Price increase on April 30th! Join Team Love4Lydia!

http://runforlittlehearts.com/

Join us Sunday, May 21st at Arrowhead Stadium for this year's Run for Little Hearts.  

You can walk, run or just come for the fun and join Team Love 4 Lydia.  There are kid friendly activities, fun runs for the littles, food trucks and music.  It's a great way to kick off an early summer morning and support CHD awareness, research and family support.  

 All registered adults and kids will enjoy food from a variety of food trucks providing food after the race, plus kids entertainment includes KC Wolf, Game Kart Video Game Bus, Mad Science Experiement Booths, Face Painting and more! Everything is included in your ticket price and all proceeds are 100% donated!

Register before the next price increase on April 30th! 

Super soft race shirt, finishers medal, lots of food and kids entertainment included in the registration price, PLUS Chiefs Runningback #35 Charcandrick West and Kansas City's very own Maurice Woodard, Professional International Football Player, will be helping raise awareness for CHD at Arrowhead this year!

https://www.facebook.com/events/101464976995971/?rf=nEJ3aYrYJ

If joining the team isn't your thing, please consider donating to the CHD Babies Run for Little Hearts Charity.  I set a fundraising goal of $1,000 and we already met that, so I've set a higher fundraising goal of $1,500.  We are 85% of the way there! 

https://www.crowdrise.com/love4lydia/fundraiser/kinsleyriggs

Surgery Scheduled: May 9th

Lydia's soft palate and sub mucus cleft repair surgery is scheduled for May 9th at CMH.

Here's a link to a previous post about the repair:

http://lydiaroseriggs.blogspot.com/2017/03/cleft-palate-appointment.html

We will know the time of the surgery and pre-op instructions on Friday, May 5th.  The procedure will take 3 to 4 hours and the surgeon hopes to do the z-plasty repair.  It depends on the size of Lydia's airway and how much more tissue that will require.  

She will go to the PICU for post op recovery since she will be on the ventilator.  Lydia usually comes off the vent after surgery pretty quickly because of the trach.  She will either be discharged from the PICU, 4 Sutherland (the cardiac floor) or the general surgery floor.  We won't know until we are there and ready to move out of the PICU.  What gets her home?  Being able to tolerate her food and having her pain under control.  We are looking at a 2 to 3 night stay.

Recovery will be at least 2 weeks in the no-no's or arm boards.  I'm supposed to get larger long sleeved shirts to put over the arm boards so she doesn't try to take them off.  It takes about 4 to 6 weeks for the repair to fully heal and the stitches will dissolve in about 6 to 8 weeks.

In your Easter bonnet...

...with all the frills upon it!  No Easter bonnet for Lydia because you can't tame the curls.

It was an action packed weekend that started with coloring Easter Eggs on Good Friday.  

I've been coloring Easter Eggs with my mom on Good Friday since I can remember.  

Grandma always joined us and I'm so happy to be continuing this tradition!

Saturday was filled with yard work, watching our friends play softball, 

a trip to the grocery store, baking for Easter and blending for Lydia.  

We made a trip to the playground near our house and had fun on the play gym, slides and swings. 

And finally, Happy Easter!  Brunch, Egg Hunt, Dinner, Egg Hunt, Home, Bedtime. Busy day traveling to our parents' houses for family time and sunshine.  Lydia hunted for Easter Eggs and did a great job.  She's such as ham for the camera!

Infant Toddler Services of Johnson County

Daniel and I were asked to share Lydia's story at the 15th Annual Stepping Stones Gala benefiting Infant and Toddler Services of Johnson County.  

Through a working partnership between families and the community, ITS fosters and coordinate the delivery of timely, comprehensive, quality services for children aged birth to thirty-six months who have developmental delays or disabilities.

Lydia currently receives occupational therapy and nutritional services, sometimes receiving physical therapy and speech.  Much more speech to come!

We've been keeping busy!