Chuck E. Cheese

Mema's Christmas gift to Caleb was a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese. Here is a picture of Caleb riding in the car with Chuck. Chuck E. Cheese has two of Caleb's favorite things: pizza and car rides.

Merry Christmas!

Here is a picture of Caleb playing with the bus that he received from Santa. Santa visited Caleb in spite of the fact that he is embracing his Terrible Twos right now.

Christmas Breakfast

Laura prepared chocolate and banana pancakes for Caleb and me Christmas morning.

Caleb was unimpressed.

Graysen at 32 Weeks

This is a picture from Graysen's ultrasound yesterday. He is four pounds and is growing well. We did not learning anything new yesterday. The doctor cannot confirm which artery is small (aorta or pulmonary) and cannot confirm if it is connected to the heart or not. In either event, Graysen will require an artificial artery. If it is a small pulmonary artery, they will do the Rastelli procedure with a homograph. If it is a small aorta, they will do a modified version of the Norwood procedure. Due to the fact that both procedure require an artificial artery to be inserted, Graysen will require at least three surgeries. One will occur at birth, one at approximately one year old, and one around 5-8 years. There may be a fourth depending on if they can put in an adult sized artery at the third surgery. The number of surgeries arises from the fact that the artificial artery will not grow as Graysen grows. We are hoping that the small artery is the pulmonary artery because it is easier to fix and has better survival rates than a small aorta. This was our last cardiologist visit until Graysen is born. There is nothing more that they can do until he is born. Now the focus is shifting to predicting labor and delivery to ensure that we arrive in Charleston on time. The induction is scheduled for January 28th, but both of my ob's in Spartanburg (routine care and high risk) are skeptical. They are not sure that I will make it to week 39 because I only made it to week 37.5 with Caleb. For Graysen's sake, we are hoping that he delivers on the 28th. He needs to be as fat as possible since he will not be able to eat until after the surgery. So, I am taking it easy to help keep blood pressure down and help prevent contractions.

Christmas in Tennessee

This past weekend Lee, Caleb, and I went to Tennessee to celebrate Christmas with Lee's family. We had a lot of fun. This is a picture of Caleb riding his new bike that Papa gave him.

Our next pediatric cardiologist appointment is Thursday. We will not get any news at this visit since all decisions will be made at the time of Graysen's birth. However, I should have a new picture to post of Graysen after the visit.

Gastonia Christmas Parade

On Sunday, Caleb and I went to the Gastonia Christmas Parade with our friends, Emily (pictured), Lisa, and Todd. It was a lot of fun. Caleb loved watching all of the cars, trucks, boats, vans, and buses. (Vehicles are his current obsession.)

Caleb in the Morning

Do you think Caleb will ever forgive us for putting this photo on the Internet? He was just too cute this morning.