New Giveaway!!!!

Click here to learn how to win a fabulous nursing cover and some of these yummy suckers! For every person that enters this giveaway, one of Mimi's old school friends will donate money!
Don't miss out on this one! I've heard these suckers are amazing and for any nursing mother these covers are a lifesaver!
Thanks and good luck!

Happier Than Ever

I thought maybe it was time for another update on little Miss Mia! Mia will be 7 months on the 8th and what a remarkable 7 months it will have been. All in all she continues to do well. She still has frequent appointments at Children's Hospital but she is off of a few of her many medications.

She unfortunately still has the feeding tube or "torture tube" as her mom calls it. They are working on her feedings and trying to get her to tolerate formula. She is happy to give smiles freely and frequently and continues to melt the heart of her family and all the doctors and nurses that still see her!

I thought this was an adorable picture as apparently she has recently discovered her thumbs and her knees! Plus diaper only baby pictures are always so cute.
Mia continues to grow and learn thanks to her second chance at life. There are so many people who have supported and prayed for Mia and her family and I just want to again say, "thank you". And to all the wonderful families out there who have so graciously and selflessly given of organs to save another, thank you! Words don't quite do it justice but it truly is an amazing and remarkable gift.

One Day At A Time

Here are some new pics of sweet little Mia. I had the chance to go to one of Mia's weekly appointments on Weds. and let me just say, "wow!" I got a small glimpse of what Mimi's life is like trying to take care of Mia and all her needs and then being home and having 2 other children and a husband and home to care for. That woman is amazing! She has so much on her plate and handles it all so gracefully and makes it seem effortless. I know it's not effortless and some days she is just getting by but she truly is one remarkable mommy,as I'm sure most heart mommies and others with serious medical conditions have to be.

Mia's appointment went pretty well. There were some minor hiccups...i.e. a long time waiting, no lab orders and a low battery for her feeding tube to name a few. We worked through them though and it was wonderful to spend some time with Mimi and Mia again.

Here is a picture of Mia getting her echo. If you'll notice she is looking at the screen, watching her angel heart! It was precious to see!

Mia is still on many meds and I was amazed at how Mimi could just rattle each one with it's dosage off the top of her head. Mia is getting stronger and bigger with each day. If I remember correctly she was just over 12 pounds at her appointment. Life for the McDonald family may not be a piece of cake all the time but I know they are enjoying being together as a family once more!

Mia was back in the hospital.

Unfortunately after Mia's appointment on Friday she had to be readmitted to the hospital. Fortunately it wasn't too major...her sodium levels were lower than they should be so they kept her over the weekend to give her some supplements until the sodium levels improved. I know it was hard for Mimi to back there with Mia but Mimi did say Mia is doing great I believe they got discharged yesterday. All in all she doing well. Hopefully all her levels will soon get balanced so there will be no more hospital stays. Thanks for everyone's continued support and checking up on Mia!

Picture of Mia enjoying the baby swing!

A late congratulations to Stephanie, who was the winner of the necklace giveaway!

Miss Mia

Mia was featured in the Puyallup Herald on Christmas Day and the Tacoma News Tribune yesterday. Here are the links to read about her story. I thought it was well written and very informative!

For Mia, a gift of life and love

http://www.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/580407.html

Dozens of Northwest children need heart transplants
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/puyallup/story/580262.html

Mia enjoyed a nice Christmas with her family. She is still on many medications but is happy nonetheless. Her mommy, Mimi shared some nice words that I thought I'd post:

The best thing about Christmas was being home, and being home with this little babino. She is such a sweet baby and is the best Christmas present I could have ever asked for. Christmas is a great time to think about what is important to you and reflect on how blessed you have been throughout the year. I doubt there will be another year like this one. We have been through so much together as a family and are strengthened because of it. I don't take life for granted and I hold that little sweetie pie knowing what a miracle it is that she is alive. Also, I think of her donor family and how they are feeling on Christmas day. I hope they can feel of our gratitude to them. We are incredibly blessed, and have seen many miracles. I now know a greater level of Joy because of Mia. I have a better understanding of the atonement and what the savior did for all of us. Christmas will never be the same for me.Thank you to everyone who has done so much for our family this year. We could not have made it on this journey without many of you!! Merry Christmas to you all!!

Check out those cheeks!

How can you not smile when you see that adorable face. Mia has come so far and endured so much and is as cute as ever. Her doctor's keep teasing Mimi that Mia is a steroid baby and that is why she is so chubby. That may in part be true but if you have seen Mimi's older children as babies you will remember they were also chubby. Oh I how love the chubbiness on babies! Mia is doing pretty well. They are still trying to tweak some of her meds to get them just right. Apparently she has a horrible diaper rash and has had blood in her stools so they are trying to figure out the cause of that. All in all though Mimi says Mia is happy and doing great

and I know they are enjoying every minute with her!
Only a few more hours for the necklace giveaway!

Update on Baby Mia

I know people are probably wondering about the lack of updates but sometimes there's not much new and I haven't seen her in awhile so I don't have new pics to post. Mia is doing well though. Just adjusting to life at home and the weaning of meds (especially pain meds). She is fussy many times, likely due to the weaning process. Her appointments are going well and her brother and sister are completely enthralled with her. They are enjoying this Christmas season as a family and are grateful for all the blessings they have been given by our Heavenly Father, especially Mia's donor angel! There are still a few days left on the necklace giveaway and others have contacted me about doing giveaways so watch for those! I hope everyone knows how much their help and support is appreciated. The McDonald's are so grateful and awed at everyone's kindness! Merry Christmas!

A picture of Mia at home!!

Mia has been home for a week now. I've heard it's been quite an interesting week. Adjusting to meds and feeds and appointments back at Children's on Mon, Weds and Friday and then a visit to the ER Thurs night. Mia was just constipated (which is what her mommy suspected) but to be safe her doctors wanted her to go in. As soon as they got to the hospital she let it all out, soaking her car seat and of course her clothes. Thankfully that was all it was and she got to go home again! Here's Mia with her grandma (Mimi's mother). She is an amazing woman who has given so much support to Mimi and her family through this difficult time! I love Mia's chubby cheeks in this picture. It looks like her hair (that had been shaved for a previous IV) is starting to grow in also. The McDonald family is enjoying their time at home and have said they can't seem to put Mia down! What a wonderful gift for them to be all together again!

New Giveaway

A friend of mine makes gorgeous jewelry. Necklaces, bracelets and earrings and decided to do a giveaway to benefit Baby Mia! Many of you know Mia is home and doing well but there are still many expenses! The giveaway will be for this necklace pictured below! Click on the picture to be directed to her blog for more info!
http://www.jenwebleydesigns.blogspot.com/

Thanks to all who have hosted a giveaway and everyone that has donated for them! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Congrats to the quilt, baby bjorn cover and crayon roll up winners!

New Family Picture

Here is a new family picture! I love how happy they look! It seems they are starting to settle into somewhat of a routine. Things are still sometimes hairy and chaotic and there are still medicines that will need to be changed and altered as they see how she does but overall Mia is doing well! What a wonderful time of year to reflect on how blessed Mia is and how blessed we all are! There is another baby (one of Mia's former roommates) that has been waiting for a heart who received one a few hours ago. Please pray for her and her family also! Miracles happen when we all come together! Thanks for everyone's continued thoughts, prayers and support that have been given to the McDonald family.

Mia's King 5 News Interview Link

There were a few errors in the news interview...i.e. it's only been almost a month since she received her heart transplant, not 3 months! It was still a nice interview though and so wonderful to see them at home as a family!

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=311439

King 5 follow up interview tonight!

Mia will be on KING 5 news tonight, December 8th at 5pm for a follow up interview. Tune in if you are able otherwise I will post a link as soon as it becomes available!

Mia is 5 months old!!!

That's right Mia hit her 5 month mark today. Thankfully she is finally home. I don't think anyone, especially Mia and her mommy could have handled being in the hospital much longer. Mia's family is obviously thrilled she is home. The evening she arrived home her big brother said, "Mom, now we can finally be a happy family!" A happy family they indeed are but there are definitely some learning curves. They've had some long nights administering meds, scheduled feeds and trying to place her feeding tube that fell out the first night. They've had some chaos but happy chaos now that they are all home together!

Mia is home!!!!!

Mia made it home yesterday evening and is doing great. It will take some adjusting to her feeding and medicine schedule but she is home with her family and loving it I'm sure. For the next little while she will have 3 weekly appointments/tests that will last hours each time but they will now have many more hours of family time in their own home! As you know, Mia's immune system is suppressed so it couldn't hurt to pray that she will not catch any colds or bugs (especially with how prevelant they are this time of year)! Thanks again for everyone's continued support and love of little Mia and her family! Hopefully I'll have a new picture of her at home soon!

Video of Baby Mia's interview is up!!!

Here is the video clip of the interview! Enjoy!

http://www.komonews.com/news/35449449.html?video=YHI&t=a

Mia's News Interview Airs Tonight!

I'm working on seeing if video of Mia's interview is available. Currently it is just the text story.

http://www.komonews.com/news/35449449.html

Mia's followup story will be aired today, Tuesday the 2nd at 5pm and again at 6pm! Mimi said Mia was very cute in the interview but wasn't giving up many smiles! I will post a link as soon as it becomes available for those who don't have access to that channel. http://www.komo4news.com/

A Blog Face-lift, A Mia Update, A New Giveaway, And A News Interview!!!

A HUGE THANKS to LeeLou Blogs for the adorable facelift Mia's blog was given! It's super cute and totally customized for Mia. Feel free to checkout http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/ to see all her great stuff!

Update time: well everyone's favorite little Mia continues to grow and smile. She continues to progress and we are so excited that she gets to go home to her family on Friday!!!!! Can you believe it? One sad note, she failed her suck/swallow test which means she will have to have her feeding tube for about 8 weeks longer, no bottle or nursing! :( All in all though she is doing great! Her mom, Mimi passed her medication quiz which means they are confident she can handle all of baby Mia's meds (sad that there are so many meds she has to be quized, in time hopefully some of the meds will cease to be needed)! Mia is happy though and interactive and I know she'll love being home!Another amazing gal has offered up her talents with a quilt giveaway. Not only is it a quilt giveaway but a baby bjorn cover and a crayon roll-up giveaway. Click below for more info!

Lastly, KOMO 4 news is doing a followup interview that we belive will be aired today, Tuesday the 2nd at 5pm! Mia will actually get to be in the interview this time too so you can see her live instead of just in pictures!

Mia Update!!

As you know Mia made it out of ICU and what a different world that is. Mia's mom was hoping she might be lucky enough to go home for Thanksgiving, even if just for a few hours but Mia's transplant cardiologist said today "probably not." Mia's heart rate has been higher than usual and her breathing has been faster and more erratic. They don't know for sure why her vitals are a little off from before but are thinking it will just take some adjusting and tweaking of certain things. Her cardiologist mentioned that maybe her body being off the milirinone is just trying to adjust and her immune suppresant drug level is now really low, previously had been very high so hopefully that will balance out soon too. The doctors have said there will probably be many things (i.e. meds and stuff) changed and adjusted as she grows and they learn how she responds to them. We are thankful for how far she has come and the progress she has made thus far as it truly is remarkable and we pray everything will level out and be just right very soon so she may be home with her family! I had the honor of holding her today and "babysitting" her while her mom, Mimi was able to go view and hold her native heart! Amazing huh! Holding her was heavenly even though I don't think she enjoyed me quite as much as she enjoys her momma holding her! :) I still thought it was wonderful as I had not held her since before she was intubated! All in all Mia is doing pretty well which is nothingless than we expected as we all know what a fighter she is! Not too much longer and she'll be fighting with her brother and sister at home! :)

Mia Moved!!!!

Yay, Mia made it out of ICU! Soon her time at the hospital will be a distant memory as she is reunited with her family at home! Mia has come along way from the time she was born and I know she has many happy moments and memories awaiting her!

Here is a picture of Mia and one of her favorite nurses!

Run-A-Thon Fundraiser

Thanks to Dane and Mike for their bike-a-thon efforts and to everyone who supported them to benefit Mia! Another thanks to all who bid on auction items! Everyone has been so amazing in their support and love of little Mia. We have another exciting fundraiser coming up next week. A sweet gal, Abbie has decided to do a run-a-thon and people can donate or make pledges based on how many miles she runs! For more information please click here! Thanks again to all the wonderful people out there!

Mia update: She is sadly still in the ICU. A few hours before she was supposed to move to the floor she spiked a fever so she had to stay. Her line is not working properly and they decided to put her back on the milrinone so she had to have an IV inserted in her scalp. Poor baby! Hopefully very soon these days will be behind her! Other than all that though she is doing great!