Ha, ha I saw this on my sisters blog and decided to try it out. Don't we have a cute family?

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Things I have learned

Trials are given to us to help us learn and grow. Many times over the past six months I have said, "I hope I am learning the things I am supposed to learn from this." Looking back I can honestly say I have learned a lot and I am grateful.

Here are five things I have learned:

1-Prayer changes things! I have had a testimony of prayer for many years now and have recieved some amazing answers to my prayers throughout my life...but, it wasn't until recently that I really felt the power it can bring. I know we had hundreds of people praying for us and I could FEEL those prayers. It is a feeling of peace I will never forget.

2-"It is usually through another person that the Lord meets our needs." In the moments when I was so tired and overwhelmed with stress, I would recieve a phone call or someone would do something for me that was exactly what I needed.

*One night I can remember in particular. It was right after we had brought Kyson home from his first surgery. I was so worried about him and my ability to take care of him. I recieved a phone call from a friend that night just when I really needed it. I'm sure this person had no idea how much they helped me that night and they probably had no idea they were being an answer to my prayers.

*Another specific experience is when I was in the hospital with Kyson after his second surgery. It had been a VERY long day for Kyson because he just didn't feel well. I was tired, hadn't taken a shower in a few days, and felt mentally exhausted. That night a friend stopped by the hospital to give me something she knew would help Kyson. Her thoughtfulness and kindness lifted my spirits which gave me the strength to cope with everything.

These experiences made me realize the Lord really is a part of our lives and knows our needs. I am so thankful for people who listen to the Spirit and heed the promptings they are given.

3-If we are doing our best to do what's right, the Lord will guide our footsteps, often without us even knowing it. We didn't know what was going on with our precious baby, but the Lord did and he guided our footsteps. I can think of many examples of this, but one that comes to mind is having insurance. We debated for months whether it would be worth it to put me on Jared's insurance at work while I was pregnant since it was so expensive. We went ahead and did it and thought, "As soon as we have the baby and things settle down, we'll switch to a different, less expensive insurance." Well, after Kyson was born we both felt uneasy about switching insurances and so we didn't. This has been a HUGE blessing and I am grateful for the guidance of the Spirit.

4-The power of the priesthood is REAL! Jared has been able to give Kyson many priesthood blessings. They have given me so much comfort and strength!

5-Families are Forever! I have definitely had a testimony of this for a long time, but oh how grateful I was for it especially in the times when we weren't sure if Kyson was going to make it through all of this. I am so grateful for the comfort this knowledge brings. No matter what happens here on earth, I will always have Kyson as a son.

Kyson's heart

I have had a lot of people ask me, "So, what is wrong with Kyson's heart?" and as I try to explain it I get a lot of blank looks. Unless you know a lot about the heart, it IS very confusing. Anyway, I recently found a website that I thought did a great job of explaining the three surgeries he has to go through also known as the "Norwood Procedure." I wanted to share this website and try to explain what is going on with Kyson. Feel free to read as little or as much as you want. If you don't want to read it all, I understand...it's confusing!!! For those of you who are brave enough to read on, here's the website:
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/norwood-procedure.html?pageNum=2
*The first page is a summary of the three surgeries and the specific heart defects that require this kind of a process. Kyson has the first condition, known as HLHS. In his specific case, his mitral valve did not develop which means his left ventricle has never received any blood. The amazing thing is Kyson's aorta is coming off his right ventricle (it normally comes off the left) so it is completely healthy. This is known as Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) because both his aorta and pulmonary artery are coming from his right ventricle. This is probably the reason he was able to survive for two months without anyone knowing his condition. I thought it was interesting that at the bottom of the first page it mentions that most infants would not survive a month without these surgeries and yet Kyson was two months old! He is a miracle!

*Stage I:
In Kyson's first surgery he received the shunt and a band around his pulmonary artery. They also opened his ASD permanently between his left and right atrium. (If you watch the video on congenital heart defects, it explains what an ASD is) Opening this hole now makes his right and left atrium just one big atrium.

*Stage 2:
His second surgery was just like they explain. They took out the shunt and band, and connected his superior vena cava to his pulmonary arteries.
They also did one more thing which usually happens in the first surgery but his special circumstances allowed them to wait until the second surgery. They took the trunk of his pulmonary artery and connected it to his aorta. This allows him to have two outlets from his heart.

*Stage 3:
They plan on connecting his inferior vena cava to his pulmonary arteries.

I hope this is understandable. If it is still confusing...I'm sorry. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. All I can say is it is AMAZING the things they can do with modern technology. As I have said many times before Kyson is a miracle!

Tough Stuff!

This picture is of Caleb right before he was leaving us to ride with his Grandpa Gunnell to the cabin a few weeks ago.

After he stayed at the cabin for a few days, my Mom went and picked him up and he stayed with my family for the rest of the week. My parents have a trampoline and he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to jump on it. Well, he lost his balance, went flying forward, hit his head on the bar, and cracked his head open. My mom ended up having to take him to get stitches. My sister, Natalie, took them out when he got back and I was so proud of him. He just sat there so big and so tough and let her do it. (Of course there might have been some cookies and licorice involved too:)

Our six month miracle

March 14th, 2008
Kyson Jordan Gunnell is born!


May 4th, 2008
Kyson is blessed by is father surrounded by family and friends including all of his great grandparents and grandparents.


May 15th, 2008
He is diagnosed with a congenital heart defect: double outlet right ventricle, and mitral valve atresia.

May 16th, 2008
Open heart surgery #1. (Called the Norwood surgery)


May 27th, 2008
Home from hospital!


June-July, 2008
Regular visits to cardiologist and other doctors while sneaking in a couple trips to Show Low for a little reprieve.

August 15th, 2008
Heart Catheterization. Overnight stay at hospital.

August 29th, 2008
Open heart surgery #2, (Called Glenn surgery)


Sept. 5th, 2008
Discharged from hospital for the 4th time since birth. Have to come home on oxygen. So happy to be home!


Sept 12th, 2008
Visit to cardiologist and Kyson doesn't need oxygen anymore!!! I finally feel like I can just enjoy my baby.

Sept. 14th, 2008
Kyson turns six months old and is the happiest he has ever been in his life. We love him so much and find so much joy in seeing him happy. I'm so grateful he has at least a couple years before his last surgery. What a life he has had!

Learning to eat real food can be tricky!


Happy Half Birthday Kyson!!! We love you!

home SWEET home

We made it home and are trying to get all settled in. Kyson had to come home on oxygen :( so that will take some adjusting and getting used to. Hopefully that lasts only for a couple of weeks. He's still got a long way to recovery but each day he makes huge strides.
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us out and continue to do so. We are happy to be home!

Thank you Cindy

Last night I recieved a huge answer to my prayers through a nurse I have come to respect very much. She was Kyson's nurse a couple of times during his first surgery and we loved her! She wasn't ever his nurse for this surgery but we always say hi to her when we see her. Well, to make a long story short, Kyson has been having episodes where he gets so upset he is unconsolable and he turns blue. It is scary and stressful and the nurses we were given yesterday just did not know how to deal with him. Well last night Kyson was having one of these episodes and my nurse just wasn't responding well to him so Cindy came to see if she could help. When she saw what was happening she just unhooked him from all of his monitors and took him for a walk. It seemed to do the trick for a minute but since Cindy wasn't Kyson's nurse she had to go take care of her own patients and she gave Kyson back to the nurse we had. Well our nurse just brought him right back to him room and tried to lay him down. He got so upset. Cindy came back when she heard Kyson wasn't settling down. Again she unhooked all of his monitors and took him for a walk. This time I went with her out into a hallway just to give Kyson a change of scenery and Cindy and I talked for probably 45 minutes. She gave me so much good advice and really made me feel confident that I can take care of Kyson. Everything she said made me feel so much better. She was so patient and understanding with him. When we returned to our room he settled right in and slept the rest of the night!
This morning the doctors asked me if I feel ok taking him home and after talking with Cindy last night I could answer yes. Don't get me wrong, it's still going to be very difficult for a few days, but I have confidence that I can do it...so it looks like tomorrow is the day!

Rollercoaster ride!

In case any of you don't remember, tomorrow is Wednesday...the day we are supposed to go home. Well, that's not happening. Although Kyson did well in surgery and has continued to do quite well, there are some issues we have to get resolved before we can go home. The biggest issue is he's not eating very well. Yesterday he ate at 4:00pm and then didn't eat again 9:00am. That's a long time! I was getting so stressed because I was trying so hard to get him to eat. When he finally ate at 9:00am I wanted to jump for joy. He did a little better today and ate at noon and about 3:30pm but again I haven't been able to get him to eat tonight. He is also very tempermental. He will be so happy one minute and the next screaming like he is in so much pain. He is still taking quite a bit of pain killers to get him to calm down. Until he can make it through a day without any heavy pain killers I don't think they will let us go home. I actually don't want to go home with the way he is right now. It would be stressful trying to do this all on my own without the monitors reassuring us that he is doing ok.
Being in the hospital is definitely like a roller coaster ride. It is very exciting when things are going well, but very frustrating when there are set backs. Right now I have no idea when we will be able to go home because it's all going to depend on how well he eats and his temperment the next couple of days.
Jared's grandparents came and rescued me (and Jared) and took us out to eat. It was nice to get away from this hospital even if it was just a couple of hours! Thank you to everyone who has come by to visit or called just to check up on us. We also really appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers. I don't know how we would make it through this without all of you!