Surgery is over!

The doctor came out a little while ago and said that he was pleased with the surgery. He said that he was able to cut out some muscle and extra tissue in the heart. He said that he also cut some slits in the valve to let the blood flow through more. Dr. Harrell said that the pressures in the heart and the gradient are much better now than they were before surgery.

The recovery is going to be difficult as well, but at least the initial surgery is over, but Gracie is still in critical condition. Keep praying and I will be updating her condition as we know more!!

2nd surgery update

I just talked to the nurse about 10 minutes ago and she said she thought that Dr. Harrell was able to repair the valve. She also said that she was still on the bypass machine and didn't know how much longer it would be. but that she would call after Gracie gets off the bypass machine. She said so far, Gracie is doing great and will let us know.

Update and Pictures

The nurse just called and said that they just now made the incision. She said they had trouble getting the central line in and that she was not even on bypass yet, but literally just made the incision. I will keep you updated.

Surgery day!

About 45 minutes ago, they took Gracie into surgery. They are expecting it to take about 5 hours or so, which is a lot less than we expected so we will just have to wait and see. The nurse said that she would try to call and give us updates every hour or so on what is going on and how Gracie is doing. Keep praying and I'll update a little bit more when I know more.

Where did the time go?

Okay, so this is just going to be an update blog. Blogger and the computer are being really really slow today so I am not messing with pictures. Anyway, the summer has flown by and I am back at school already. It was really hard but we are all adjusting.

This summer was a great one. Callie and Kadee did swimming lessons, and me and the girls took a trip with Mom, Dad, and Kristi to Ruidoso which is always fun. Most of all, we enjoyed staying at home, playing, and relaxing for most of the summer.

Gracie is still doing good. We went and got flu shots yesterday. Gracie weighs 11 pounds 3 ounces and has both ears infected. She is a little grumpy but will still put a smile on her face and her face lights up so bright when she sees you. We go to the cardiologist on Friday so I will hopefully update on Sunday afternoon or sometime the next week.

Kadee is in the process of getting potty trained. We started on Sunday and she would not even sit on the toilet. Today she has only had one accident and that was because she couldn't get her shorts off fast enough. I am going to love only changing one girls diapers instead of two when she is done!!!

Callie is growing and always learning. She asks a ton of questions everyday and is always thinking. She keeps me up on my toes for sure! She had her last gymnastics yesterday and is going to play soccer this fall, so we will see how that goes!

That is about all I can think of without boring you. Look for pictures in the next week or so! And by the way happy birthday to one of the greatest nieces, Macy turning 6 today and my cousin Andy's boy Braxton turning 5 today!!!

Too long....I know!

So it has been a month and I know you are probably thinking that I have absolutely nothing to do and should post about once a day or so, but I guess you will have to either excuse me or get over it!! (just kidding)


We are all doing really good. Todd is starting to pick up at work and have to work longer hours, but I really can't complain because he has been at home almost every night by 6:30 or 7:00 at the absolute latest. So far, this summer, we have had a garage sale, cleaned out the house, and I think that is about it. The girls are doing good. Last week I took all of them to the doctor so here are all the stats:


Callie--4years (can you belive that?!?)

• 34 pounds (25th percentile)


• 38 1/2 inches tall (30th percentile)


• Got 4 shots and did really great!

Kadee--2 years

• 24 pounds (30th percentile)


• 34 inches tall (55th percentile)

Gracie--6 1/2 months

• She just went for a weight check and..............(drumroll!)
• 8 pounds 14.5 ounces!!
• Saw cardiologist on 6/12/2009 and he is still pleased with how everything looks and it all is about the same from the check up in May so we are now seeing him every 6 weeks! Yeah!
• We go to get her 6 months shots next week

Hopefully I will get better at posting and keeping the blog updated so that I don't have a long, boring post, if you are still even reading this! Hope everyone is having a good summer. Swimming lessons start July 13th and Callie is so excited! I will post pictures later.

Hope everyone has a good 4th!!!

Brithday Parties to Newest Addition of Tidwell Family

Where has the time gone?!!!! I don't know what I have been doing but honestly, I almost forgot that I have a blog! Things have been pretty busy and crazy around the Tidwell household the last month.

Summer fun!

After getting home, we had a birthday party for Callie since Todd and I were in Houston on her real birthday so she thought she got to grow some more since she had two birthday parties this year.

Cake for a Princess! Thanks Mema!

Kadee just waiting to put her finger in the icing.

The next weekend it was Kadee's turn! I can't believe how much she has grown in the last year and that she is already 2!!!! She is one of the sweetest girls you know. She will give a hug to almost anyone.

The latest last week was that Kadee went to the cardiologist and he said that she still has the hole in her heart but that it is small and doesn't want to do anything but give it time to close on its own. If it doesnt' and this will be down the road, he will close it through the cath lab so it would not be open heart surgery! Good news.

Gracie got her 4 month shots (yes, I know she is almost 6 months!!!) last Thursday. She was 21 inches long and 7 pounds 8 ounces!!! She said that she looked great and did some lab work which all came back looking really good. We also went to the cardiologist Friday and he was still pleased with how everything is looking just wants to monitor her closely in case of any major changes. He still thinks that she will have more surgeries down the road but seems more optimistic on how she will do. Luckily, this time she didn't throw up on him!

Callie got her ears pierced in the last couple of weeks. She kept asking Todd and he finally gave in. She was a real trooper and didn't even cry, but afterward told me and Todd, "That really hurt!!" She wanted to take them out the first night, but now forgets they are in her ears! I can't believe she is getting so big.

And to the last thing, Todd planted the garden and we have some more animals in the Tidwell household (or outside I guess you could say.) Any guesses? ..............................................................If you know Todd, you know he would have one of every kind if he could but the newest animals to the family are 4 chickens!!! Call us crazy (or at least Todd) but he does all the feeding and caring for all animals, so that makes 2 dogs, a rabbit, 4 fish, and 4 chickens!

Hopefully the next post will not be so long awaited. I know how much you all have missed me!!! (just kidding, but I will do better