A Hiccup in the Plan

We had a good night’s sleep, and Laura seems to have done well through the night. In fact, yesterday was such a good day, we and the medical team were all expecting to see some more strides forward today. But we had a setback this morning.

At 8:30, little Laura stopped breathing and went stiff. She appears to have had some kind of seizure. The doctors jumped in and got things stabilized quickly, and re-inserted a breathing tube. In other words, Laura is back on a ventilator again. And while she is not fully sedated, she is back on a bunch of meds to help her settle while the air clears. The EEG team was just in to get some brainwave data, and they are scheduling a CT scan this morning. We’re still not sure what caused the seizure, or what impact it may or may not have had. So, we’ve got some new questions to get answered.

We are so thankful for the genuine care of the doctors and nurses here in Riley ICU. They have been very sensitive, very quick to explain things to us, and very competent. But we’d invite your prayers for them as they endeavor to find out what triggered this morning’s event.

We will keep you posted. Thanks.

She's Doing Well!!

Laura is doing SO well!!! We are so thankful and relieved. The doctors and nurses are happy and so we just keep waiting for more healing.

Laura got off the ventilator about 3:30 this afternoon and has just finished drinking some pedialite from a bottle (YAY for getting her to actually take a bottle). The picture above shows her before the ventilator was taken out. She's off of full sedation and awake on and off.

The nurses put her hair up in a little pony tail. :) It's so cute and funny too.

Michael and I got out for a walk today -- it's beautiful weather here in Indianapolis this week (60'sF). We've been able to get some good sleep at night thanks to parent rooms downstairs.

Tomorrow they'll start weaning Laura off some of the medications and in the next few days we might be able to move upstairs to the Heart Center.

In between taking care of Laura, I've been working on some knitting, which has been fun. I've been able to read just a tiny bit from a few books as well. We're stocked with yummy snacks (thanks to friends) and Michael ran home to check on the kids who are having a blast with Grandma and the aunts.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us! We are so grateful Laura is doing well.

The first 6 hours

We are grateful that things are going all right. Laura has a fever, but that is common after surgery. Her color looks good, and there are no scares yet. The next 24 hours are the most crucial as her heart tries to recover from being stopped while the repair was done. It is hard to see her upset when her eyes flutter open for bits of time. I think it is more stressful than we realize watching a recovering baby.

We are hoping to get some rest tonight and praying Laura will stay stable. If she does okay perhaps tomorrow we can get the ventilator out.

Thanks for praying!

She's Out!

Surgery is over and went well!!! The hole is repaired and the surgeon was happy with how things went. We are just waiting to see her. Please keep praying for a good recovery.

Surgery Day

Today is the day. We'll check in at 6 a.m. at the hospital and hopefully by 1 p.m. or so we might be able to see Laura again. The actual surgery will probably only be around 2 hours long.

So many thoughts have been running through my head. I am thankful for a peaceful Sunday in which my heart was at rest. God is good to grant that.

While we would never choose hardships like this, we know that God uses these kinds of situations to work out His purposes for our lives. We are trusting in His perfect will for Laura's life and for our own.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, love, and encouragement. Everyone has been so kind and helpful and I feel as though it is impossible to express our thanks fully. I'll try to get back on here to post surgery results as soon as possible.

Miscellaneous Life

My mom took matters into her own hands and changed my mantle for me. I had no time or inspiration to change it, and decided it could just stay summer until Christmas. But, mom took a few moments to whip it into shape and here it is:

Michael got hit by a deer this morning as he was driving to a meeting. We are thankful that the car has no lasting damage. Things could have been a lot worse. Of course I'm just thinking about the deer meat we could have had.....

Laura just loves her Daddy. It's so cute.

More and more I'm realizing how much I love having three boys. I know girls were always a dream of mine, but boys are awfully special too, and it's fun that they are close together in age.

Soccer is over -- I didn't take many pictures but did get a few of Rachel since it was her first season.

I don't think I mentioned the wonderful visit we had from old and dear friends recently. The B's live in Vermont and stopped by Indiana on a trip. They've visited us in every state that we've moved to since my family left Vermont in 1982. And, their daughter Amanda even visited us in Scotland!! Their visit was a special treat and encouragement.

I got my bathroom cleaned and closet organized today along with putting away all the laundry. I told Rachel I'd pay her to run all the laundry through yesterday while I was gone. She did it! Seven or eight loads through (not folded, but that wasn't required) and only one set of white underwear gone pink (and the owner won't notice). Hmmmm.....I could change the chores around....or, maybe I should just leave this one for special occasions.

Laura at Six Months

I got a few six month pictures of Laura this weekend. I couldn't time it with her NG out, so we'll just have to consider that part of her history.

She's made progress in many ways since last month, so we are thankful for that.

Of course she's as happy as ever.

Don't you want to have three big brothers to take care of you!?

Daddy and his girls.

Not only are brothers great, but sisters too -- especially when they take you off to their room where they make a bed on the floor, "put you to bed", and make you stay there for an hour.

She totally knew it was all a game!

I'm still waiting for Laura's congestion to improve. :( I hate listening to that.

This is my last week home before surgery so I've tried to keep it free of extra busy-ness. Nonetheless, four of the days will involve doctor appointments (not all for Laura)! I'm planning to get out shopping for food, meet my mom for lunch, and have Christina come over and get my knitting projects organized. I'm also trying to do one special thing with each child. Today James and I baked something very, very cute. Can't wait to show you sometime.....