Very Thankful.... for friends, family, and of course poop! (read on, your find out why)

Tears come to my eyes just knowing all the supporters and prayers for Wyatt and we are very thankful for that. Family and friends that you know personally support you, but also the friends that we met along the way throughout Wyatt's journey are there for us and we thank you so much... I hope you know we are there with you too. Thank you to Wyatt's blog friends, Jack, Drew, Elli, Wyatt (from Canada), Claire, Sofia, Par, Skyla's mom, Carter, Kaden, Liviana and others for being there because YOU know what it is like! Thank you to Wyatt's past surgeons Dr. A and Dr. C for sending nice messages even though you are far away:) Thank you for Wyatt's current surgeons Dr. L and Dr. T for doing a fabulous job last night during this emergency. Thank you to all his nurses and doctors in the PICU for making Wyatt so comfortable. We are so lucky.

Wyatt had a pleasant, uneventful night, therefore he was extubated at 6:30am and they just rolled away the ventilator machine. He is currently on a nasal cannula on 1 liter stating 100%. When I arrived this morning, his nasal cannula's were out of his nose and he was still 100% Yeah!! Wyatt!!! His heart rate remains in the 150's and his normal is in the 140's so that's not too shabby and respiratory rate is in the high 30's which is great for him!! He was on a Fentayl demand dose drip for pain management, but I noticed while he was sleeping that he was making silent cries about every 5 min, so the nurse made it a continuous drip. He is currently at half of the required dose so he has room to have more if he continues these silent cries. Pain management just stopped by and said that if need be, it can be increased. My goal for him today is to sleep and be pain free as he is healing. During the last surgery recovery period, he was on a fentayl pain drip and it made him itch alot... it turned his face red, so I am hoping we find a fine line of making him comfortable but not letting him itch. The game plan for today is to remain in the PICU and allow Wyatt to rest. Very little blood is draining from his chest tube and his foley catheter was just removed. His ng tube is also draining very little contents from his tummy. Wyatt was very clogged up... over night he had three very large bowel movements and after that he started trying to grab his feet! I never thought poop would make me so happy, he felt such relief from this which tells me that everything is working like it should. It just makes me wonder how long has he had this obstruction and reherniation??? I am sitting by his bedside and watching him sleep... during his silent cries, I whisper in his ear happy thoughts. Benji will be coming soon to take over the next shift so that I can go to my parent's house to spend sometime with Chloe this evening.

Chloe is such a trooper through all of this. Last night during her prayers, my little 2 year old girl told my mother that she wants God to help make Wyatt better. Isn't that so precious. She is such a good little girl.

Finally, only in the Wyatt Koger fashion... I had to bring in books, stuffed animals, make a sign, and photos of our family to jazz up his crib. I just called Benji and asked him to bring in the mobile... can't forget that!!:)

My camera battery is charging... so pics to come soon.

Just talked to the surgeon...

Wyatt's surgery was a success. Only one incision was made and he found part of the bowel was in the chest looping and kinking. They caught it just in time... if we were to wait, I was told that part of the intestine would "die" and no longer work. Well, we thought Dr. Lau was joking but he actually was not. He was creative when making the patch.. he used wire, gortex, and alloderm... plus Wyatt's 3 patches. He said he used everything and it was a "very fancy patch!" Well... I hope this very fancy patch stops everything that does not belong in his chest. We are just waiting now for him to come out of the OR. Dr. Lau said that Wyatt will sleep for the rest of the night and they may extubate him tomorrow. So off to the PICU we go!

Update on surgery

The OR nurse just updated us that Wyatt is doing fine. Dr. Lau has him on his side and opened and they are just starting the repair. It took a while to start because they could not find IV access so they had to put in a central line. So it looks like a long night ahead of us because they also have to make a second incision to repair the obstruction. Thank you for all your support and prayers.... we really appreciate it and your e-mails and comments make us smile as we are sitting here in the empty waiting room:)

Emergency Surgery

The results of the CT scan showed part of the stomach and maybe a little bowel in the chest... some how it herniated even though he has three patches in him.... not only reherniation, but bowel obstruction which is causing the immediate discomfort that Wyatt is having and calls for emergency surgery. After we learned of the results things happened so quickly. We were were quickly whisked upstairs to the 7th floor to the empty OR and dressed in gowns. The team worked so quickly to put Wyatt to sleep... lots of hustle and bustle. We talked to Dr. Lau and Dr. Torres about the surgery, kissed Wyatt (he was kicking and screaming... it was sad:(() and we left. It is really different around here after hours. Usually we check in with the receptionist at the OR waiting room and the OR is crowded with surgeries. It's usually very formal... but not tonight... we are the only people here... it's very quiet and we have the entire waiting room to ourselves.... it's weird.. very different from the past planned surgeries. This time, Wyatt decided to have surgery on a Saturday night during Labor Day weekend. CDH is such a roller coaster of a condition. I always planned my life and through this entire experience I have learned to take things one day at a time and to pack for a hour, a day, a week... just prepared!!

Please say many prayers for Wyatt... we will update when we hear the updates from the nurse. Surgery is going to take several hours... they are going to make two incisions. Thank you.

update #2

The docs also decided to do an IV contrast as well as throught he g-tube. We just got out of the CT scan and we are waiting for the results. Wyatt was strapped down so tightly like a mummy... I felt so bad for him, but now he is sleeping soundly. They also just did a blood culture and a special IV to equalize the acid in his stomach. Stay tuned for the results...

update

Ped. Surgery came by and would like to put a contrast in the g-tube and do a CT scan to figure out exactly what is going on. So we are waiting for them to take us for the CT Scan. I have been wanting this for a long time, just to get some answers. Stay tuned...

Guess where we are.........

no it's not a Labor Day picnic, it's not the zoo or state fair in which we were offered free tickets...it's the pediatric ER at Hopkins. Wyatt had an extremely fussy night. He usually sleeps from 8pm until 6am with the exception of last night. He as awake and crying most of the night, arching is back and could not get comfortable. This morning he vomited dark brown blood three times and we also noticed his abdomen and feet swollen. So off we went to the ER. Thank goodness my mom and sister spent the night last night so they took Chloe with them. The ER was wonderful and took us right away and have been very attentive to us. They took 3 x-rays, blood work, he is on an IV, and flushed his G-tube. So far, he has a slightly elevated blood pressure, high white blood cell count- 28,000 (which is his normal), and is a little acidotic. They are taking a urine sample, rectal exam, and more blood work. The ER docs are going to meet with the GPS team and make a decision of what to do.... we will keep you tuned...

miracle

Vicki, Jack's mom wrote this on Jack's blog and it also gave me chills. Her blog post reminds me of how lucky I am to be Wyatt's mother and that I had an opportunity in my lifetime to experience a miracle...... the birth of Wyatt.

One day when Jack was having a really bad day the Catholic priest that baptized Jack, Father Gilberto, came by to visit us. He looked at Jack then at my Uncle Len (who was visiting) and I. He said, "You may ask how our God could allow such suffering of the innocent. God chose you to be Jack's mother. You're strong enough. Maybe God has allowed this experience so that you can experience a miracle in your lifetime."

A Summer's End Picnic

Today I decided to take Chloe, Wyatt, and our dog Abby to my parent's house an hour away since Benji was busy for most of the day. My parent's house was the home in which I grew up and I had the BEST childhood. My grandmother lives next to us on my Dad's side and my Uncle, Aunt, and three cousins live in other other house next to them on my mom's side. I was surrounded by many family members, friends, and a loving family. I enjoyed playing outside when I was younger using my imagination, building forts in the woods, playing in the garden, swimming in the pool, watching the deer outside, and playing in our "park". (the trees in the slide show... can you spot the deer?" Tonight we decided to have a cook-out and eat dinner outside. It was a lot of fun watching Chloe and Wyatt play with my parents, Grandmother, and my sister and her husband. I am hoping to create the same wonderful memories for Chloe and Wyatt so that they can have a happy childhood full of creative imaginative play with a loving family.

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Discovering Nature....

Our neighbors... Collin and Braden

I just love to see when kids discover something for the first time. They find beauty in everything. I would normally be overlooking this sunflower until I found Chloe investigating it for a while. So we had a mini lesson about flowers!

Playtime Outside

Last night, we went outside to play before bedtime. Benji's parents gave Chloe an awesome playhouse for her 2nd birthday! It's so cool... it has two doors, two windows with shutters, flower box, two little stools with a shelf so they she can make "lemonade" and a little front porch with two tiny benches. I love just watching her imagination soar when she is playing inside of it. She loves it and we really appreciate the gift. Chloe also had a lot of fun discovering a sunflower in our garden. I planted a vegetable garden this year and nothing but weeds are growing and a few sunflowers. I think my green thumb disappeared during pregnancy and never came back:)) Wyatt had fun playing with our neighbors.. he laughed, waved hi! and enjoyed watching everyone.

Family Time

Boyds Bear Country!

Chloe and I inside a Longaberger Basket!

Joe Cool... relaxing with his foot up!


Making a basket.

On Saturday we decided to go shopping for shoes for Chloe at the Gettysburg Outlet which is about 1/2 hour from our house... it's perfect... they have a Stride Rite outlet, Carters, Children's Place, and Osh Kosh. We bought Chloe tennis shoes and Wyatt winter outfits that snap in the front and no feet (they are hard to find). Since they were only $7.00 I bought four of them! Wyatt is growing like a weed!! While we were shopping, we ran into Wyatt's neighbor in the PICU while he was at Hopkins!!! Small world... they don't live in our town or in Gettysburg so we thought it was neat bumping into them. Their little girl looks great and is doing well. We reminisced about the "old days" in the PICU. They were with Wyatt during his toughest moments before and after the BIG surgery.

After shopping (Benji even got a few things... everyone but me!!)we decided to go to Boyd's Bear Country since it's right around the corner (a suggestion from our night nurse). I am not really into decorating my entire house with bears or baskets (I do have a few and they are nice) but I thought it would be neat for the kids to see BEARS EVERYWHERE... big ones, little ones, medium ones!! We also saw a giant stuffed zebra, elephant, tiger, and moose (I think this was Chloe's favorite). Well we decided to go on their busiest day of the year because Longaberger Basket was visiting with a huge festival. Wow!! There really are some basket and bear fans out there... the place was mobbed and people were spending serious money on baskets and bears!! We did NOT spend money... we just looked at all the bears:))) Finally having family time on the weekends... it is so nice.

Another CDH baby born...

Letters to Catherine- A different perceptive of writing a blog about a baby about to be born with CDH.

Our prayers are with Baby Will's Family

Baby Will passed away late morning. His blog shares his story of his fight for life and the huge impact that he has left on so many people.

Chloe's First (major) Boo Boo...

We were taking our family walk last night and now that Chloe is "too big" for the stroller, she insists on walking... or running. She was running down the side walk and feel on her face. I had Wyatt, so Benji quickly picked her up and held her the entire way home. She has a scrap on her eye and knee.... poor Chloe:((

Wyatt made his first court appearance today... I had to go to traffic court for a 43 mph ticket in a 25 mph zone... I was hoping not to pay my $90.00 ticket... well it so happens that I ended up paying $90.00 plus court fees... $25.00... it was more than the actual ticket!!!!!!!!!!!! Wyatt was so sweet and good during the experience and the judge did not feel sorry for me at all:((((( maybe next time I'll bring Chloe too:))) It's just not my year for traffic violations!

Happy 1st Birthday Jack!

Jack Jensen is one year old today. Jack's parents have been our mentor and friends through our entire CDH experience. Jack had a severe form of CDH and was on ECMO at Hopkins shortly before Wyatt. Jack's parents educated us so much about CDH and gave us the strength and hope for Wyatt's future. Jack and Wyatt shared many of the same doctors and nurses in the NICU and PICU... they even reherniated at the same time (I think the boys planned it that way so that they could see each other!) Jack is a little miracle and his parents are strong advocates for CDH... I know we are not the only family they have touched. There are so many other families around the world that Vic, James, and Jack inspire, support, and care for. Thank you Jack for coming into this world! We love you! Read Jack's Blog Here.

In other CDH news... Baby Will needs many prayers... his veins and artieries are too small to support ECMO and he is currently on the vent. Read his blog for updates.

Welcome Baby Girl Reed to this world!

Another blog that I enjoy to read to Mt. Hope, a family living in the country in Oregon. They live such a simple happy life. The other blogs on her site are interesting too! I got it from Simple Mom blog.

Finally, my sister finally updated her blog with some cute pics of Chloe and her! Check it out!

Dutch Wonderland

We took Chloe to Dutch Wonderland, an amusement park for young kids with my high school friend Teaette, her husband Joe, and their daughter Haley and their twins Joey and Taylor. We had a great time... our first ride was a really fast spinning turtle ride and after that we stuck to nice quiet boat and train rides. Chloe had a great time and we enjoyed spending time with our friends!

Look Who is Sitting Up!

Wyatt is becoming such a big boy! His first tooth is coming through and he is starting to sit up on his own. I know the Boppy pillow is there, but it's just to catch him when he is a little wobbly. We are so proud of you Wyatt! Beside Wyatt is our wonderful nurse- Susan who constantly plays and interacts with him all day and loves to take him for long walks. We is progressing so nicely because of her hard work!

Two CDH Babies....

Just too exciting!! Two CDH babies are being born NOW!!! Check out their blogs for minute by minute updates and their progress. Many prayers for them.

Baby Girl Reed

Baby Boy Will

Chloe's Birthday Party! Today's party was brought to you by the letter "C" and the number "2."

Today was a great day! Chloe had her 2nd birthday party. We decided to keep it "small" and invite neighbors and friends that had kids her age. We also invited Tracey who performed at our local library this summer. She sang songs with the kids, used puppets, had a parachute, and even made balloon animals. She was awesome for small kids and kept the party so orderly and fun! Chloe had a great time with her friends and we appreciate her friends for coming to her party! We also blew bubbles and played pin the nose on ELMO...our theme for the party was Sesame Street since that is Chloe's favorite... especially ELMO!

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Other CDH Blogs

Big prayers for Baby William. William is expected to make his entrance into this world on Monday!!! How exciting... their parents from Georgia are temporarily living in Philadelphia to deliver at CHOP, a hospital that specializes in CDH babies (we looked into it, but Hopkins was closer to us). Read their blog for updates.

Also, another CDH mom contacted me today through e-mail telling me about another baby expected to be born at Hopkins. Her daughter, Ella West who is cute as ever, was born in July with CDH and is still on oxygen like Wyatt. Read her blog for more. Our prayers are will Ella as well. Jaske's
(a CDH baby) mom is expected to give birth at Hopkins on Monday as well.... big prayers for her too.

Tastefully Simple

My friend, neighbor, and Wyatt's nurse from Hopkins just became a Tastefully Simple consultant. She is a wonderful person and was and still is extremely helpful to us concerning Wyatt. I recently had a party at my house. The order/party is not closed yet, so if you like to order, no matter where you live in the USA, the products will be shipped directly to you. Just look on the Tastefully Simple website and e-mail Heather- HeatherTS@hotmail.com with your order (by Tuesday). It's really yummy and easy to make!!

Shh.... Don't tell Chloe...

Chloe loves Sesame Street so to surprise her for her party tomorrow, Benji and I stayed up late to make these ELMO cupcakes! We used my nifty Pampered Chef icing syringe??? to make the icing look like fur, orange gum drops for the nose, marshmallows cut in half with the sticky side up for the eyes, and chocolate chips for the eye balls. I hope she likes them!!!

Chloe turns 2!

On August 15th, our little girl turned two years old. On her actual birthday, we celebrated with just us and she got to eat her favorite meal... a McDonald's Happy Meal. We finished by making a sundae and she blew out her candles. Two years ago, our life changed dramatically for the BEST! Having Chloe and Wyatt in our lives is awesome and we are so lucky. Chloe is growing to be such a young lady and we are very proud of her. We have a small party planned on Sunday with just her friends around town... more pics to come after Sunday!!