Alyssa & John 2: Getting By on Their Looks and Fashion Sense

[is.it.real]

Alyssa has Supraventricular tachycardia and had to have surgery.

 

“Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), also called paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, is defined as an abnormally fast heartbeat. It's a broad term that includes many forms of heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) that originate above the ventricles (supraventricular) in the atria or AV node.” From Mayo Clinic.

 

My first thought was that she looks 13 years old with no makeup and her hair in braids.

 

 

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[singsingsing]

I have a family member who had the same thing, and the surgery took care of it. It sounds like hers has a higher likelihood of coming back, and I'm crossing my fingers for her that this did it and she won't have any issues going forward. Poor Alyssa, that must have been scary, and I'm glad the surgery went well.

[VelociRapture]

I’m very glad the surgery appears to have gone well. I’m sure that must have been a relatively scary experience to go through testing, not knowing what’s wrong, and finally surgery. I hope her recovery goes well and she feels better soon. 

[EyesOpen]

Yup just stopping by to wish her well in her recovery and that her condition doesn’t reoccur

[AussieKrissy]

2 hours ago, is.it.real said:

Alyssa has Supraventricular tachycardia and had to have surgery.

 

“Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), also called paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, is defined as an abnormally fast heartbeat. It's a broad term that includes many forms of heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) that originate above the ventricles (supraventricular) in the atria or AV node.” From Mayo Clinic.

 

My first thought was that she looks 13 years old with no makeup and her hair in braids.

 

 

http://

 

 

 

we truly serve the great physician has to become a post count....

[anjulibai]

That must be very scary for them. I hope it doesn't come back. 

I also hope this makes them wait a good long while before having another baby. 3 babies in 3 years can't possibly be good on the heart that's prone to this. 

[19tacos&counting]

I am hope she has a smooth recovery and her condition doesn’t come back. Yes she goes look extremely young in the picture with no make up ?? she looks exactly like Carlin there.

 

I thought the house tour was interesting. The house is very nice. Nothing to snark on. Alyssa always seems less than enthusiastic. I wonder what made her create a YouTube channel lol. I think they could “comfortably” have one more child in that house. Move Lexi in with Allie, then zoey in with the new baby. Although how would they feel about that if the new baby was a boy? Would a boy and 2-ish year old zoey be allowed to share a room. 

 

The surgery confirms alyssa is not pregnant. I hope she lets get body heal at least 2-3 months before they even think of trying for baby #4. Which means zoey could be over 2 before that baby was born.

[SassyPants]

I wish her healthy wishes. Surgery is scary. I’m glad she’s doing welll, especially since today is Allie’s 4th birthday. 

[Melissa1977]

8 hours ago, Bazinga said:

 Not everyone who holds strong religious views are walking around in prairie skirts and are KJV Bible only and don't allow television in the home. I think there's really no way to know how Alyssa really is, how she acts, and how she feels, just based off of what we see on her Instagram and YouTube videos. Even if she grows up and allows her children to experience more in life than she ever did, still doesn't mean she's not feeding her children the same religious values and information that her parents fed her as well. Maybe just not to the extreme legalism as her parents did.

I'm sure Alyssa feeds her girls the kool-aid. What I think is that she seems to do it because it's her environtment/tradition, not because she had thought about it. She reminds me my Catholic grandma, who went to church and parroted the typical Catholic ideas (some of them hateful!) but never was really involved not really inspired about it and was open to change a bit when times changed.

Alyssa been married for 5 years and has never posted anything religious or showed herself in demonstrations etc. Of course she has been in Taliban Dan campaign and that's awful enough! But it seems that her ideology is not strong enough to make her volunteer or preach to heathens. Which is OK (to each their own) but she's different than her sisters in that matter.

This is not an Alyssa's disclaimer. On the contrary, I'm saying she's vain and a follower. But she's practical and down-to-earth and it's a better prospect than to be a grifter.

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

First the requisite disclaimer:  I have no children and really haven't been around babies/toddlers for any extended period of time.  

Is it unusual that Alyssa only bathes her kids 3 days a week?
Just recently my mother told me that I'd sometimes need a couple of baths a day when I was pre-school aged.  I did play outside a lot though in the Florida sun.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

@Tim-Tom Biblethumper, I don't know about other kids, but my kids had skin that could get dried out by too many baths. When my kids were little, I usually bathed them about 3 times a week and just "spot cleaned" with a wet cloth between baths. Of course, if they really had a good time getting dirty, they got an early bath, or an extra one that week. (My kids have gotten less prone to dry skin as they've grown up, so that has changed.)

I suppose it's also possible that Alyssa has the idea that little girls should play dress up and tea party indoors, and should never play outside and get dirty. I hope not, for her kids' sake. 

[lumpentheologie]

I wonder if this is why she's not pregnant. 

[Pretzel]

7 minutes ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

First the requisite disclaimer:  I have no children and really haven't been around babies/toddlers for any extended period of time.  

Is it unusual that Alyssa only bathes her kids 3 days a week?
Just recently my mother told me that I'd sometimes need a couple of baths a day when I was pre-school aged.  I did play outside a lot though in the Florida sun.

No, it's not unusual.

The topic of how many times and when to bathe kids has the potential to become another peanut butter war...but in my POV, a child's skin is sensitive and kids don't sweat to an extent that adults do (and they don't have 'the smell' yet). Therefore, it's perfectly fine to bathe kids only 1-3 times a week. Remember, bathing only a couple times a week doesn't mean the kids are dirty. You'd still wash faces, hands, dirty feet, and if the kids are still toddlers in diapers, the odds are you have to hose them down frequently anyway. 

[bal maiden]

It’s my understanding (not an MD nor do I play one on tv) that Alyssa would be strongly discouraged from future pregnancies following the discovery of this heart condition, especially if the ablation is unsuccessful. Can anyone with experience or expertise comment on this?

[Melissa1977]

38 minutes ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

First the requisite disclaimer:  I have no children and really haven't been around babies/toddlers for any extended period of time.  

Is it unusual that Alyssa only bathes her kids 3 days a week?
Just recently my mother told me that I'd sometimes need a couple of baths a day when I was pre-school aged.  I did play outside a lot though in the Florida sun.

Not unusual. And Alyssa doesn't strike me as a mother who lets children play in the dirt. 

Anyway, daily baths are not good for a baby's skin. People baths babies daily because it is relaxing, not because they are dirty. But pediatricians no longer recommend daily baths for babies.

[VelociRapture]

5 hours ago, bal maiden said:

It’s my understanding (not an MD nor do I play one on tv) that Alyssa would be strongly discouraged from future pregnancies following the discovery of this heart condition, especially if the ablation is unsuccessful. Can anyone with experience or expertise comment on this?

I’m also in no way an expert, but I tried a google search. The Cleveland Clinic had this on their website:

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

I have no clue if this will end up limiting their family size or not or how much of that information applies to Alyssa’s situation specifically. If Alyssa does get pregnant again then I would guess she might need closer monitoring than she’s had in the past - quite possibly by a licensed OBGYN rather than a Midwife at the Birth Center she’s gone with in the past. 

ETA: Alyssa is posting to her stories about the backstory. Symptoms first became noticeable in January. There was a day her heart rate was 210 and she was having heart palpitations. She went to the ER, they referred her to a cardiologist, and she was then referred to an electrophysiologist. I think she was referred to another electrophysiologist after that. Last video was posted just a few minutes ago, so there’ll be more information shared there eventually for anyone who wants to look.  

ETA 2: Ok, she finished the videos. Apparently the EP Study was a last resort to figure out what was wrong. They had tried heart monitors and medication without success. She was out for six hours. Most people will have two spots that need to be fixed - Alyssa had seven. Each time theDoctor tried to freeze them they’d come back, but I believe burning them somehow worked. She has a 50% chance of it happening again and she’s hoping that doesn’t happen because this kicked her butt. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

Not a single mention was made regarding their reproductive options moving forward, which I’m honestly glad about. Their focus should be on Alyssa getting better right now, not whether they’ll be able to have more kids. 

[Melissa1977]

5 hours ago, bal maiden said:

It’s my understanding (not an MD nor do I play one on tv) that Alyssa would be strongly discouraged from future pregnancies following the discovery of this heart condition, especially if the ablation is unsuccessful. Can anyone with experience or expertise comment on this?

She may be discouraged. I wonder if she would be secretly happy for that. 

A Maxwell would have more babies immediately. But I suspect that some Bates (Whitney, Alyssa, Josie) wouldn't put their lives at risk.

I hope her to recover. Heart conditions are scaring, especially for a parent of little children.

[singsingsing]

I would suspect that if the ablation is successful, she would probably be cleared for future pregnancies. But I'm not a doctor either. If it were me, I'd definitely be closing the baby factory. But I'm not a fundie either. ? 

[HereticHick]

8 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

I would suspect that if the ablation is successful, she would probably be cleared for future pregnancies. But I'm not a doctor either. If it were me, I'd definitely be closing the baby factory. But I'm not a fundie either. ? 

I suspect that, just like in many traditionally religious families, there is a strong desire for her to have a boy. However, both sets of grandparents have multiple grandsons already. 

I hope that this means that, in the end, Alyssa and John end up with no more than 5 kids.  Which still seems like a lot to many of us--but for a woman with 18 siblings, who had her own first baby at 20--its a huge change.

[TeaELSee]

If they truly believe birth control is akin to abortion and God controls pregnancy wouldn’t this be an impossible situation for them? 

Eta. I’m glad her procedure went well.

[singsingsing]

5 minutes ago, TeaELSee said:

If they truly believe birth control is akin to abortion and God controls pregnancy wouldn’t this be an impossible situation for them? 

Eta. I’m glad her procedure went well.

Generally it's only hormonal birth control that's considered akin to abortion. Most conservative/fundie-lite Christians are okay with barrier methods and NFP. I do think it would be a pretty enormous leap to go from being indoctrinated into a quiverfull mindset to getting on the pill or getting sterilized, but it might be easier to take the smaller step to periodic abstinence/NFP.

This again makes me think of Jennifer Fulwiler, the zealous (and obnoxious) orthodox Catholic convert who loved to chuckle about how terrible she was at NFP, even though she had a serious blood clotting disorder. During her last pregnancy (her sixth or seventh, I think) she developed life-threatening complications (blood clots in both lungs), and her baby ended up in the NICU with holes in his lungs. After that, she suddenly and mysteriously became perfect at NFP. And as far as I can tell, she has never addressed how she made this happen, which I think is incredibly dishonest given her constant previous crowing about the glory and necessity of NFP...

[nausicaa]

28 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

After that, she suddenly and mysteriously became perfect at NFP. And as far as I can tell, she has never addressed how she made this happen, which I think is incredibly dishonest given her constant previous crowing about the glory and necessity of NFP...

Ugh. Or Bonnie, who claims she can't "do NFP right" because she can't accurately check her discharge when going to the bathroom because she can't control her pee after so many babies. I always wondered why she didn't just check when she didn't have to urinate? Or limit sexual activity to days right before and after her period? It's not fool-proof, but seems like it'd be better than what they're currently doing.

I do think Alyssa and John may come around to rhythm method/NFP/condoms. Hormonal birth control is probably still too big of a jump. 

[singsingsing]

4 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

Ugh. Or Bonnie, who claims she can't "do NFP right" because she can't accurately check her discharge when going to the bathroom because she can't control her pee after so many babies. I always wondered why she didn't just check when she didn't have to urinate? Or limit sexual activity to days right before and after her period? It's not fool-proof, but seems like it'd be better than what they're currently doing.

I do think Alyssa and John may come around to rhythm method/NFP/condoms. Hormonal birth control is probably still too big of a jump. 

I got the impression that Bonnie's cycles were too irregular to do NFP successfully. Which I totally believe, and that is one of the downsides of NFP that the apologists don't like to talk about. It absolutely will not work for every woman, or it might 'work' but mean abstaining from sex like 95% of the time, which can obviously have a detrimental effect on a marriage. But Bonnie also claims to 'bear the cross of hyper fertility', which I think is bullshit. She gets pregnant easily, like millions of women before her. That's not the same thing as being abnormally fertile. I think she just doesn't want to confront reality, that NFP is imperfect, that many women will just keep getting pregnant over and over again without taking steps to prevent it, and that maybe the Catholic Church's teachings aren't as perfect and conducive to physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being as she wants to believe.

[rebeccawriter01]

I have had the procedure - ablation to fix an SVT situation. It should not affect her fertility or even limit her ability to carry a child or children. While the idea of a heart issue is scary, this is one of the easier ones that can be addressed and the ablation procedure is one of the best to recover from. I was eating and walking within an hour and on my way home soon after. And that was from me having the most horrible man as a doctor (total jerk). He burned three spots on me and all follow up tests have been completely normal for the past four years. 

Alyssa is younger and in much better shape that I am in. So I doubt there will be residual effects for her. It may scare her for a while. Increased rate and palpitations can be scary since there isn't anything to do to stop it. I could just be sitting at my desk and it would hit. I honestly thought I was dying. For a long time after I would think it was going to start again only to be fine.  

[nokidsmom]

Here's hoping that this takes care of Alyssa's condition.   She must have been scared to death not knowing what was going on at first.   Wishing her well and she looks to be in good, loving hands with John.