Luca is doing MUCH better!

Just a quick update to say that Luca is doing MUCH MUCH better today...still has some cough but that's actually good to help clear up his lungs... We still have to give him antibiotics for a few more days and that's it... So Tuesday his ped gave us the green light to go ahead and travel overseas.... YAYYYYYYYYY, we are sooooo happy!!! We can't wait to see our lovely family and friends...

After all the catching up, preparing luggages, doing piles and piles of laundry, etc etc etc we are ready to go... Not looking forward for the lonnnnng hours inside a plane and airports (especially with this swine flu going around), but it's going to be all worth it!! ;o)

I'll try to keep updating this blog from Europe...

Love to all,

Heloisa

Luca was hospitalized over the weekend with Croup! Poor little guy! ;o(

Well, well, well... just when we thought that we could use the weekend to finalize our last minute details for our big Europen trip this coming week....Luca came down with croup... It was 2 AM on Saturday morning when Luca woke up crying, with difficulty breathing and a bit of a dry bark like cough... I called the pediatrician on duty and he told me to turn on the hot shower and let him breathe in that steam for a few minutes...and he told us that if this would not help we should then take him to the ER... Well, we did that and he did not get any better so, there we went for a lovely trip to the ER here in Corona...

We got there by approx 3 AM and thankfully there was nobody there, we were called in right away. They examined him and told us that he likely had croup, an upper respiratory inflammation caused by a virus... normally kids 3 mo to 5 years old get these! But where did Luca get it? Most likely at the doctor's office when we went in on Friday morning to get his 12 month shots...See, we go in for something and leave with something else...unbelievable...In the beginning we had actually thought this was some strange reaction to the shots he got on Friday (MMR, Varicella and Pneumococcal).

What an experience to sit inside an ER cubible for 4 hrs... you hear everything, you feel your neighbors' pains, you suffer for your child tremendously... crazy stuff... There was a lady down the hall from us that must have said this phrase about 1 million times repetitively: "My side hurts an awful lot, my side hurts an awful lot, my side hurts an awful lot...."... poor lady, but she drove us insane too ;o)Anyways, after those initial 4 hrs they've decided to admit Luca for at least one more night to keep him under observation given his medical history! ;o(

WHAT, admitting him??? I was NOT ready for that at ALL again... I thought we've had our fair share of hospital life for a GOOD while... but gotta do watcha gotta do, I suppose... So here we were again at a hospital environment... Luca dressed in this little hospital gown AGAIN, with an oxygen saturation light stuck to his toe AGAIN and a long wire attached to it that brought me memories from CHLA...but this time it's all good, part of childhood, I guess.....

Once we got admitted, they put a humidifier next to him, gave him a bronchiodilator thru a nebulizer, a dose of antibiotics and a dose of an anti-inflammatory...they also suspected the beginning of pneumonia thru the x-rays so that's why they gave him antibiotics... Doc told us they are seeing a LOT of croup cases in the last few days here in CA...possibly due to the up and down weather we've had in the last few days! Who knows....

So we spent the night there and were discharged today, Sunday, at 6PM...Approx 40hrs later Luca is doing better but still with a very congested cough...my poor little guy ;o( He came home still on the nebulizer, antibiotics and an anti-inflammaroty...for at least another 5-10 days...We are also concerned because we are supposed to leave for Europe on Thursday... So now we will go back to his ped's office on Tue to see if he gives us the green light or if we'll have to cancel/post-pone everything...We'll have to simply wait and see...

And what about this swine flu now? We are even concerned about that now too... and being stuck on a plane for 14+hrs with people coming from all corners of the world scares me a bit too...

Well, better go get some rest now...

Ciao ciao and hugs & kisses to all,

Heloisa ;o)

Good Luck Baby Max & Happy 1st B-day Too!!

Baby Maxwell McGilmer was born on 04/23/08 and was also diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot at birth... His mom and I have "met" thru the online support group for heart parents here in So. California... We have not yet actually met in person but we've been communicating by emails and phone calls... It's amazing how much we share in common with so many other heart parents...

Tomorrow, Tuesday, 04/21/09 at 6:30am CA time, Max will have his repair surgery at the same hospital where Luca had his surgery...Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Please help us pray and send positive thoughts for sweet Max to also have a very successful surgery and for a super fast recovery...

I have donated blood to him this past saturday...such a pleasure and an honor to be able to "pay forward" to another special little boy...

Also HAPPY 1ST B-DAY TO MAX on Thursday... we are sure he will be already doing great by then!!!

Max, you will be OK, please go ahead and get well soon so that you and Luca can finally meet, play together and show off your scars and your brand new breavehearts to everyone!! ;o)

Our love and best wishes to the McGilmer Family!!

Heloisa, Gaetano & Luca ;o)

Sweet Baby Max - 11 months old...

Max with his mommy Basia and twin sister Kaya...

Max and Kaya at Easter...

Very cute baby boy!! ;o)

Max with his daddy Chris...

I Love My Mended Heart!! ;o)

To celebrate the 5th month of my 'mended heart', I wore this beautiful "I love my mended heart" onesie that my Grandma Silvia hand made for me...

I LOVE this onesie...


Big smiles...big cheeks too...

Seriously now, mommy...are we really going to have another one of your photo shoots where you follow me around????!!!!

Please noooooooooooooo, I'm going to cry...

Mamamah...dadadah...nananah...nineninenine....Babbling away...trying to say I want no more photos...

Happy again... Looking at something interesting...note that my knee is red from crawling around like crazy... and my forehead is bruised from bumping and falling into everything... ;o(

And more crawling...

With my dear friend Mr. Lion King...

Giggles-giggles and more giggles...

Ohhhhh, angel hair... and braveheart!!!! What a lovely combination ;o) ;o)

I can pull myself up now... anywhere I can... It's nice to watch the road outside...

And I love it...

Off to opening drawers...

Trying to scape...

Mommy, quit following me...I wanna do my own things...

I'm gonna pull this out... No, Luca, don't do that...

I did it...

Wow, nice, there are some colorful things in this bathroom...

Yeahhhhhh... I love exploring drawers...

Daddy got me... no more messing around now...Look at my face, I was not too happy...put me back on the floor daddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...............

Some Moments in March 2009!

Just 'me' being 'me' this month....


Spring is here... ;o)

Let me pick these flowers...

Hopefully I am not allergic...

Hypnotized by Elmo.... I don't even blink...

Hi guys...

Mommy, you are so funny...

Playing around...

Looking at something...

Mommy likes to tickle me...

Playing with my daddy...

Something was really funny again...

Looking straight at the camera...

I'm a happy boy... even though I still make several grunting noises when I want things that my parents do not understand... I wish I could talk already...

Playing with my red clapping hand...

I can climb this fence... wanna see?? ...Coming soon...

Watching tv while mommy gets ready in the morning...

Eating this turkey hot dog looking thing for toddlers... it looks horrible but I actually like it!

Reading a book with a b-day hat on...not sure why my mommy put this hat on me...

Playing with magnetic toys at the fridge...

Jumping in the jumper...

Me and my red ball...Red is still my favorite color... I love everything that is red...