Good News

We just got off the phone with the nurse Practitioner. She said they were already done with all three tasks on Andrew! they are presently warming him back up (they had to chill him down to @17C in order to stop circulation and prevent injury to the brain and other organs) and they think he may be in his room within an hour. This is awesome news. Going in to this operation, the Dr. said the mortality rate is 25%, and we weren't expecting them to be done until at least 8pm. There are still a few rough days ahead during recovery, but Andrew just cleared a major hurdle tonight. He may still be pretty sedated throughout tomorrow, but visitors are welcome, just call prior to coming for our sake. Thanks for the prayers, please keep it up. I will get some more pictures on tomorrow... I promise! Thank You Lord for answering all the prayers.

2 hrs into surgery

We have been getting hourly (approx.) updates on Andrew. The nurse just called and said that they just started repairing the pulminary artery 'something'. I know there is a narrowing of the line there and that is what they are reconstructing. This is the first of three things they are attempting to fix. Andrea, the nurse, said that "everything is going as expected". i guess that's all for now, Bess and I are just going to watch a video or something to relax. The emotional stress of this is a lot more than the physical, I've never been through anything like this, I felt something click as soon as Andrew was born that made it seem like I had the strongest relationship with him for the longest time.... very strange and hard to explain. It's like there was no need to have to communicate feelings or commitments or desires to him (even if I could), but that the bond was there the first breath he took. It was put there. I never could have guessed the depths of such a short interaction with someone. Life is truly a miracle, and now I know it first hand, I will never need to debate it. Bess and I both would give our heart to him in a second. we'll let you know how it goes in a couple hours. Keep up the prayers.

Surgery

Andrew just went in for his surgery. it is about 2pm.... they said to expect it to go till 7 or 8 possibly. the 'extra layer of complexity to the surgery" (which is the clogged veins) is what is prompting the urgency of the operation. I will update this blog sometime tonight after the surgery is done and we see how well he did. Please continue the prayers. Pray for Bess too, she is having a extra hard time with this with the addition of the post pardum emotions/stress. Something I cannot relate to, but I just know that it is one additional stress..... so we will keep you up to date...

New Info on Dizzy

The cardiologist came in just now and told us that Andrew needs to go into surgery within the next couple hours. It appears that there are more obstructions in his main arteries than initially thought. This basically makes all the pipes smaller, which increases blood pressure, which is causing his lungs to fill up because there is no where else for it to go. Even though the cath lab isn't ready, they are going to do a couple work-a-rounds, (the safety risks here are very minimal compared the necessity for his operation now) and go ahead with the shunt (which was planned) and also addressing the obstructed vessels. Please continue to pray for him and for us... but mostly him. Thanks.

Friday, Dec. 28

Andrew had a rough night last night. His heart rate shot up to 300 for a while, his breathing became labored, so his 02 levels dropped down to the low 70's. They had to put him on a ventilator, but he is still on 'room air' which is good. He just (Fri. 10:30am) got transferred over to Arnold Palmer's Cardiac ICU. Here he has his own room and at least 2 nurses dedicated to him. There is a concern with the amount of fluid building up in his lungs... he is going to be pretty heavily sedated over here so they can keep his vitals under control. So, here we are, waiting until the new nurses come and tell us we can see him. As of now his surgery is definitely put off till Monday. He did eat for the first time from a bottle last night, Mommy (Bess) got to feed him first, then Daddy (me) got a crack at it later. He was a trip! I am trying to upload a pic of him eating.... will have to try picture later... tachnical difficulties..

Update on Andrew

The latest on Andrew...
This morning (Wednesday) Andrew went in for a cardio cath, basically an exploratory procedure to find out IF and How he can have the 3 surgery treatment for his heart problem. If you do a search on 'Single Ventricle Heart' you will find the basic situation with Andrew. He was born with only 1 atrium chamber and 1 ventricle chamber, whereas you should have 2 each. This, combined with his arteries and veins being either absent or running to the wrong place, caused major issues with his ability to produce oxygen-saturated blood. The Dr. said this is a 'hard heart disease to work on, not that it is 'rare', but it is very complex.'
His only option is to have these series of surgeries, this week, 6-12 mo, @4yrs. old respectively. the Dr. said that this first surgery, to insert a shunt into the PDA (a duct for blood travel), is the most risky. The % increase drastically for the better with each procedure. This first surgery will probably happen Friday and will leave us at the hospital (Arnold Palmer) for the next month.
We are very happy with the medical team here, they are very intelligent, and yet make themselves very understandable. they seem concerned to be sure we know what is going on. To list everybody that has supported us through visitations, phone calls, and most of all prayer, would be impossible. We will try to keep everyone up to date, hoping this blog to be a primary source of information. ANYONE is welcome to visit any time, just give us a heads-up prior to coming so we can work it into our schedule. Again, thanks so much for the support, please keep up the prayers, we still have a long road ahead of us, but with God's guidance, we will make it. We hope you all like the photos (and video, if it works) and we will update as we can

Andrew arrives on scene

merry christmas! you probably already know by now that Andrew was born 12/23/07. he arrived at 7:17pm and is absolutely beautiful. he does have a pretty serious heart condition that I won't begin to try to explain at this point, but he was transferred to winnie palmer hospital where they are taking good care of him. steve & i are staying at the ronald mcdonald house now which is literally walking distance. he is scheduled for a heart cath tomorrow around 9am which will give the doctors a better idea of what exactly is going on and hopefully they will be able to insert a stint, otherwise he will need surgery for a shunt soon. this will be phase one of 3 phases that will occur in the first 5 years of life. of course each step depends on the sucess of the previous as well as other factor in his body. right now he is very healthy otherwise.
thank you so much for all your love & prayers. this is God's boy & i know He is more than capable of taking care of him. we can't have the cell phones on in the nicu (we are not trying to avoid everyone) so I will try to keep things up to date on the blogspot to keep everyone informed. i promise i'll post pictures asap.

Getting closer

So we are getting very close now (thank goodness). I went to the doctor today & everything is still going great. Andrew has a nice strong heartbeat & is still as active as he can be in his cramped quarters. I am pretty uncomfortable at this point, but hanging in there. I worked my last full week this week & will work 1/2 time next week before starting my leave. Right now I am scheduled to be induced 12/26/07, which I had a heard time deciding to do, but since I made my mind up I have been relieved. Please keep us in your prayers that Andrew will arrive safely (& in a timely manner : ).

36 Weeks

I'm definitely feeling larger than life at this point. Here is my big belly which matches my swollen hands & feet/ankles. I am standing in Andrew's room which just recently got new drywall & carpet. I'm still working on getting everything in the room & ready for Andrew's arrival. HOPEFULLY he'll be here by the end of the month. Tusk is definitely aware that it's getting closer to time. He is actually great with babies & kids, but I am sure he will have some jealousy to work out too. He's a great dog.

29 week belly

Here I am with my big belly in the new library Steve is almost done building at our house (formerly the back porch). Andrew is growing like crazy, I feel at least twice as big as I look. He can kick pretty hard now, even stopping me in my tracks at work last week. We also enjoy watching him move, making my belly jump. I still laugh at it pretty much all the time.

Most of you know that I don't care to get my picture taken, so after complaining about the 'angel' affect (overhead lighting) Steve agreed to take his picture too. Here he is sticking his belly out as far as he can. I'm surprised that the picture came out clear, I was laughing so hard.