) I'm really looking forward to getting more involved in the community and the seminars, benefits, etc.

Tuesday is Elli's 4th birthday!!!! It makes me happy, sad to look back on the past 4 years. It has gone SO fast and she is such a neat little girl!! God has truly blessed us with amazing kids. She is a very mature, smart, happy, loving, caring little girl. I took the day off on Tuesday and when she wakes up we'll take Briggs to daycare and come back home to make breakfast together. Then we're going to pick up her friend Macey and go to Champion's Fun Center and then take the girls out to eat at Elli's restaurant choice. I hope to make this day very special for her and give her all the attention. She has been SO great with dealing with Briggs getting all this attention throughout his surgeries and I just feel so grateful to have such a great little girl!

Wednesday we head back to Omaha for Briggs activation!!!! YAY!!! 4 more days until he's bilateral!!!! That is also my moms birthday and so when we get home we're going out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and Briggs hearing with both ears.

We have a lot of fun things planned for the next week and I'm very excited for it all!!

IT'S OVER!!!

Well the surgery is over and the implant is in and I PRAY and PRAY that we will never have to return to that surgery floor again! Surgery was only supposed to last an hour and a half and ended up being over 5 hours!! I was a nervous wreck and paced the tiny hallway for over two hours at one point. He went back at 7:50 a.m. and was supposed to be back to us around 10:00 a.m. and didn't get back to us until 1:20 p.m.! This was supposed to be the shortest surgery and ended up being the longest! We are so thankful that we have a surgeon who is very meticulous and takes his time and doesn't rush through the procedure.

There was a lot more scar tissue than he had expected from the surgery done 3 weeks ago and so that took longer to remove. The implant went is very smooth and all the fluid that was seen during the first surgery was gone so that was great news! Then he went to do the cochleostomy and noticed that Briggs' cochlea was formed correctly but tilted or turned or not positioned correctly or something like that... there was a problem with his cochlea. So that took a little longer to maneuver around. Then he went to do the cochleostomy and experienced a "gusher". This means that his ceribal spinal fluid came through the tiny hole that was drilled and that is not a good thing. BUT it was a very tiny leak and he got it stopped right away and spent a lot of time sealing the hole. The opening that is drilled is 1mm and the electrode wire is .8mm so you're dealing with a VERY small amount of space and he said you're basically taking a tiny needle and packing tissue around the open space. So that took a majority of the time. They hooked up the device and checked the electrodes and his nerve responded beautifully so that was GREAT news! The audiologist called me and said that often times with a gusher they have to send stronger impulses to get the nerve to fire back but they didn't have to do that with him. His nerve responded right away and perfectly!! Dr. Lusk assured us that he did not have a "gush" of fluid and it was VERY minor and he spent a lot of time focusing on the seal and just watching it to make sure no fluid came through. He also said that Briggs produces scar tissue fast and that will also seal that hole tighter. Please pray Briggs does not have problems with this!!!

It's taking him a little longer to recover from this surgery but that is to be expected b/c he was under longer and just had over 3 hours of digging around in these 3 weeks ago. He's definitely getting back to good ole Briggs though!!

Thank you all SO much for your continued prayers and support! The hard part is over and now the fun, amazing, rewarding part of watching him hear and talk is beginning!! He is doing amazing!!!

He is activated next Wednesday!!!

Surgery #3

Briggs is scheduled to have surgery this coming Tuesday, May 19th to implant his left ear. The procedure is 95% complete and all Dr. Lusk has to do is drill a little bit bigger hole in the mastoid and place the implant. They place facial nerve monitors and audiology also comes in to test the implant before they close up so it'll still be a 1 1/2 to 2 hour operation but that is MUCH better than 4 hours. I can't believe it's time again but I also want it over with more than anyone knows!! Please pray he stays healthy and this surgery is the last one!! Surgery is scheduled for 8:30 and we are to arrive at 7:00.

Update

Well Nick got Elli's stomach flu. We just can't win in our house. I feel like I'm about to loose my mind. Between everyone but me being sick non-stop and Briggs whole surgery fiasco and appointments every week... I need a BREAK!! I'm PRAYING and PRAYING and PRAYING that Briggs will stay healthy, his surgery this coming Tuesday is a success and life gets a little back to normal starting June 1st! Briggs post-op and first two activation appts. are scheduled for May 27th and 28th and Elli's 4 yr. and Briggs 1 yr. check-ups are May 29th and after that we shouldn't have to go back to Boys Town or doctors offices for a whole month! YAY! As great as they all are there, I need a BREAK from it all! He of course will have teaching visits every week but those don't count. I enjoy those and they come to our house. :-)

On a VERY great note... Briggs is doing AMAZING!!!!!!!!! He is 6 weeks post activation and he is responding to sound ALL THE TIME!! It's just SO great to watch him and when he's doing something he shouldn't and his back is turned and I say, "Briggs, no, no" he turns around, looks at me and gives me his "oh no, she caught me" grin and stops. I have a video that I'm not able to attach b/c I don't know how and it's a 1 minute video with Briggs responding to my different sounds 3 times!!! He is responding to the ling sounds and definitely showing intuition in his vocalizations. He's waving hi and bye when you ask him to, without showing him the action first. He's also making a "vroom" sound and does his motor boat sound when he picks up a car and drives it across the floor. All the professionals are amazed at how well he's doing and we are too! It's an amazing journey!!

Briggs has his pre-op today and we go to Omaha tomorrow for his appt. with Dr. Lusk. Please pray there is no fluid and he's feels confident going into surgery. He has a C.I. surgery scheduled every week until July and I don't want to wait that long! Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday.

Briggs 1st Birthday!!

Briggs birthday was Wednesday, and of course it was filled with chaos. We started out the morning with pictures. I took the kids by myself and got some GREAT pictures! Briggs 1 year and Elli's 4 year. I'll have to try to post them. Elli looks SO grown up in her pictures. Then we stopped by work for a brief visit. Briggs was waving to everyone and showing his smile. It was pretty cute. Elli was pretty whiny, which is not like her and kept complaining all morning of her stomach hurting really bad. So we bee-lined out fast and got home so I could quickly pack the diaper bag and Briggs lunch so we could head to Omaha for an afternoon of appointments. The kids both fell asleep minutes into the car ride and I even mentioned to Nick that it was relaxing to finally have a pause and quietness from my non-stop morning. Well, we were about 10 minutes from Boys Town and Elli wakes up and says her tummy hurts REALLY, REALLY bad and then she starts crying a little and pukes EVERYWHERE!! All over her clothes, in her hair, in her seat, on the seat belt. It smelled SO bad! So I crawl into the back seat to try and clean some of it up with Briggs wipes, although I can't use all of them because he had diarrhea from his antibiotic they put him on after surgery. LUCKILY we were close to the hospital. So we pull in and Elli gets out and we take her clothes off. I of course had no extra clothes for her b/c I never need a clothes change for her (I've learned my lesson). I did have some towels in my trunk and I ran in to the hospital to get it wet so we could finish cleaning up the mess that was all over my car. I literally was in there for 1 minute and when I walk back out it was pouring! So there is Nick standing outside of the car, holding Elli's Dora umbrella over Briggs and his head. It was funny and I wish I'd had my camera. Meanwhile, Elli is crying in the car because she's cold (no clothes on) and wants me to be with her. So I run in for Briggs post-op appt. while Nick and Elli sat in the car. I was in there for an hour. Dr. Lusk dug and dug in the ear and Briggs was screaming and pretty much choking on his saliva. Dr. Lusk wanted to be sure the fluid was draining so he kept putting drops in his ear and digging around. Then he had to remove the steri strips from surgery. Briggs was NOT a happy camper. So I cancel his audiology appt. so we can get Elli home. I get back to the car and Elli wants me to sit by her. So here I am wedged in between these two car seats smelling vomit and to top it off Briggs cried the ENTIRE (1 hour) way home. When I sit in the back seat next to him he wants me to get him out and he kept hitting his ear so I'm sure it hurt from all the poking and prodding. So we got home from the hospital and both kids took a long nap!! Elli woke up and wanted to try some soup, took two bites and threw up ALL over the kitchen floor. She threw up again a few hours later (this time in the toilet) and dry heaved one more time a little while later (she had nothing left in her tummy). Briggs woke up, he opened his presents and then he was in his swing in the backyard enjoying the nice weather, and ate a cupcake. So he did have an enjoyable birthday in the evening!! Yesterday he had a party at daycare and got alot of nice gifts from his daycare friends. Tomorrow is his birthday party with our families. It's a good thing he doesn't know any different at this age b/c if he did he might mark this birthday as one of his least favorites. :-) We go back to Dr. Lusk next Thursday to check the ear.

Happy 1st Birthday Briggs (tomorrow)!!!!

Briggs 1st birthday is tomorrow. I have the day off and in the morning I'm taking the kids to get their pictures taken (Elli will be 4 on May 26th). On our way home from that I'm going to bring the kids into work to show them off (everyone has been wanting to see them and of course I love showing them off)! Then we head to Omaha for an afternoon full of appointments (Happy Birthday Briggs!). I am excited to do more testing on his right ear and talk to the doctor about what all happened last week. I was so upset and in shock the day of his surgery and now everything has had time to soak in so I have a lot of questions I need to ask. Then I think we'll go out to dinner or take him to the park so he can swing. He loves to do that!

I wish so much that I would've kept a journal during his 1st year... everything we've been through, everything he's been through, all of my different emotions. I was very sad in the beginning, but I really blame alot of that on my post-partum hormones and the unknown (I don't do well with the unknown). Having absolutely no experience with hearing loss and having no clue which way to turn but wanting to do EVERYTHING we could for him and not knowing what to do was VERY, VERY hard for me. No one wants to hear there is something "wrong" with your baby. But once I realized there was nothing "wrong" with him and we just have to walk a path we've never walked before, I was MUCH better. Whose to say we're all "normal". Everyone has something "wrong" with them. My husband and I accepted his hearing loss pretty much right away. It is what it is and we can't make it go away so we have to deal with it. We realized very early that there is no reason for us to be sad about it and the last thing we ever want to do is make Briggs and Elli and everyone for that matter think there is something "wrong" with him and that he is different than normal hearing people.

Briggs is such a neat little guy and everyone who meets him, falls in love and wants to take him home. He is very laid back and has a great attention span and has been the most cooperative, patient baby throughout all of his appointments. He literally just sits there and watches as they all do their thing. The other day he got a sliver in his hand and I had to take a needle and tweezers and he just sat, very still and watched, and studied everything I was doing. He didn't budge or fuss once while I was digging around trying to get it out. I don't know if he's just used to it or if he has a high pain tolerance. I was just amazed and that is how he always is!

Briggs has touched many lives and will continue. Elli has been amazing throughout all of this and loves her brother SO much! We have an amazing support base and SO many people who love Briggs to pieces. We have truly been blessed with two AMAZING kiddos!!

His brithday party is this Saturday! I'll post about tomorrows appointments and his brithday with pictures on Thursday.

Surgery #2 Pictures

On our way to the hospital

In my jams!

Playing with my cars

I kept throwing them... I was in a good mood!

Cars and trucks are his new favorites.

I drank 11 ozs. of juice after surgery! Then I peed on my mommy and daddy.

Tuesday morning

This cupboard keeps me entertained for hours!