Cardiologist visit discussing my hole in the heart

So this is the easiest way of letting everyone know what is going on. I have had vertigo episodes since January this year. I finally went to the doctor at the end of June for it. Dr. Beckett said to keep tract of how often they occur and if they go up in frequency then he would order some tests. I called him 2 weeks later because I had 3 episodes in 1 day and a total of 6 episodes in 1 week. He first ordered an EKG. That came back normal. Next he ordered a Echocardiogram with a Bubble Test. The bubble test determined that I have a hole in my heart. They gave me the test results on August 10th and it took until Oct 4th to get in to see the Cardiologist. I also had an MRI done but that came back normal. September 15th and 16th I had two periods of vision loss in my left eye. Apparently that is a sign of having a mini stroke.

When we arrived at the Cardiologist's office, they did some tests. They did a Transcranial Doppler, which determines the flow of blood that goes through the hole. Then they did another Echo and Bubble Test to determine the location of the hole. Then I got dressed and moved to another room for the consult with Dr. Sorensen. The hole is open all the time and when I stress my body it is really open. He said that the chance of blood clots going through is high. Dr. Sorensen determined that surgery should be done (which was scheduled for the next day) however there was a complication. I had just found out this Monday that I am pregnant. That complicated things. They can do the surgery during the second trimester however there is radiation exposure during the procedure so they prefer to do it after pregnancy and breast feeding is over. So I get to wait until after I deliver and finish breast feeding. In the mean time, Dr. Sorensen wants me to give myself 2 shots a day of Heparin for the duration of my pregnancy. Lucky me. If I have another sign of mini stroke and while I am on Heparin, he wants to do the surgery during my second trimester. I am supposed to take it easy and not stress my body as much as possible. That's the update.

1st snow of the year

Today it snowed. I hope this isn't a sign of an early winter. The kids had fun playing in the snow. We went to Lizzy's friends house and the kids had fun making a snowman. I enjoyed talking with Brooke (Lizzy's friends mom).

Mom's visit

My mom came to visit for a week. While we were in Utah we went to Ikea. I bought this clothes hamper so the kids could put their dress up clothes in it. Travis has thoroughly enjoyed playing in it.

You can hardly tell but Travis is in there somewhere.

We went shopping one day and to the zoo another.

We also went to a chucker's baseball game one night. After the game, they had some Polynesian dancers and the last dance was a fire dance. It was really cool to watch.

Julie's House

My mom came up to Utah and Idaho for a visit. The kids and I went to Julie's house for a few days. Tuesday afternoon and evening we relaxed at Julie's house. The kids had fun playing outside on the trampoline and hitting softballs with a bat. Wednesday we went shopping all day. It was fun. Then that evening Julie, Mom, and I went out for ice cream and Dan watched the kids. Thursday we went to Hogle Zoo with everyone. The kids had so much fun seeing all the animals. The Zoo still had a dinosaurs and Travis loved seeing them. Everyone went on the merry-go-round and on the train. Then Mom, the kids, and I drove back to Idaho. We had so much fun.

Helicopter Ride

Eric's work offered to give everyone a helicopter ride. The kids were so excited to go. We got to see our apartment, the temple, the snake river, and other fun sites. Lizzy's favorite thing to see was all the cars driving and the mountains. Travis' favorite thing to see was our home.

Turner Family Reunion

This weekend was the Turner family reunion. We left for Provo on Friday. We stopped at Hogle Zoo for a couple of hours. Then we went to dinner and then met Julie and her family for ice cream. The kids had fun playing on the indoor jungle gym while I talked with Julie and Dan.

Saturday we went to 7 Peaks water park for the family reunion. The kids had so much fun playing in the water. I wish I had pictures.

We left for home Sunday morning. It was a fun weekend.

Our 1st Camping Trip

So we finally went camping as a family. The kids had fun but our weekend was cut short. We stayed 1 night. When we got there, we tried to gather sticks to build a fire but a thunderstorm had just gone through and there was hail all over. So the kids didn't get to roast hot dogs or cook smores. On our way home, we stopped at a dam and took a little hike. The kids had fun looking at the water.