Ive been reading and lurking on the Dis for a while now and after finding other Wish Trippers Ive decided to start my own PTR. So... here we go, I guess. 
We are so excited to be able to fulfill Lydia's Wish to go see Mickey Mouse and the Princesse with the help of the Rainbow Society in Canada!!! 
Ill start with the Cast:
Linda me, 26 and a sahm
Michael 27 and the ever-popular Papa
Lydia 3 in July and our Wish Child
Tobias 1 in June and tagging along for the ride
DHs parents will also be joining us for 3 days and staying at a hotel nearby.
Lydias Story:
Lydia was born in July 2005 and we were overjoyed to be blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby girl. She was sweet and patient from the start and we felt so lucky... She had some bouts of pneumonia in her first year and a half and during her last one the doctor examining her asked us if we knew about her heart murmur. No one had ever noticed this before and we were a bit worried. They reassured us and said that most murmurs are innocent and not to worry. We were sent to the Heart Center at our local Childrens Hospital where they diagnosed a PDA (an open duct that usually closes at birth). It was serious enough but could be easily fixed without sugery (they hoped to be able to fix it during a heart catheterization, where they go in through the groin and up into the heart). I was 6 months pregnant with Tobias at the time and we hoped to get the cath over with before the birth. Luckily she got in very fast (someone cancelled). During the cath they were able to take a closer look at Lydias aorta and found that her aortic arch was pretty much completely closed. So they werent able to repair it... She was scheduled for open-heart surgery. The thought of someone breaking open every rib in my babys body was unbearable..... She was not quite two. We arranged to leave for Edmonton where the surgery would take place all the while trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we might not bring her back home...
The surgery was successful and I remember calling my mom (in Norway, where Im from) and the only thing I could say was shes ALIVE! We went through a few rough weeks after surgery. Her body healed well but she was very depressed. Her eyes were dark and empty... We tought we had lost our little sunshine. But she bounced back! Her outlook now is really good and were keeping our fingers crosssed for no more surgeries. Three weeks after we came home from the hospital, Lydias brother, Tobias, was born, so there wasnt much time to recover. Its been quite the year for us.
Here are some pictures of our family (I hope I managed to resize them...):
Lydia enjoying some strawberries
Her brother Tobias enjoying some peas.... lol
A family photo when Lydia was a year old
Lydia and her Papa
Lydia and Tobias playing
Lydia showing off her new dress and... um... her new underwear! lol
Bathtime
Lydia the night before her surgery (as I rocked her to sleep that night she seemed to shrink in my amrs and become a tiny baby again and I didn't know if it was the last time I was able to do that...)
Here is a link to a picture of Lydia right after her surgery. I didn't want to post it so you have the option of looking at it if you want to. It is kind of a hard picture to see... There were 7 lines going into her tiny body...
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics3.jpg
Here are some photos of her after her surgery
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics9.jpg
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics8.jpg
Thank you for reading this long post!
Next: a blessing after the heartache
We are so excited to be able to fulfill Lydia's Wish to go see Mickey Mouse and the Princesse with the help of the Rainbow Society in Canada!!! Ill start with the Cast:
Linda me, 26 and a sahm
Michael 27 and the ever-popular Papa
Lydia 3 in July and our Wish Child
Tobias 1 in June and tagging along for the ride
DHs parents will also be joining us for 3 days and staying at a hotel nearby.
Lydias Story:
Lydia was born in July 2005 and we were overjoyed to be blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby girl. She was sweet and patient from the start and we felt so lucky...
She had some bouts of pneumonia in her first year and a half and during her last one the doctor examining her asked us if we knew about her heart murmur. No one had ever noticed this before and we were a bit worried. They reassured us and said that most murmurs are innocent and not to worry. We were sent to the Heart Center at our local Childrens Hospital where they diagnosed a PDA (an open duct that usually closes at birth). It was serious enough but could be easily fixed without sugery (they hoped to be able to fix it during a heart catheterization, where they go in through the groin and up into the heart). I was 6 months pregnant with Tobias at the time and we hoped to get the cath over with before the birth. Luckily she got in very fast (someone cancelled). During the cath they were able to take a closer look at Lydias aorta and found that her aortic arch was pretty much completely closed. So they werent able to repair it... She was scheduled for open-heart surgery. The thought of someone breaking open every rib in my babys body was unbearable..... She was not quite two. We arranged to leave for Edmonton where the surgery would take place all the while trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we might not bring her back home...The surgery was successful and I remember calling my mom (in Norway, where Im from) and the only thing I could say was shes ALIVE! We went through a few rough weeks after surgery. Her body healed well but she was very depressed. Her eyes were dark and empty... We tought we had lost our little sunshine. But she bounced back!
Her outlook now is really good and were keeping our fingers crosssed for no more surgeries. Three weeks after we came home from the hospital, Lydias brother, Tobias, was born, so there wasnt much time to recover. Its been quite the year for us. Here are some pictures of our family (I hope I managed to resize them...):
Lydia enjoying some strawberries
Her brother Tobias enjoying some peas.... lol
A family photo when Lydia was a year old
Lydia and her Papa
Lydia and Tobias playing
Lydia showing off her new dress and... um... her new underwear! lol
Bathtime
Lydia the night before her surgery (as I rocked her to sleep that night she seemed to shrink in my amrs and become a tiny baby again and I didn't know if it was the last time I was able to do that...)
Here is a link to a picture of Lydia right after her surgery. I didn't want to post it so you have the option of looking at it if you want to. It is kind of a hard picture to see... There were 7 lines going into her tiny body...
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics3.jpg
Here are some photos of her after her surgery
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics9.jpg
http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j...d pics/?action=view¤t=Disboardpics8.jpg
Thank you for reading this long post!
Next: a blessing after the heartache
You are all very brave.
Lydia was alreayd totally smitten with Mickey Mouse (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, lol) and knew exactly what she wanted. She still says it every day: were going to see Mickey Mouse!!!! In the weeks since we found out about the Wish weve (or rather Ive.... 
) been researching like crazy. 
And what we know about Give Kids the World is just AMAZING!! 
What an incredible place! If you want to take a look, here is a link to their pre arrival pages: 
I so look forward to those magical moments.... *happy sigh* 
Anyone have any suggestions??
