Can you hear me Praising Jesus?!?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to those of you praying! Our prayers have been heard and answered! Maddie has been draining fluid all day, enough so that they are taking out all of her lines and tubes with the exception on 1 iv line. They are leaving 1 in so they can draw labs and give meds. Maddie also took 1/2 of her bottle twice today!

I am so thankful God has heard our prayers! I can't wait to get me hands on my sweet baby! With that said, I don't know when I'll post again! :) If I can hold my baby, then that's what I'll be doing! I will post if we have any big changes or new prayer requests.

I can't thank you enough for following our journey and lifting my sweet Maddie up to our Heavenly Father.

Our plan for the night is to stay here in the ICU. She is still on her heart med which they are not going to take her off of this until in the morning. They will stop that med in the morning and monitor how she adjusts. She is also still on a little bit of oxygen because she still has fluid around and in her lungs. We are hoping that once we get her up that some of this will drain out. We will be in the icu until at least tomorrow afternoon, so I'm not sure when we will be headed to the step down floor. I've decided that I like being here in the icu because the staff is so wonderful and attentive!

Please keep praying that the excess fluid will be absorbed or drain! If not, they will put a tube in to drain it. And please pray that she will continue to eat, even if just small amounts!

I wrote a note to the lady next door and my nurse took it over. I just let her know that all of you are praying for her. She immediately came over and said thank you. Her name is Jessica and her baby's name is Josie. Please keep praying for her. Please pray that I will get an opportunity to talk to her.

Last, but not least, our sweet friend Tina Hill came to visit us today. It is such a blessing to be able to visit with friends and a blessing to Maddie to know she is loved! Thank you Tina for taking time out of your day to come see us! We love you!

Day 3 in the morning

Lamentations 3:22-23
22 The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.


Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!!!

We had a good night. Maddie's pain meds allowed for her to rest. She did wake up a few times but went right back to sleep. They changed the dressings on her chest tube and incision. (Now we see a lot less blood) They removed the oxygen monitors on her forehead and back. The chest x-ray showed some improvement from yesterday but we still need the excess fluid to continue to drain. We are improving and we thank Jesus for that!! We know He is taking care of her and providing her every need! Thank you for your prayers! I'll update in a little while after the doctors do rounds and we know what our plan is for today.

Prayer requests for today...
1. The little girl next door will improve
2. Maddie's excess fluid will continue to drain
3. Her pain meds will continue to work and that she will only need a lower dose so that she will be able to wake up a little bit
4. She has had enough improvement that she can come off the heart med, have her iv line that goes directly into her heart removed and then her chest tube can be removed
5. For her catheter to be removed (They decided to leave it in to monitor drainage instead of having to weigh diapers)


Here are a few pics of Maddie this morning...

Day 2 evening

Brent and I are sitting in the icu completely overwhelmed! It is 9:00 and we are just sitting here looking at Maddie. I know I have sent a lot of updates today but since we can't really "do" anything I'm just typing on the computer. Hey, it keeps me occupied! Once we move to a regular room I don't know how often I'll get to update! Hopefully it will not be alot and I'll be holding my sweet baby. It's really hard to not be able to hold her!!!

Maddie seems to be doing much better! Praise the Lord! They have her on her new pain meds and them seem to be working. She is sleeping so peacefully.

We are so thankful for all the prayers and encouraging words from all! Brent and I decided to go down to the cafeteria to eat dinner while the nurses were changing shifts and Maddie was sleeping. While we were there, a man came over and was just such an encouragement to us. He was actually in the surgery waiting area yesterday while we were waiting for Maddie to come out of surgery. He told us he had been praying for us even though he didn't know anything about what our situation was. God is so good to send encouragement when you least expect it. John was definitely a blessing to us. Please pray for his nephew and his recovery from his surgery.

I talked with my mom and Brent talked with his mom and they seem to be holding down the fort at home (with the supervision of Pop and Grandaddy of course!) . Emma, Molly, and Miles were all in the bed and hopefully the grandparents can get some rest (that they probably really need!) Especially after taking care of three wild kids all day! Thanks Mary Jane for taking dinner to our family. What a blessing you are!

Brent and I are also thankful that the charge nurse gave us a parent room again tonight.

I forgot to post in my afternoon update that I had the opportunity to talk about Jesus with a nurse that we only had for 3 hours. Usually you have a nurse for a whole shift (12 hours) but they brought in a new patient that needed our male nurse. So, he left and Erin came in for only 3 hours. As we were talking and I told her I was from Memphis, she told me that her boyfriend lives in Midtown in Memphis. This opened the door for me to share why we are here in Marysville and to tell her about Jesus.

Well, before I close my blog down for the night I'll share a funny story. Brent and I went to eat lunch and we decided to eat outside at the picnic table. As we were walking toward the table a big wind came and one of the BIG blue patio umbrellas started flying toward me. All I could do was duck down and it flew right over my head. Brent said it barely missed me. I wonder if Children's hospital would stitch up an adult if their patio umbrella busted open my head?

One more thing...we just found out that the 6 month old baby in the room next to us has been here since Feb. 14. She was moved back to ICU tonight from the step down floor. Please pray for her and her parents. We don't know her name or what is going on, but God does!

Also, our nurse, Brenna told me that her husband and some of her children are not saved. Please pray for Brenna as she shares the gospel with her family and pray that they will be saved!

Thank you for being so faithful to pray!
Good night!

Day 2 afternoon...

Right now it is 4:00. Brent and I went to eat lunch and when we came back they had done a chest x-ray and blood gas check and they were in the process of doing a heart echo (ultrasound). I immediately began to worry because I didn't know they were doing an echo but I just kept reciting Is 41:10 to myself until I knew what was going on. Thank goodness for God's word!
Her x-ray was the same as it was this morning which is a good and bad thing. Good because there is not more fluid but bad because the fluid is not draining. Because of this they added an extra med that will help drain excess fluid. We need this fluid to drain because it is around the lungs and she cannot leave the icu until this fluid is gone. If the meds don't work they will have to put a drainage tube in and it could have to stay in for a few days. The blood gas came back as all normal which is good. And the heart echo showed the heart looks great and is functioning just as it should! They had to call pain management in again because the pain meds are just not working. My sweet baby is very uncomfortable and they have had to move her around a few times and she just screams out in pain.

Basically, here are our pray requests for now...
1. That her pain meds would work and that she would be able to rest
2. The meds will help the excess fluid to drain and
3. That should would be able to eat (She hasn't eaten all day!)

I have to say I could never have imagined how hard this is! As I sit here looking at her, thinking about how much I love her I am reminded that God loves her even more than I ever could. I am so thankful that He loves her. But I also think about how much it hurts me to see her in so much pain and agony. I'm then reminded that God gave His Son to die on a cross.
John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

My Maddie's heart has been physically repaired but only God can heal heart heart spiritually and I'm praying He does that at an early age!

Here is a picture of Maddie in her socks...

Here are a few pics from today.

Maddie is holding on to the cord for her oxygen monitor and every time she wakes up, she pulls the cord so I got her bunny and gave it to her so she can hold on to that!



You can tell by this picture that Maddie's face is really swollen. She is getting some meds to help drain excess fluid. So hopefully this swelling will go down today.




Maddie holding her bunny...

Day 2 in the ICU

Last night, Brent and I decided we would stay in the parent room to try to get some sleep. We had gotten up at about 4:30am so we decided that would probably be best. We went to bed around midnight and slept off and on until about 6.
Maddie didn't have the greatest of nights. Her pain meds were not working so they switched her back to what she was on originally with a higher dose. Then around 4 they added a med that would help her heart recover from the bypass machine and start working a little better. She was a little cold to the touch and her circulation was not what it should have been, so this heart med was added. Her hemoglobin was low. It went from 13 (point something) to 6 (point something) so she was given some blood to help with this. She was also given a med that would help her urinate. She didn't eat anything all night so we are hoping this will pick up today.
She seems to be resting right now, so we are hoping that when she wakes up she will feel a little better. She still has all her lines and tubes that she had yesterday and because of the new heart med she has to stay in the icu for another day. I hate that she is still in the icu but she did just have open heart surgery and I'm glad they are monitoring her so closely. The staff here at Children's is so wonderful! They have been such a blessing and seem to care so much. They assign only one patient to each nurse so she is getting such individualized care and the nurse stays in the room.
Her plan for today is to have her catheter removed and a few other lines. She has to keep her chest tube in until tomorrow because there is an iv line that goes directly into her heart that is not being removed until tomorrow. When that iv tube is removed there is sometimes some bleeding. If the chest tube is still there, the excess bleeding can drain out that tube and the drs can see it.
We would ask that you continue to pray for Maddie's recovery today. Specifically that her body would process the excess fluids that she has retained. Also, pray for minimal pain. Pray that her hemoglobin count would come up. As they take her off of one of her medicines, her body will produce the right hormones to allow her to relax. Pray that as she comes off her oxygen that her body will handle that okay. She also really needs to eat. Please pray for her appetite (and her interest to eat). Thank you, thank you, thank you is all that we can say. We rest in knowing that we serve an awesome God! We pray that His will be done and that He continue to get all glory and all honor for He is the only one that actually deserves any of it!!!

My verse for today is...
Phil 4:19 "And my god shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Praise the Lord He takes care of our needs. I'm praying this for my baby girl today!

It's been a long day.

Well, today was the day we have been waiting for but dreading at the same time. Maddie could not have anything to eat after midnight. We were very nervous about this because Maddie has been eating every 3 hours even through the night. We gave her a bottle at midnight and she slept until we got her up at 5:15. We left our house at 5:30 and got to Children's at a little after 6. We were prepared for a long ride full of screaming but Maddie slept the entire way. I am so thankful that God provided Maddie what she needed and she was able to sleep. What a loving God we serve! We got checked in for Maddie's open heart surgery. Jeremy and Gerry came by and prayed with us and stayed until they took Maddie back. We walked her down, kissed her goodbye and headed to the waiting room. That is one of the hardest things I've ever experienced...to hand over my baby for what was about to take place!
Mom and Dad brought the girls down to the hospital so they could wait with us. Ronnie and Randy took Miles to Jennifer's to play with Caden and then they came down to wait also. As we were waiting my sweet, precious friend Tiffany Brown showed up. I had no idea she was coming and it was such a blessing to me. Words will never be able to express to her what that meant to me.
The doctors and nurses gave us updates ever hour and a half. That was nice to be kept in the loop. Maddie did great! They started surgery around 7:30 and were pretty much finished by 12:00. Dr. Galantowicz (Maddie's surgeon) came out to the waiting room to talk with us by 12:15. All I can say about what her Dr. said is GOD IS GOOD!!!! Maddie came off the breathing machine and heart machine with no problems. He repaired the large whole and actual stitched up another tiny hole. He was able to save her pulmonary valve (huge answered prayer request) and he shaved the muscle tissue that was blocking her valve. All in all Maddie did wonderfully. Once, Maddie was settled in ICU we were able to come back to see her.
Right now, we are in the icu just trying to keep Maddie relaxed and calm. I can't put to words how she looks, so I'll show you a picture...




Children under 12 are not allowed in the ICU except if patients are doing ok they let siblings come back. So, Emma and Molly were able to come back and see Maddie for a few minutes. This was very hard for them but they really wanted to see her.
Once everyone had their visit, my mom and dad took the girls to Claire's (at the mall) to have some happy time. That is one of the girls' favorite things...going to Claire's with Pop and Gigi! Ronnie and Randy headed out to pick up Miles.

As for Maddie...
She has already had a bottle of pedialyte and formula. She kept that down and so they are happy with that. The first 12 hours are crucial and after the first 24 hours we will be able to relax a little. They did have to switch her pain meds b/c the first one was not working. We are continuing to pray for her comfort and healing and a good night's rest.

Isaiah 41:10 says "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

This has been my verse from the day I found out that Maddie had tetralogy of fallot. I never dreamed when I was pregnant that I would be walking this road but for some reason God chose to create Maddie's heart exactly the way He did and I am thankful. I am thankful because God has taught me so much through this journey and I'm continuing to learn more about Him every day. I am reminded that I am nothing with out Him. I know that God is going to use this experience to bring glory to Himself and we would want it no other way. I'm excited to see how Maddie will be able to use this experience to tell people about Jesus...and I know she will.

I am so thankful for all the many prayers being lifted to our Heavenly Father for Maddie. What a blessing!!! Brent and I will never be able to express our gratitude to all of you who have and are praying!!! So, to those of you praying....THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! and WE LOVE YOU!!!