To Kidney - and BEYOND! MAW PTP

[carebearkidney]

Hello all!
My name is Karen. Mommy of two, military wife of one, and caretaker of our "dog"hter, Downey. I also try to keep America's economy going in the right direction by buying many potato chip products, thus forcing me to buy more pants when the others seem to shrink?? Who da thunk it?

Anyway, back in January I received a call from the Make a Wish chapter here in GA. It seems one of our wonderful docs submitted my son, Matthew, to get approved for a wish. He qualified and we rejoiced.

So let me officially introduce our family.

Here we all are (with my parents in the picture too) along with our Downey girl.

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Matthew is our little wish child. He just turned four years old in June and LOVES Disney - especially Buzz and Woody, Wall-e, Mike and Sully and naturally Mickey Mouse.
When I was just 16 weeks pregnant with him, we found out that he had a blockage in his bladder. This "blockage" was forcing the urine he was producing to flow back up to his kidneys and basically shut them down from even forming. We were told to terminate three separate times, by three separate doctors before we found one that would give our boy a chance. After four fetal surgeries, 11 bladder taps and 13 amnio-infusions, Matthew came into the world by emergency c-section at 31 weeks. Since then he has had 29 surgeries, including a kidney transplant at 18 months old. He was on hemodialysis for over 13 months. And when baby/toddler is hooked up to a machine for 3-4 hrs...tv is your friend...and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was ours!
Watching the rolling video cart, where they would play Mickey movies for Matthew.



Here he is after surgery 25 this past February - after every surgery he gets to pick a balloon for being such a brave boy.



William is our oldest son, and has become such a sweet and empathetic big brother. William was two when Matthew was born, and was also thrown into the whirlwind of hospitals and labs and surgeries...as mommy was never around, but always staying overnight with Matthew. It made me very sad to miss out on so much of his life, but luckily he doesn't remember that anyway any more and often (when school permits) asks to go with us to the hospital to hold Matthew's hand for labs or radiology.
But the love of Disney has continued with William as well - he's my Cars, Phineas and Ferb, Pirates and Luke Skywalker dude.
Here's a pic of him.



So that is us! We are waiting for our wish granters to call us this week or next to say when they will come over to meet Matthew and he can make his wish. So excited. He keeps asking if we will go to Disney World tomorrow to hug Buzz and see Mickey. Not yet baby, not yet. Good things are coming sweetie - I promise.
Oh, and since Disney was always a part of my growing up...I used to sing Disney lullabies to my baby boys, both when I was pregnant and they were little. William's was Baby of Mine from Dumbo, and Matthew's was A Dream is a Wish from Cinderella. Here's a little post and pic to show how far my "super boy" as come from the doctor's not expecting him to take a first breath to just being a boy!

http://relationactions.blogspot.be/2...s-lullaby.html

[reyasmommy]

Beautiful, Beautiful children!

[carebearkidney]

Thank you so much! I think they are pretty cute, but they are also asleep now...and with that comes mom-nesia for how many times they drove you crazy during the day.

[reyasmommy]

Originally Posted by carebearkidney

Thank you so much! I think they are pretty cute, but they are also asleep now...and with that comes mom-nesia for how many times they drove you crazy during the day.

Isn't that the truth!! I just put my son down and it's heaven. I find myself calling my husband every day around lunch time to say ""Dooo you know what your kid just did?"" By the end of the day I'm so exhausted. Day before yesterday my son was super quite, I went into my bedroom to see what he was doing... PURPLE fingernail polish EVERYWHERE! He was covered from head to toe, my pillows, walls, blankets, and bed frame were ALL painted. Trust me I'm not forgetting that one for awhile.

[carebearkidney]

Bahahaha! Sounds like our kids have had underground meetings to conspire against us - as this seems like something my two would do!

[DisneytheKid]

Very lovely family Looking forward to more of the PTR

[carebearkidney]

Thank you! I'm so excited to update...now just have to wait for the visit. Hopefully my sanity will stick around for the wait too. Sometimes I think I get more excited than the kids do!

[maroo]

Hello!!

I followed over from the Wish Trippers thread!

I put a link to your trip on the first page over there - so hopefully some more people will come over to say hello soon.

You have a beautiful family!

Your son has some striking blue eyes!! Beautiful boys!

[Moodyzblu]

Beautiful family ! Looking forward to hearing your plans !

[carebearkidney]

Originally Posted by maroo

Hello!!

I followed over from the Wish Trippers thread!

I put a link to your trip on the first page over there - so hopefully some more people will come over to say hello soon.

You have a beautiful family!

Your son has some striking blue eyes!! Beautiful boys!

Thank you, thank you! Both for the link and the compliments for my boys.

I'm still staring at the phone and jumping hurdles (matchbox cars, legos and blocks) when it rings....hoping it's our wish granter calling to say when they are coming to the house. And it often ends up being my husband...asking what's for dinner.

[carebearkidney]

Thank you MoodyzBlu! I can't wait to start making plans! I was up until 1am last night...looking at the menus at the parks and just salivating.

[Lilfoot93]

Cute kiddos! Hopefully you will get that call soon! Waiting is the hardest part!

Jackie

[carebearkidney]

It IS the hardest part! It's like waiting for Christmas morning (times a million!)
I should probably do something constructive, like fold laundry, to help pass the time. But I find myself getting on here for a few minutes and the mood generally passes.

[MomOfAnAngel]

Your family is beautiful. I subscribed so I can follow along with your plans with you. Waiting is definitely difficult, we sit staring at our phones waiting for the phone call with a date and time to meet as well. Hopefully soon so we can get dates and then figure out character meals.

[maroo]

Originally Posted by carebearkidney

Thank you, thank you! Both for the link and the compliments for my boys.

I'm still staring at the phone and jumping hurdles (matchbox cars, legos and blocks) when it rings....hoping it's our wish granter calling to say when they are coming to the house. And it often ends up being my husband...asking what's for dinner.

You are very welcome!

Lol on your husband calling for dinner...

Enjoy this anticipation time - it was such a fun time, but I really "wished" it away...so excited for the trip itself that I didn't enjoy the process as much as I could have. Planning and dreaming about the trip is so much fun!