Miracles

Danny and I are so blessed to know that a special little spirit is coming into our lives. We know that he is heaven sent with a special heart to teach us of love, hope and the miracle of life. The cardiologist said it was a miracle in itself that this diagnosis was made in utero. Our 20 week ultrasound looked great, however, the pictures of the spine were blurry, so they had me do a second ultrasound. In the second ultrasound the tech noticed that the left ventricle was a little smaller that the right and HLHS was confirmed from an fetal echo cardiogram. There is a chance that Tyler has down syndrome due to a diagnosed AV canal which is a common heart defect in children with downs. We opted not to do an amniocentesis due to the risk of procedure and the fact that it isn't of great importance to us. These children often appear to be healthy when they are born until a tiny hole in the heart closes and oxygenated blood isn't adequately pumped to the body, which can be life threatening. HLHS children diagnosed in utero have a much greater chance of survival. We are grateful for the fasts, prayers and support of friends and family. We are grateful to know that Tyler is in the Lord's hands and know that he has a very important mission in this life. We are so blessed to be his parents.

Our Special Heart Baby

As many have heard, Tyler was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, HLHS. It is one of the most severe congenital heart defects which affects about 1/5,000 births. A normal baby's heart is comprised of 4 chambers: the upper chambers or atria and the lower chambers or ventricles. In a healthy heart, blood flows from the right atrium to the right ventricle where it is then pumped through the pulmonary artery and lungs to be oxygenated. Blood then travels back to the heart through the left atrium and left ventricle which pumps it to the entire body. Tyler's left ventricle and aorta are essentially too small to adequately pump oxygenated blood to his body. Medical advances in the past 10 years have given HLHS children a much greater chance of survival. Tyler will undergo major open heart surgery at UCSF his first week of life, a second surgery at around 4-6 months and a final surgery at 1.5-3 years. His heart will essentially be converted from a 4 to a 2 chamber heart. The long term prognosis is unknown, but doctors imagine that children who undergo the staged palliation will eventually need a heart transplant. For more information on HLHS feel free to visit:
http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site502/mainpageS502P0.html

Our newest addition is on his way

That's right. We are expecting little boy #2 anyday now and are very excited. I was convinced we were having a girl and very excited to find out we were having another little boy that would be so close in age (19 months apart) to Scott. I need a little more practice until I can master putting bows in hair. Tyler Anthony McMillan is due sometime around Sept. 4, 5, 6. We are very excited and anxiously awaiting his arrival. It will be fun to see what his personality is like, if he looks like Scott and if he is another little Danny. I started to have contractions, unlike Scott's sudden appearance into the world with no prior notice. They bother me for a day and go away the next. We know that he will come when he wants as all babies do.

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”

Scott Daniel McMillan ~ January 28, 2006 ~ 7 lb15 oz ~ 21"
Danny and I have based our marriage around prayer and relying on the Lord for guidance. We were planning on waiting to have kids until Danny was out of dental school and we were a little more established. About 2 months after we were married, Danny was in dental school and I was finishing up school at BYU. We decided to listen to a talk by Elder Nelson, entitled Faith and Families, before church. We were touched by the following council, "As Sister Nelson and I look back, we can honestly say that our family and membership in the Church are most important to us. How thankful we are that we heeded the counsel of Church leaders to marry in the temple, to invite children into our family, and to serve the Lord! If we had placed our education ahead of our family, we would not be so blessed now. Education was a lengthy process for us. Earning two doctor’s degrees took me a long time. Then we struggled through many more years of surgical specialization. I did not send a bill for surgical services until I had been out of medical school for more than 12 years! By then we had five children. But somehow we managed." We knew that we too must take that leap of faith and felt that we should start a family. It was scary, yet exciting. I thought that it would take me years to get pregnant and to my surprise was pregnant 2 months later. We were excited, yet nervous and both really felt that we were going to have a little boy. 9 months later, we were blessed with a healthy, loving, perfect little boy. I was at a swim meet in Stockton, my water broke, and I had Scott about 2.5 hours later in Walnut Creek. Scott has brought us more joy and happiness than I could ever imagine. Nothing compares to being parents. He s now 19 months and gets more and more fun with age. They are fun when they are little, but can't do much and don't have much of a personality. He has been the easiest, best kid that we could have asked for. We always ask ourselves, "where did he come from?" We are so lucky to be his mom and dad. Danny just speaks spanish to him and he hasn't started to talk yet, but understands spanish and english which is a very exciting. It will be so fun when he is able to speak both spanish and english. We are enjoying every stage with him and know that this time with just one child is so special.

"Eternal Marriage, the greatest blessing in my life!" - Heidi McMillan

Married December 18, 2004 in the LDS Bountiful Utah Temple to the love of my life, Daniel J. McMillan. Nothing can describe or compare to the feelings of peace I felt as I knelt hand in hand across the altar from Danny on our wedding day. I married a man who will forever take care of me, lead and love me and my family. I married a kind, spiritual, loving man. I married someone who would be a great father. I married a man who strives to chose the right. Someone who is my best friend, who makes me laugh. I married a man who loves the Lord. I married a man who was smart and kind. I married the man of my dreams. How lucky and blessed to have found my perfect match. People always say to marry up and Danny and I both feel that we have married up. That is the greatest thing about marriage. We complete the other. Somehow my weaknesses are his strengths and his strengths are my weaknesses. We are so much stronger together than we ever could have become without the other.

"I love you, not only for what you are, But for who I am becoming when I am with you."

Dating, what an adventure...I was just off my mission and Laurel, my greatest friend and accomplice in so many of my defining moments, decided to help find me friends to hang out with in the summer...I think she realized I needed some re-adjusting after my mission. We went onto http://www.ldslinkup.com/, a site that matches you up with other friends in the area. We did a 50 mile radius search for some cute, fun people to hang out with. I found my perfect match, a guy who served in Madrid Spain....need I say more? He probably spoke like a Spaniard, knew about serving a mission in Spain, probably even knew some of the people I knew. Well, we sent out an email to Danny and his linked friend, Seth, that was a little over the top (they needed to be able to handle our sense of humor) and got a response from Seth about a Friday night activity. We drove into San Francisco, hung out with other guys at the movie and at the end of the night met "Nitroblue" and "Sethualhealing." Nitroblue wasn't so eager to talk about Spain for an hour as he nodded his head to the music at the Canvas Cafe and told me to tell Seth he was tired and wanted to go. I felt so bad that this guy must have a girlfriend and felt obliged to hang out. The next day the guys we hung out with the previous night invited us to a party in the city where we had a second encounter with our ldslinkup friends. Turns out Seth and I knew a lot of the same people from BYU, he told Danny I was a cool girl and Danny listened. He picked me up on his Honda VFR motorcycle for a ride in the City, waffles and strawberries. We started to talk on the phone and it was fun for me to have some friends in San Francisco. I started to like Danny and decided he would be my summer project. He was cute, fun, smart, nice, but just lacked some confidence. It was nothing a little bit of Heidi couldn't easily fix. We went to Don Pedro over Memorial Day weekend and I talked Danny into driving back with us and eating dinner at my house. That night, Danny had his first kiss ever and the rest is history. We had a great summer and I was so surprised when he proposed to me on my parents anniversary, August 22. It was the best proposal ever.

"The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Danny McMillan ~ November 10, 1978. Danny grew up in Layton, Utah, 30 minutes north of Salt Lake City. He was the second of five children. He has one older brother, David, and 3 younger sisters, Michelle, Lisa and Lindsey. He was raised by a very loving family who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Danny was a very active, adventurous young boy. He loves motorcycles, boats, skiing, radio controlled planes, mechanics and figuring out how things work. He is good at everything he does. He is an amazing pianist. He majored in Zoology at BYU with plans to follow in his dad's footsteps as a dentist. He served a 2 year mission for his church in Madrid, Spain and now speaks Spanish like a native. He went to UOP Dental School where he met the love of his life (that's me) his first year of school.

Heidi Lietz ~ April 22, 1981. Raised in Walnut Creek, CA. I am blessed to have a wonderful sister, Heather, who is loved by all and great parents, Walt & Jacquie. My family are my heros and have always been examples of love, service and kindness. Growing up I was quite the tomboy and did every sport imaginable. I was a perfectionist and wanted to be the best at everything I did. High School involved a little bit of craziness, swimming, great friends, and a lot of fun! I joined the LDS church at 18 which really calmed me down and gave me a deep testimony and love for my Savior. I went to BYU on a full-ride swimming scholarship where I majored in psychology and marriage, family, human development. I served an 18 month mission for my church in Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after arriving home, I met the man of my dreams, Danny, on ldslinkup.com. My growing up years can be summed up as very blessed!!