Take Two

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Look what I found amongst my pots and pans this week:-)

Tomorrow will be a second attempt at surgery.
 

Tomorrow I will hand my baby over to yet another Doctor.  

For them, this is procedure.  
Its routine. 
…To me, its my precious, helpless girl, and yet I know that the Hands that have held her all along will be cradling her.
 
 
Tomorrow, she will go to sleep under heavy medication.  
The surgery will be invasive. Of course medically, statistics are in her favor.
…To me though, Ill spend the hour while she’s in surgerey wishing away every minute and longing to have her back in my arms
 
 
Tomorrow, we’ve been told to expect fever.  
To expect vomiting.  
To expect coughing up blood (the procedure involves squirting sterile fluid into her airways and lungs to clear mucous out of the way for the probe.  When she wakes, it will feel like pneumonia and she’ll have to cough up all the junk in her lungs.)
…Im expecting Evie to be a fighter.  To be tough.  To be resilient.  
My daughter is my hero!
 
Psalm 91:11 “For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways”.

Picture Perfect…almost (Isabelle takes the cake in this one!)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009











Not that I would imagine there are too many of you who really want an 8×10 of the Smith family hanging in your living room 🙂  However, wanted to share an online gallery from a photo session a friend did for us this fall.  If any of you Columbia area residents are looking to have a family portrait done, you should check out Kickstand Studio!  We love Lee and think he captured the essence of our crazy crew beautifully…he had the kids very relaxed and laughing most of the time.  Click the link below for your entertainment:

Smith Family Portraits


Sweet-heart

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Finally getting around to an update after Evies Cardiology visit this week.  Her heart function is great – PRAISE THE LORD!  Dr. Shuler did an ECHO and said her leaky valve appears to have mended (leaky valves can sometimes lead to future surgeries in TGA patients).  Also, her VSD (hole in her heart) is almost closed.  The good news is, the valve is not becoming more leaky…the bad news is, this leak is what allowed them to measure if Evie’s pulmonary hypertension is getting better or worse, so we no longer have a gage.  

 
The only real concern from a cardiology standpoint is her constant elevated heart-rate (resting, rate is 130 and should be 80)  This could be a internal pacemaker that over time will reset itself, or could be indication of anemia or a thyroid issue.  The Dr. wants an EKG monitor on her for 24 hours to record her rates for him to evaluate.  We will do that during her hospitalization next week.
 
The little darling is passing big milestones with her birthday fast approaching.  She finally has her two front teeth, says “ma-ma” & “da-da”, gives kisses (big wet ones:-) and took two steps to me yesterday!  What a joy to watch her growing!