Team Travis: Happy 1st Birthday Travis Gary!!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy 1st Birthday Travis Gary!!!

So, this post is a few days late. Sorry about that. It is difficult to find a free minute these days.

Saturday, October 23rd, our little heart hero turned 1 year old. It is hard to imagine that a whole year has gone by. I have described this past year to friends as the longest, shortest year of my life. The bad parts seemed to drag on and the good parts seemed to go by so quickly. I have to say that we are SO, SO, LUCKY to have Travis in our lives. He is such a special little guy. I have never met a baby that smiles more or has a better personality than Travis. Given all he has been through, it is amazing he has such a bubbly personality.

One year ago we were filled with terror at the unknowns. Would our boy be born a fighter? Would he make it through the Norwood? We he ever use the room we so lovingly decorated? I remember the excitement and the terror I felt during labor. I remember the pain and sadness I felt when Roger and my newborn baby left me in the recovery room on their way to Children's Hospital. Most of all, I remember how my heart felt so full of love for this little guy. I had to wait 5 long, painful days to get to hold (more like lift) Travis and the rush of emotion that day can never be described into words.

To celebrate one hell of a year, we decided to invite some close friends and family to a local park for a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. Travis really loves that show (especially when he is fighting eating) so we thought it would be appropriate to use the Gabba creatures as our theme. Thankfully, a week full of rain cleared up just enough to enjoy a nice Saturday at the park. Here are some pictures from the party:

Travis in his birthday shirt

Birthday banner made with love and a lot of curse words. It turned out cute though!

Table decor

More decor

The cake table. I made a big Muno cake, a mini Muno cake (for Travis), and Brobee cupcakes.

Brobee cupcakes

Muno cake

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you.....and, MANY more!!"

He wasn't so sure of it. He barely ate any!

"I don't want to eat it mommy but it is fun to play with."

Present time! Notice the Yo Gabba Gabba shirts that mommy and daddy have on. Travis would grab at the characters and smile!

He LOVED these sesame street stackers! Look at that smile!

"What's next mommy?"

Overview of the party

2 comments:

islandgirl4ever2October 26, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Awwww... Looks like it was a fun day for everyone!! How quickly time passes! Happy B-day little cutie!
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UnknownOctober 27, 2010 at 4:06 AM
Happy Birthday Travis! You have definitely made this first birthday even sweeter for your Mommy and Daddy. I'm sure next year you'll be eating up your cake too. :)
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Travis Gary DiCarlo

Travis Gary DiCarlo, first son of Roger and Nicole DiCarlo, was born at San Diego Kaiser Hospital, October 23, 2009 with a Congenital Heart Defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, or HLHS. The short explanation is that Travis was born with only half of a heart. In order for him to live, a series of three operations were planned.

Due to an infection, Travis had to have an additional open heart surgery to insert pulmonary artery bands on October 29, 2009. He had his Norwood Surgery on November 21, 2009. He was sent home on December 14, 2009 from Rady's Children Hospital of San Diego after spending his first 52 nights of life in the hospital.

After being home for several months, Travis was due to for his next surgery in the plan, the Glenn procedure. But the life of a cardiac kid can change in an instant and life doesn't always go as planned. Due to the anatomy of his heart and some rhythm issues, Travis had what the surgeons called Norwood part 2. They replaced his Sano Shunt with a bigger one, enlarged his pulmonary arteries and installed a pacemaker. This surgery was performed on May 3, 2010. Travis went home on May 17th, 2010.

Around Travis' first birthday in October his cardiologist detected some narrowing in his pulmonary artery and ordered a heart cath. The heart cath showed extensive narrowing in his aorta and his pulmonary artery. On February 17, 2011 Travis had his 4th open heart surgery. He was doing well with recovery until he suddenly went into cardiac arrest on Friday (2/18). After two hours of CPR Travis was placed on ECMO (a heart/lung bypass). Although his heart did begin to beat again on its own, his brain was damaged during the whole ordeal and he lost all brain function. We had to say goodbye to our beautiful boy on Saturday, February 19th. We miss our boy terribly.....