A letter from the Kohl's

As some of you already know Stephani and I had our second son Davis James Kohl on Wednesday July 20th. As some of you might not be aware of Davis was born with some complications. Davis has Complete AV Canal defect with his heart. Basically his heart is not fully formed correctly. As you know a heart has four chambers that oxygenate and circulate blood to your body. Davis' heart chambers do not have the full development of the individual chambers. The interior walls that separate the chambers have not fully formed and joined in the middle of his heart to form the four chambers. They call this a "hole in the heart" because of this he has needed to be on oxygen, not a machine to help him breathe but an additional oxygen supply to allow his body to get al the oxygen he needs. So the good news and the bad, with surgery in the next 6-8 months his hear should be fixed and only need minor ongoing maintenance surgeries during his life. The bad news is hat he has to have heart surgery and with any surgery there are risks and concerns. They are waiting to perform the surgery so his heart can grow larger and stronger. If for some reason there are additional complications they can do the surgery at any time, they just prefer to wait. The surgery is one that they do a lot and is pretty routine for infants with this defect. Davis is currently still in the NICU at the hospital and is getting the best care possible. We do not know a definite time when he will be able to come home but we and the doctors that are taking care of him are hopeful that it will be sooner apposed to later. In addition to his heart defect, as if it wasn't enough, Davis has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome. We do not know the severity of the diagnosis and we not fully understand the full severity of the down syndrome until he is older. Currently, Davis is no longer on oxygen and is beginning to nurse and eat from a bottle in quantities that the doctors and nurses like to see from infants with his diagnosis and age. He is improving every day and we are hopeful he will be able to come home soon. Stephani is recovering quickly from her c-section and has been walking since 24 hours after the procedure. She is a champ and we have been visiting davis daily a couple times a day when possible. We will continue to visit him and be with him multiple times a day until he his discharged from the hospital and is home. We will be starting an ongoing update website that will allow Steph and I to keep everyone up to date on his progress and share pictures when possible. If you would like to receive these updates please send me your email address and once the site is up and running you will get update alerts. We appreciate everyones thoughts, prayers, and support that we have been getting and continue get. I apologize for the late update on Davis condition but things have been as you can tell a little complicated and busy.



::: I love my sister and her babies! :::

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moose tracks

Love this little babe!

Davis update: He got taken off the oxygen today! ... Then put back on it ... but he's still doing great. Took a bottle in 15 minutes (used to take 45 just 2 days ago). Got put on the list of people who can visit him without a parent present today so I went to his 8pm feeding. Changed him, hung out with him, cheered him on through his bottle, then held him till he passed out in full on milk coma! So nice to spend quite time with my nephew, but I did miss the bonding time with my sis. I can't believe how amazing he is. Tonight was the first time I've seen him open his eyes super wide and just hang out. I think his extra 21st chromosome just makes him extra adorable! 

"Love doesn't count chromosomes"

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Davis James

My new nephew is perfect. Still in the NICU, but perfect.

 
It's been a busy week with the arrival of nephew #2. My sister is doing great, and Davis is thriving more and more every day! As the amazing sister and Aunt that I am (hehe), I've been taking the late night shift to spend some one on one time with my sis and her babe. Sleep deprived yes, worth it, totally.

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sx^3

Spent today at Nashville Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center -- Wow. Super impressed by their caliber of employee and their attention to thorough care. (And their apparent superiority at MRI machines). Got my appt with Dr. Byrd and was completely pleased with his POC (plan of care) and his overall demeanor towards my not typical pains and ails. The 3rd MRI for my hip finally showed that the problem wasn't just between my ears. The office physical therapist spent some time pulling, yanking, and testing my muscles. The office nurses gave me this fabulous anesthetic injection to numb my entire hip joint capsule then I ran on a treadmill for 5 min .... PAIN FREE ... for the first time since Feb. Whoa. Right, so sx scheduling on joint #3 to commence sometime this week for a labral tear and possible bursectomy.

And oh, hotel coffee after a long weekend of west coast coffee is NOT acceptable. Just FYI.

drinking blue bottle co coffee 

a bucolic adventure

 Just got settled from my San Fran/Ally Adventure. It was spectacular. Really could not have asked for a better trip. And realizing more and more everyday how thankful I am for the moments with the few people in my life that I can just be me around.

Wine Country

 

A bucolic adventure indeed -- yes, I looked up the word because it was written in one of the winery brochures and I like new words. We did a good handful of tours there, a few in Calistoga and the others in Napa. In between 'sips' we crashed a spa and had some great meals and some pretty amazing coffee. (Clearly the coffee is important here, as it is everyday in my life).

Back in San Fran we did just about everything we could on foot. Walked to bfast, lunch and dinner .. and dessert! Did some super touristy things --- like eat my fav animal fries from In-N-Out, visit the sea lions in the Wharf, sundaes in Ghiradelli Square, and pics at Crissy Field in Golden Gate Park, even though there was no bridge to be seen in all the fog. All in all, great vacay, and great friend :)

... meh ...

I was going to update my blog for the week and fill you all in on all the happenings: the good, bad and annoying ... but then I really lost motivation and went and did a JM work out instead. 

And thanks to LVR via her friends Google+ account (which yes, I'm now using Google+) I was able to find all the Jillian Michael's workout vid's for free :) 

So, if you're interested:

here it is

So I got in a good workout and now I'm attempting to plan my next 14 days of crazy!

Monday & Tuesday I'm working late.

Wednesday I'm working then fly to San Francisco

Thurs-Saturday planning on causing all kinds of chaos in the bay with Ally

Sunday afternoon I fly back to GA

Monday I work all day then drive to Nashville

Tuesday I'm spending all day at Dr. Byrd's office .. (he's kind of a big deal)

Wednesday I'll be back in GA for the birth of my new nephew, Davis James

So yea, expect radio silence for a few days .. I'll still try to post the occasional photo via my 'blogger droid' app, but no promises for those of you who hang on my every word on here. (Ha!)

my best days are ahead of me

Seriously, let's talk about having your day made ... Sitting with a brand new walk in patient in the back of the clinic when this (below) is delivered to the office: 

 

  

So of course the office starts buzzing and getting super excited and because I have sonar like hearing abilities I immediately look up and start tuning in. Then they tell me it's for me!?! Knowing that I have the greatest boyfriend ever, I instantly start blushing -- which is not an easy thing to make me do. Unfortunately this was not oh look she's pink blush, but a full on red in the face, ears burning, can't hide the smile type blush. 

Mega bonus points with the office and especially with the girlfriend. Well done, boyfriend!

Oh and so just when it was looking like Chelsea-6, July-0 my desktop dies!?!?! Ordered a new cheapo laptop like 10 min ago .. if it lasts 8 months I'll be ecstatic!

Also, in case in one was wondering I also completed a full 20 min Jillian Michael's video that I snagged of my comcast on demand for free. The pro's to this is that it was free and I got a good/decent workout out of it. The con's ... I am WEAK & found that yes, my hip does still hurt.

it's warmer when you're waiting, it feels more like july

July.

I have no beef with July... Except that it means 2011 is halfway over?!?! When did that happen seriously!!

2011 has been pretty amazing to me. Passed my NBCOT exam, got my GA OT license, began my job as a real hand therapist (!), got closer with my family & some new friends, reunited time zones with some old friends, and finally pulled my head out of the sand and told the boyfriend how I feel about him.

So July, huh.

Well, so far I've been fairly impressed with what it has had to offer. A cabin getaway with good family and close friends, an Independence Day of Abigail and hanging with the Roberts (and a few of their closet friends), and today is my cats 2nd birthday. Happy birthday Sir Lexicon!

Things that is be okay with changing in July: my current workout abilities, ie the hip pain that has been plaguing me since Feb's 10k, the fact that I'm breaking out like a 14 year old girl all over again -- chalking that one up to humidity, lack of exercise and stress, and this stupid heat rash on the back of my leg that I haven't had since I was 10. (Not that any of you need to know, but as a kid I would get heat rashes in my knee and elbow creases that I would spend all summer scratching).

So my plans to celebrate july aka 1/2 way to 2012: well I head to san fran next week for a 4.5 day getaway with my favorite law student. Then I hit up Nashville to see the southeasts best hip doctor. (Thrilled about a 7am appt that's 3.5 hrs away). Then Davis, my sisters second son will be here!!!! And as if July could handle any more excitement, I also plan on starting to get back into some kind of normal exercise routine again... despite the hip pain ... and to help with that whole "self improvement" plan, ill be in increasing the amount of cooking I do and limiting myself to 2 beers a week --this does not exclude the vodka tonics, thankfully, but will decrease the # of calories that I consume!!

Okay, July, let's do this...starting tomorrow of course :)

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