On August 5, we attended two first birthday parties for two heart warriors whose families we got to know over the past year. It was so wonderful to see how loved these little boys are and how their friends and families came out to support this great milestone. It made for a busy day, but we were grateful to be there for the celebrations.
On August 6, we had Ripley's birthday party at Pacific West Gymnastics. Party planning is not my favorite activity because the art of the RSVP has been lost, people often cancel last minute, and then you have prepared and paid for people who don't show up. I frequently get frustrated with planning events for these reasons, though I knew that celebrating Ripley's birthday was a special occasion. The coach who was at the party was Madison's former gymnastics coach. She has four children, two of whom have CHDs. She is such a strong mom and brought me a lot of comfort through her words and prayers when I was pregnant with Ripley.
August 7 was Ripley's actual birthday. It ended up being a very stressful day for a few reasons separate from his birthday: 1) I officially decided that I would give notice to resign from the law firm I work at and 2) I had a client whose son with a CHD passed away as a young adult due to complications from open heart surgery. I was already feeling emotional about it being Ripley's birthday as that was marked a very exciting yet stressful day for us a year prior so adding on those other events made me a bit of a wreck.
Ripley went for his one year well check on his actual birthday. His O2 levels were at 98%, which is good. He currently weighs 21 lbs, give or take a little bit...he wouldn't allow us to put him directly on the scale by himself so my husband had to be weighed on the scale and then hold Ripley to get his weight. His pediatrician says he is developing just fine.
I am proud that Ripley and I were able to make it to one year of breastfeeding/pumping. This is a feat that is not possible for many moms with CHD babies. I was even blessed with enough milk supply that I was able to donate milk to Mother's Milk Bank, which benefits NICU babies. Between my two children, I was able to donate over 300 oz. I have decided that my nursing relationship with Ripley is at its end and the past few days, I have been weaning him off the breast. It is very bittersweet because I will miss having this bond that no one else has had with him and will ever be able to have again, yet I am ready to have more freedom and have others be able to help in feeding him.
Now that Ripley is one year old, I look forward to many more birthdays and milestones. He still is not walking, but his pediatrician says it's just a mental thing and he is physically capable of doing so. She imagines that he will walk and then start running soon after. I hope we are ready for this!
In two weeks, we are off to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday, Ripley's belated birthday, and Ripley's heartiversary. We also will be celebrating some exciting new developments in my career. This will be an exciting year with many changes for our entire family.
On September 10, we are so excited to participate in the second annual Superhero Heart Run in the Bay Area. Last year, we were unable to participate because Ripley returned from UCSF for his open heart surgery the day before the run. This year, we are excited to celebrate his first heartiversary (four days after) with the run. We feel blessed that several families already have joined our Team Running for Ripley to spread CHD Awareness and we currently are the #2 team for fundraising for the cause. I look forward to seeing a lot of other heart warrior families, many we have met and some whose stories we know of already. The families we know who participated last year in Ripley's honor said that it was a lot of fun and I so look forward to this event.
If you would like to join Team Running for Ripley at the event, we would love that. If you are unable to make it and would like to support this cause, monetary donations are much appreciated: https://www.
On September 10, we are so excited to participate in the second annual Superhero Heart Run in the Bay Area. Last year, we were unable to participate because Ripley returned from UCSF for his open heart surgery the day before the run. This year, we are excited to celebrate his first heartiversary (four days after) with the run. We feel blessed that several families already have joined our Team Running for Ripley to spread CHD Awareness and we currently are the #2 team for fundraising for the cause. I look forward to seeing a lot of other heart warrior families, many we have met and some whose stories we know of already. The families we know who participated last year in Ripley's honor said that it was a lot of fun and I so look forward to this event.
If you would like to join Team Running for Ripley at the event, we would love that. If you are unable to make it and would like to support this cause, monetary donations are much appreciated: https://www.
Sending lots of love and prayers your way, Shannon! Sounds like you have a bit of a personal transition coming up, and I wish you the best as you move to new adventures career-wise. Congrats on your amazing breastfeeding story as well; I know that's an emotional transition on it's own. I'm sorry to hear that Ripley's actual Bday was a bit stressful, but am pleased to hear that he's growing so well and that he got to share his birthday week/month with some other special heart heroes. Have a fantastic time in Disneyland and as I'm REALLY hoping to be out and about by the Heart Run, we will see you then if not before!
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