Medical updates!

First of all we want to thank everyone for all your support and prayers over the past few months! Anthony has covered from open heart surgery with flying colors! He was back at work 2 weeks after surgery, starting to run 2 weeks after that and now "getting back into triathlon shape". All of his precautions were lifted 10 weeks after surgery and thankfully he listened to me and the doctors and let his body heal before entering training mode. Except for his fresh scar down the middle of his chest you would have never believed he had just been through such a extensive surgery! His goal is to do the Texas Iron Man triathlon in May 2013 (swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles)! Amazing to think what you can do if you put your mind to it... A full ironman 14 months after open heart surgery! He is truly an inspiration to me daily. (remind me of that when he is training 15 hrs a week, working full time and we have a newborn at home!)

Cindy, Anthony's mom is also doing fantastic! She has been such a trooper though her whole ordeal! After a week I the hospital she was discharged and came back to OKC. A few weeks later she was back at work and doing physical therapy for her shoulder. In times like this you really realize how fragile life is and to what really matters.

I'm sure most of you know but Anthony and I are expecting our first child on October 14th. We are beyond excited and can't wait for it to finally get here! I was pregnant over a year ago and lost the baby at 8 weeks so we were a little cautious after seeing the positive pregnancy test. Thankfully, because of my past miscarriage, my doctor wanted to see me ASAP for blood work to check progesterone and other levels so I went to the doctor 1 day after the positive test. All my levels were right on tract so we were excited but still hesitant. We went for our 8 week appointment and 1st ultrasound 2 days before Anthonys surgery and he told my doctor " I'm more nervous for this appointment than me heart surgery in 2 days!!". Seeing our sweet tiny baby and the heart beat was amazing! I was beyond excited! Every appointment since then has gone great and the babys heart rate has been between 160 and 180bpm. This past Wednesday we went to our 20 week appointment and ultrasound. Right away we had to tell them that we do not want to know the sex of the baby and she said she would just have us turn our heads when she "gets to that point". The ultrasound was seriously the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. We could see every single vertebrae, 10 fingers and 10 toes, stomach, heart, brain, everything! I was in awe! The baby was moving quite a bit; putting both hands up to its mouth, stretching it neck and opening its mouth. Somehow Anthony and I both managed to keep our heads turned away and we didn't find out the baby's sex. The babys heart looked good on the ultrasound but due to Anthony's history I will be having a fetal echo (echocardiogram) just to make sure there are no defects. Anthony has had numerous echos but a fetal one is new to us so I'm not sure what to expect. October can't get here soon enough!