New Family Blog

Hi guys

So we now have a new family blogspot I would like for you to check out. I will still be posting on Brynlyn's with her developments, health issues, etc. But the new family blog will be where I'll be posting most of the posts that have to do with the kids, us, life in general.

The blog is: MSJensenFamily.blogspot.com

I consider this a big step in the right direction for the Jensen family.

Thanks for your love and support and for checking out the blog. It's therapy for me and I'm grateful to have people reading it. It helps me to feel as if I'm sharing this experience with others.

I can sit myself up

This is HUGE news!!! Thursday we had a fantastic physical therapy session with Monica. Brynlyn was just rockin' and rollin' and really showing off for her. So it completely wiped her out for the rest of the day. BUT...she was super close to being able to pull herself up from the lying down position. Her left arm is stronger than her right so far and so if she's on that side, she just needs a little nudge and up she goes.

What's so great about Brynlyn is that she's so smart and it only takes one time to show her something and then she's trying to do it. It may take a little while for her to get it, but she knows just what to do.

So tonight, she was playing on the bed with Daddy. This is a nightly ritual that Brynlyn just loves. And she was kind of leaning on Mike and up she went. She just pushed off of her arm and sat herself up.

And then this morning, I woke up and looked over to Brynlyn's crib and she was already awake and sitting up and waiting for me to wake up and come and get her. It was sooo sweet!

This is so huge for developmentally and we're thrilled. Now, we're working on her on hands and knees (doesn't care for this too much.) But we're working every day and building her endurance. She's army crawling right now, but crawling on her knees is the next big step for her.

I'll keep you posted. But Hooray for Brynlyn!

Diagram Links

Here are the links to the heart diagrams that I posted below. These pictures helped me to see the important and distinct differences between a healthy heart and a Truncus Arteriosus heart defect.

Healthy Heart: www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/normheart.htm

Truncus Heart: www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/partrun.htm

U-M CVC - Truncus Arteriosus

U-M CVC - Truncus Arteriosus

Hey guys,

Check out this webpage if you want any information on Brynlyn's heart condition. It's still fascinating to learn about all of the things that were not formed correctly on her heart and it's amazing to see how they all work together. The body is such an amazing vehicle and every healthy baby is an ABSOLUTE miracle, especially now that I see firsthand all of the things that can go wrong during development, etc.

But of course, there is a PLAN in all things...yet, it's still interesting to learn about all of this.

July 8th: Sleeping in my stroller

July 8th: Brynlyn was hanging out in her stroller and eating her lunch while she was watching me do my hair. And eventually she just fell asleep. Sweet baby! We just love her.

My Aunts Love Me!

These are 2 of my Daddy's sisters: Kristen and Kim. And they love me like crazy! When they were here visiting last weekend, it was great because between these two Aunts, I never had to be put down! They played with me and gave me tickles on my toes with their long, pretty nails. They held me and rocked me and even sang fun songs to me. It was so much fun playing with them. I hope they come back soon!

I love my Aunt Kristen and Aunt Kim!

July 4th: Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day!!! God Bless America!!!

June 29th: 1st Birthday Party!

Scenes from Brynlyn's 1st Birthday Party. She thought it was great fun and she thinks she needs a party like this every month!

June 29th: Brynlyn and Granda

Brynlyn loves her Granda! These darling pictures were taken at Brynlyn's 1st birthday party on June 29th. We reflected that day in how far we've come in a year and about the many miracles that we witnessed with Brynlyn during this year. It surely has been a year of many blessings in trials. And we are grateful for these experiences because of the many things we have learned and for all of the ways we have grown stronger.

June 23rd: More swimming!

So I love these pictures of Daddy swimming with the girls. And I'll probably end up with one million pictures of the girls in the swimming pool is summer but they're just too cute and it's too much fun to resist taking these pictures. Brynlyn is doing really well and feeling great these days. We are enjoying her health right now and grateful for every healthy day that we get!

Happy Summer Swimming!

June 20th: Jackson Monroe

Brynlyn and cousin Jackson Monroe. To put this into perspective, Jackson is 4 months old. He's in the 90% for weight and 75% for height. Brynlyn is in the 1% for height and weight. Jackson, you cute boy, can Brynlyn borrow a little bit of your chub???

June 17th: Nana Curtis

This is the first time Brynlyn has ever met her Great-Grandma Nana Curtis (Mike's Mom's Mom.) Because of all of her hospitalizations and immune system issues, we've never been able to take Brynlyn over to meet her great-grandparents. And Nana and Bompa are not well enough to come over and visit. So this was a real treat for her to meet them on Father's Day.

June 20th: I can eat!

This is the first time we are every able to start feeding Brynlyn because of her laryngotracheomalacia that she has had since birth. As she grows, her ability to eat correctly improves. So instead of the food going down her trachea and her "aspirating" her food into her lungs, the food can now go down her esophogus and into her stomach. We are starting with thicker stage 2 food, just not lumpy foods. Because of the thicker consistency, the food is able to slide down easier for her. So far she is loving it and things are going well.

Each week Sarah Hales, our speech therapist, comes to work with Brynlyn on eating. She feels that Brynlyn is make tremendous progress with the fact that she even wants to eat and expresses interest in it. So far, it appears that she has no oral aversion. Wahoo!

June 20th: I love swimming!

Swimming with Brynlyn is so much fun, can I even tell you. Her love of the water is already apparent. She isn't able to be out there too long because the heat causes her heart to work extra hard. But the water is great for buoyancy because she isn't supporting her entire body weight so it actually gives her heart a rest. Hmmmm....Catch 22!!! So we'll compromise and take her swimming in the morning before it gets too hot. She loves it!

June 17th: Father's Day

Happy Father's Day 2007!

June 14th: Swimming with Grandma Sugar

All of the grandkids love playing with Grandma Sugar. They loved this day with her by the pool.

So much fun! We love Grandma!

June 9th: Brynlyn's 1st almost dip in the pool

This was Brynlyn's first time out at our pool ever. I think she was really unsure about it at first, but seemed to like it just as long as Dad had a firm grip around her waist.

The Heart & Lung Institute Group

The top picture: Susie and Brynlyn with heart surgeon Dr. John Nigro.
The 2nd picture: with Dr. Nigro, Stacey Grohall (Nurse Practitioner with the surgeons), Dr. Steve Choi (Cardiac Intensivist for the new cardiac floor).
The 3rd/4th picture: Getting an echocardiogram
The 5th picture: Hanging out on the bed, feeling so much better

The billboard

So this is our billboard located by the hospital at Central and Thomas. This was so much fun to be a part of. We were thrilled to be asked. When we went back in for surgery, we would say that Brynlyn was there on her "publicity tour." ha ha Go check it out! And say "hi" to my fan club that might be living underneath the sign. =)