Health Updates

Just a quick message to update you on the Gmyr family now that we've both been to the doctors.

Dan's diagnosis came back with two problems. Mitral Valve Prolapse, and Patent Foramen Ovale. Neither of these are life threatening. PFO, is where the foramen ovale, a shunt in the heart of an unborn baby that allows blood to pass between the left and right sides of the heart (since blood doesn't flow through the baby's lungs), doesn't close completely within a year of birth. The mitral valve is what prevents blood from flowing the wrong direction in the heart. In Dan's case the valve doesn't completely shut allowing a small amount of backflow. MVP, while named for the mitral valve in the heart, isn't actually caused by it. Doctors have concluded that the defect is more a physical sign that the problem exists. It is also very possible that the MVP may be the cause of the migraines. At the present the only thing the cardiologist can recommend is a daily aspirin regimen and certain antibiotic should he ever have dental work done.

Karen has checked out fine at the OB/GYN. No complications have been reported. In fact everything seems to be going slightly ahead of schedule. While we were originally given a due date of May 22nd and that has migrated all the way to the 27th, the doctorhas informed us that she doesn't think we will even get that far. Karen is already slightly dilated, Gabriel is head down and pretty low in the abdomen. In other words we may be looking at mid-May rather than late-May. Don't worry, we're still planning on having the baby blessing on the 3rd of July. Let us know how many would like to come so that we can help plan for guests. For more amusing news, Karen narrowly avoided having two baby showers. One surprise shower was planned for the 7th, but when the person holding it received an invitation for the one on the 30th and discovered several individuals were invited to both a decision was made to combine them. We say this is amusing because we hadn't anticipated having even one.

Lots of love to all,

- Dan & Karen

Recent Developments

Just thought I'd take a quick moment to fill everyone in on recent developments. We still haven't heard anything from Dan's cardiologist and his appointment was pushed back a week for some reason. Again, when we hear something we'll let you know. In the meantime, please, don't worry. He's doing well.

I've given some more thought to when we'll have the baby blessing. More than likely we'll have it the weekend of July 3rd. I wanted to give you enough time to make vacation/travel arrangements, but didn't want to have it too close to the due date in case Gabriel's late in arriving. I also didn't want to conflict with the Reunion in August. I'm also planning on inviting Dan's family. Please, let me know if you'd like to try and come so we can determine how many we can try to accommodate.

For those of you interested, one of the sisters in the ward has mentioned throwing Gabriel a baby shower. It will most likely be the weekend of April 30th. I don't know if any of you want to try and attend, but I thought I'd give you the option. Please, let me know so I can arrange for you to receive an invitation.

Lots of love,

- Karen

Alive and kicking in Arizona (some kicking more than others)

Yes, it's true. We still exist. I just wanted to send out an email to let you all know the latest news in our small family. I'm not sure where I left off or how long it's been since I've written (sorry) so I'll cover a few basics I think I've mentioned and then fill you in on the details.

As you all know we're expecting a boy, Gabriel Ryan, around the end of May. The pregnancy is going well. There have been no complications (other than heartburn) to report. Daniel and I attended a one-day birthing class this past Saturday and we learned a lot of things to help us prepare for the labor and delivery. We will be attending a Newborn Care class next Thursday so that we will be able to guess correctly what to do after Gabriel's born. We have also signed up to tour the birthing center this weekend.

The most recent news concerns Dan's health. In January we both went for follow-up check-ups with our PCP. Everything looked fine, but Dan's heart sounded odd. The doctor described it as a click. He referred Dan to a cardiologist. When we called to make the appointment the earliest we were able to schedule was March 14th. So on the 14th we saw the cardiologist who confirmed the odd "click" and, based on Dan's family history, suggested Dan have an echo-cardiogram. That was scheduled originally for this past Monday, but got moved to Wednesday. The echo confirmed that Dan has a faulty valve which is good news and bad news. The good news is that this may actually be the leading cause of Dan's migraines and correcting it may solve that problem as well. The bad news we don't know yet. We have yet to find out how serious the problem is. We are supposed to hear from someone (probably the cardiologist) within the next few days to give us more information and Dan has another appointment with the cardiologist in a couple of weeks.

I just wanted to let you all in on what's happening here and we'll try and keep you up to date on new news. We'll also let you know when we'll be having Gabriel's blessing so that those who wish to attend can make appropriate arrangements. I will need to inform you that, unfortunately, we do not have a lot of room at our home so hotel accomidations may be something you'll need to consider. We are working to make more room, but a lot will depend on how many wish to, and can, attend.

Lots of love,

- Karen

New Baby Pic

Okay... I know I'm being obsessive, but I thought I'd pass along news and a picture from our ultrasound appointment today. Everything appears normal except for something called Hyperechoic Bowel, which is where the intestine, which normally appears gray on the ultrasound, appears a dense white color. This can be signs of some complications, but in most cases "it is a normal part of the baby's development and is not going to cause any problems." The doctor also took a guess at the baby's gender. This is not definite, but it appears that we will be having a boy. She also mentioned that based on her measurements the due date would be the 24th of May, but since it's only a guess on either doctor's part we'll just stick with the 22nd for now.

Lots of love, Karen

Gmyr update for Nov 28th, 2004

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday with their families and friends. Ours was pretty uneventful as we stayed home and cooked ourselves turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn. Dan was very happy because of all the dishes, only one of them he is technically allowed to eat on his diet. We also had some rolls that we had purchased a while ago and kept in the freezer (those ones that you can take out a few at a time and bake), but they had been in the freezer so long they worked better as bricks than bread.

The pregnancy continues. As this is all new to me I really am not sure what to expect, but I do know it looks more like Dan feeds me VERY well than that I am expecting a child. My pants and garments are rather tight around the middle, but I thank Heavenly Father that I've always loved big T-shirts, sweatshirts, and turtlenecks, because I'm pretty sure they will last the entire pregnancy. We've come up with some names we've liked, but we're still don't know the gender so it's more what sounds good rather than coming up with something definite (not that we don't have plenty of time to decide). It's nice that the "morning sickness" has abated somewhat. It's gotten to the point that I can pretty much ignore it in the morning and almost all day. As long as I have something in my stomach I'm usually okay.

I'm happy to hear from Jennifer and the good news from up north. I'm actually rather glad that we won't have twins at our house, but it sounds like an exciting adventure. It's good that you'll have help around the house with the other kids and Andy.

The only news we have at our house is our upcoming trip to Albuquerque right after Christmas. We'll more than likely be driving out on the 27th to avoid holiday and Sunday travel. We're not sure how long we'll stay, but we can't leave the cats along very long so it will more than likely only be 3-4 days. I'm looking forward to seeing family, and I think Dan's looking forward to not being chained to the phone for work (they still have him on call 9 out of 10 weekends).

Have we made any other suggestions or plans for a possible family reunion in 2005? It would be nice to know a little in advance since Dan will have to have about 3-4 months to request the time off and have it be approved. I would really enjoy seeing all of the family I don't get to see or hear from much. Steve and Beverly, this means you ;).

Dad, I'm excited to know that you and Lucynthia will be able to comeback soon, though I know it will be sad for you to leave your new friends. Keep us up to date on your information. I'm already hoping to come out and see Sandy at the end of January, and it would be nice if I could see you both as well.

Lots of love, Karen

Thank you all

I wanted to thank you all for your congratulations on the upcoming arrival and for the birthday wishes I've received via phone, email, and mail. It's been about a month since I last wrote and a pretty uneventful one until this past week.

Dan has been busy with work, having projects in his lap as well as other people's projects he has to fix. On the plus side he has to use some of his vacation time or lose it at the end of the year which means that he's taken a few days off here and there. The first day he took off was this past Monday. It was so he could go to the Ob/Gyn with me... and that bring us to the exciting week we've had.

Sad as it may seem, we can already show off baby pictures and fully intend to do so. (They will be attached to the email and posted on my site for those who wish to view them.) During the exam we determined that I was approximately 11 weeks along putting my due date on May 22nd. The doctor also sent me to the lab to have some preliminary tests done. I decided to wait until Tuesday and was fairly glad I did. The nurse who took my blood told me that Monday had been really busy. Dan also took a long lunch so we could walk over and vote. It's very nice knowing that our voice counts. Even though we didn't know some of the people that were on the ballot we did have a basic grasp of some of the major issues taking place in our area, state, and country and were able to express our opinions on the matters.

Wednesday was fairly uneventful until I called a friend up to see how her turtle was doing (I was asked to look after and feed the turtle and fish while they were in Vegas this past weekend renewing wedding vows) and was invited over for dinner. Dan and I accepted and we spent and enjoyable evening talking and eating. We're thinking of trying to make this a weekly or bi-weekly thing. Thursday that same friend, Genaphur, and my former boss and good friend, Natalie, and I made plans to go hiking. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect since Natalie had made all the plans. I just climbed into Gen's SUV when it pulled up around 9 am and we were off. We ended up approximately 2 1/2 hours outside of Tucson at Chiricahua National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/chir/) where we started hiking down the Echo Park trail. We reached a cross-point where you could complete the Echo Park loop or head further into the park to the Heart of Rocks area. Feeling fairly confident, though noneof us was in the best of shape, we decided to take the extra trek. Oops. What could have been a nice mild 3.3 mile hike around the Echo Park loop we turned into a 7.5 mile test of muscle, joint, and asthema. I'm still hurting. I doubt that I could have made it without Heavenly Father's help, which I was asking for about halfway into it.

Ahh well. Enough about me. Again, I am grateful for the best wishes we've received. We're very happy to hear from family and know you are doing well. We're looking forward to seeing as many of you as we can this December, though you may not recognize me at first glance since I'll be about 4 1/2 months along at that point.

Love to you all,

- Karen and Dan

10/03/04

Not much happening in our neck of the woods. Not that there are many trees, as many of you already know. Dan's still busy with work. A heavy work load and demanding deadlines have kept him late much of this past week. As for me, I spend most of my time trying not to throw up. I've been feeling nausiated since the 24th. A combination of tests at home and by the doctor have revealed the cause to be our latest ... and pretty much only ... news. We're expecting. My first visit to the Ob/Gyn won't be until Nov. 1st, so we don't have much information. We guess that the due date will be sometime between mid-May and mid-June. As information becomes available to us we'll pass it along to you.

I'll keep this letter short so that those of you with the need to read this over and over again in shock won't have to read a lot.

Sheri, I regret that our financial situation will not allow me the opportunity of visiting you later this month. We do, however, look forward to seeing you and the rest of the family shortly after Christmas.

Sandy, I looked at the selection of teas at one of our supermarkets and got confused. (I know. Nothing new.) There are so many brands and varieties that I was hoping you would be willing to help me out again. Would you be willing to send me a sample of a couple you enjoy so that I may try them before purchasing 30+ per box for myself?

Jennifer, I'm anxious to know how you are doing? It's drawing closer and closer to your due date. Have you and Andy picked out names yet? How are the other kids feeling about it?

Karma, I'm terrible at remembering things. Would you be so kind as to email me the Christmas schedule for this year? I have an idea, but I'm not sure who Dan and I have.

Beverly, how are things in your neck of the woods? You have a lot more trees than we do. At least I know that much :). Tell us how everyone is doing.

Steve, send along our love to those who aren't getting this directly. Let us know how you and Lea are. Have you healed up yet? How's work going?

Dad & Lucynthia, love from the States. I always look forward to reading the exciting and interesting emails you send. I still post them on the internet so that I can look at them anytime.

Love to you all,

-Daniel & Karen