Surgical Steel

They closed Avery's chest up tonight and she looked peaceful when I came back to see her. They lace the sternum up with sergical steel and leave it in, til next time. The bone just grows around it. Kind of neat, kind of gross. She is sedated and looks lovely.

This weekend they will try to "sprint" her heart and have her initiate breaths on her own for an hour at a time. She'll be on the mend, yay! Hopefully she won't get any infections, ect. (knock on wood)

I met a family yesterday whose 2 yr. old just completed her third surgery, the same kind that Avery has had/will have. She was doing great- wearing a pink little robe and her mom was following her around carrying her catheter bag. It was funny to see and nice to see she was done!

Eric and Zach are coming up this weekend for a family get together :)
Have a great day!

Waiting

I'm waiting for them to close up Avery's chest. Sometime this afternoon they'll do it. Avery looks really good right now. Most of the swelling is gone, but after they close it will increase again. The good news is she'll be closed and the real recovery can start!

My friend, Tanya came by this morning and took some more photos of Avery. I'll post when the slide show will be ready. She takes great photos.

Avery looked so different today. A lot like Eric with dark hair - really cute.

Little Trooper

Eric and I went to see Avery last night and although she is well sedated, she is looking good. She has her own nurse and so she's getting great care.

Thank you for the kind words and prayers. We are sooo relieved and grateful that all went well. The doctor that did the surgery, Dr. Jennifer Hirsch is well known around here. She is my height and a petite, blonde lady, so when she came out to talk to us about how things had gone, I first looked at her and thought she was a nurse or something. :)

We do have another child, Zachery. :) Zachery spends most of his time with his grandma Christensen and they are having a good time. He seems to be talking a lot more lately and full of energy. Where would we be without grandma's? Both grandma's and a great-grandma have been helping us out. Thank you!!!

It is no small thing that many of you have been praying and fasting and we want to thank you all. That means a lot, and there is a power in prayer of the faithful!

Eric wants to get a picture of Avery's chest, and I don't know if I can take that photo. I'm going to ask a nurse to do it and then not post it here. You can check with Eric later if you want to see it.

Avery is doing well as can be. Little trooper!

One Down, Two To Go!

Just a quick update for you. Avery went into surgery this morning at 8:15. It was a four hour procedure that seemed to take forever!

The surgeon said everything went well and that she came off of the heart lung machine without complications and that she did very well as a whole. We will be able to see her shortly and look forward to holding her once again.

Thanks for all of your prayers and concern for our little family. One surgery down and two more to go.

Avery's Photo Shoot

Renae's friend Tanya visited on Thursday last week and took some wonderful photos of Avery. They are posted on the website below, just click on the link and enter "aamarks" as the client password. Thanks to all of our friends and family that have helped out this past week. We couldn't have done it without your help.

http://www.bluepeachphotography.com/clients.html

We are 9 hours away from surgery, and 8 hours away from being able to hold our precious little girl!

Yoo Hallooo

I'm trying to get myself organized here and the main reason I wanted to start this blog was to keep those interested up to date on Avery. I'm a little late, but c'est la vie. :)

Avery looked soooo good on Saturday and Sunday. The first few days she was still puffy and red and her chest was moving up and down and then would reverse like crazy. After worrying and praying, the next morning she did a 180 and has been looking great since.

I love sitting with Avery and holding her hand. She moves around a little and stretches her legs now and then. I like to sit with her at night when there aren't as many people running around and talk to her and just be with her. I haven't held her yet, but tomorrow morning I will get to before she goes in. Eric got to after she was born. :) Avery is so sweet. She is sedated to keep her calm with a breathing tube down her throat. Her eyes are closed, but I did see them open right after she was born.

Avery is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30. The surgery they're doing is called the "Norwood Procedure" related to single ventricle heart anomoly (if you want to know what they'll be doing, just google all that). The surgery should last 4 hours, then another hour to get her in bed, to her room and hooked up, before we can see her. She is so beautiful and looks so peaceful (most of the time). I hate that she has to go through such an ordeal tomorrow, but she can't live with tubes, it gets in your way when you walk. :) I feel that she is being strengthened and that she has guardian angels watching over her. I have and can feel the love and effect of prayers from others, which I appreciate more than I can say (more that we can say).

They won't sew her chest up after surgery, and allow the swelling to go down first to close. That will be hard to see.

Avery has great nurses and the pediatric heart surgeons here are well known for their excellent work and the Ronald McDonald house if full of other parents whose children are here for heart defects as well. Dr. Hersch will be doing the surgery. Dr. Bove', who is the head surgeon and reason we wanted to come here, is out of town (durn it), but he is confident Dr. Hersch is very capable.

Yes, I did get into the "Ron Mac" as they call it. I didn't know for sure if I would get in, but in perfect timing, the social worker knocked on my door Friday morning and said I got in!!! I was so relieved. It is nice to be close to the hospital, have all the amenities of home here and dinners are brought in each night by people in the community. Support your local Ronald McDonald house. They are huge blessings to those staying there.

My sister in law, Somer Christensen, is a pro at all of this. They have a daughter, Maisy who went through (and goes through) much more than any of this. First of all, they are wonderful people, and Somer burned a cd of lullaby music for Avery. I put a little cd player in her bed with a mini speaker and play the music when I'm there. I'm not sure if the nurses play it when I'm gone, hmmm. Avery seems to like it, I know I do and other nurses have said how wonderful it is to have nice music playing (and not just hear the beeping of machines). Thank you Evan and Somer for the cd!

Avery is in the NICU and there are 5 other babies in the same room, so nurses can watch 2 at a time. Most are premies and weigh less than 2 lbs., so Avery is the big girl in town right now. After her surgery, she'll go to another floor to recover, the cardio thoracic pediatric area (pod A) as their calling it, on the 5th floor at Mott Hospital of Univerisity of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I thought you needed all that info. :)

This is a lot of writing and I could say a lot more, but I'll do it later. My ankles are sooo swollen and they look like a grandma's ankles. Pain meds are working well, but sometimes they make me dizzy (no comment).

I can't put photos on from here, but my husband should be able to sometime. Thank you for all your emails, phone calls, visits, gifts, thoughts and prayers--they are much appreciated!

Ate manha. Until tomorrow.

Time is ticking away!

The offer we put on the cute house is at the bottom of a pile of 3000 other offers the California bank has to look at before ours. Yikes. So, we should hear whether or not our offer is accepted in about 45 days. That's all. We are still optimistic that good fortune will smile on us and the bank accepts our offer, and not the other offer that was submitted with ours :( .

We have other things to think about right now. The big one is Tuesday morning Avery will be born via c-section! She should be born looking healthy and pink, and we should be able to hold her!
I will post updates on this blog on how her surgery/recovery goes.

I got to talk to one of my very best friends, Aryn, last night. We met in the 4th grade and have had many adventures since then. Aryn is very funny and has many talents! She made and sent me a beautiful baby quilt. She runs tri-athalons, travels and is a darn good attorney. Thanks, Aryn for calling and making my day!