Chest is Closed

Well the chest is closed up and Emma is doing good.  They say that the next 8-12 or so hours can be similar to after the Norwood just because this is almost like another surgery.  It changes the pressures inside her chest cavity which makes a whole new environment for the heart.  Everything went well though and now they are going to just watch her and see how she does.

Specific prayer requests:
1)  Pray that her recovery process after this is smooth.
2)  Pray that her sats and all her vitals continue to improve as they should.
3)  Pray that her heart continues to function well.
4)  Pray for the doctors, nurses, etc. that will be taking care of Emma.
5)  Pray for her lungs, that the part that is collapsed will open up, and that they will continue to function well.

God is good, all the time!  And all the time, God is good!

Daddy Scott

Chest Closure This Morning

Just wanted to let everyone know that Emma is having her chest closed this morning around 7:30.  Please pray that everything goes well.  Also, that her recovery from the closure is smooth and without any major downturns.

Specific Prayer Requests:

1. That her chest closure goes GREAT today!

2. Pray for Dr. Forbess and the rest of the OR team.

3. Pray that her recovery after the closure is smooth and easy.

4. Pray that her right lung will complete inflate back up.  The upper part is collapsed.

5. Pray that her sats and stats remain in the appropriate levels.

6. Pray that they will let her have food as soon as possible.  Her little tummy is growling!

7. Pray for the other families her at Children's!

Thank you all for your support and love

Sarah (Emma's Mommy)

Another Good Day/Evening

Close-up of Miss Emma's face.  Her little chest is still open so we will crop the pics.  

Well, we had another good day yesterday.  Emma was able to have a little bath last night and get all of her blankets changed out.  She smells so good this morning and is quite alert.  She is opening her sweet little eyes and paying attention to Scott and I. 

Speaking of Scott, he is truly the best husband and daddy in the world.  He hardly ever leaves his little girl’s side, and when he does he is constantly checking up on her.  He spends the night at the Cardiac ICU every night and diligently watches over our little Emma all night.  I have stayed a couple of nights, but Scott and my mom are pretty insistent that I go back and sleep at the Ronald McDonald House most nights until I heal more.  Emma already has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. 

Keep those prayers going for Miss Emma.  She has been such a fighter!  God is good and has been working so hard in Miss Emma’s life. 

Specific Prayer Requests:

1.     Pray that her chest closure goes smoothly (It will either be today or tomorrow)

2.     Pray that that the 8-12 hours post chest closure goes smoothly and that we experience no downturns.

3.     Pray that her recovery keeps going smooth

4.     Pray that she will not have to be on the ventilator very long and that they will be able to remove the drainage tubes and such soon.

5.     Pray for the other families here at Children’s……there are a lot of ups and downs in this ride.

6.     Thank our Loving, and Caring God for the work he has done so far in Emma’s life.

Special Prayer Request:

A family that we met at the RMH had a baby in the Cardiac ICU that went to be her Heavenly Father this morning.  Pray for God’s comfort and strength to surround them.

Sarah (Emma's Mommy)

Oh What a Beautiful Morning.......Oh What a Wonderful Night

Let me start off by saying that God is so good!  He is truly in control and shows us everyday that He is and that He is taking care of our precious little girl!  She had a wonderful night last night!  It went very smoothly!   I really thought that last night neither Sarah nor I would get any sleep, but we both did which was really nice!  They say that the first 8-12 hours is usually a rollercoaster; however, she was very stable throughout the night!  What a blessing!!!  Today they are weaning her off of certain medications.  This will help in her overall recovery process.  They are also going to give her a little nutrition through TPNs, which is good!  They are thinking that they will close her chest tomorrow sometime.  All in all, the doctors are very pleased with her progress!!!!!  We are truly, truly blessed!

God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!

Some specific prayer requests:

1)   Pray for her recovery process, that today and the following days will go very smoothly and that she will heal quickly!

2)   Pray for Emma’s heart, lungs, brain, and body.  Pray that everything will continue to function properly and that she will continue to improve.

3)   Pray for the doctors, nurses, and other staff that are tending to Emma.  They have been so great to Emma thus far!  We are truly blessed to have them!

4)   Pray that Sarah and I will continue to remain very strong and have a peace about everything.

A special thanks to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, and wonderful messages that we received for Emma yesterday.  It means so much to us to see how many people love her!  So, thank you all!  Please keep those prayers going!  God is answering our prayers! 

Daddy Scott

Rest and Recovery

Emma officially arrived back in her room at 3:25pm.  It took the doctors and nurses about one hour to get her situated and hooked up to all of the monitors again.  Emma is doing good.  Her stats are holding steady and she is resting (with the help of many meds).  The doctors and nurses have told us to be prepared for the next several hours (really about 12 to 24 hours).  They tell us that cardiac babies tend to realize that something is different about their bodies around the 8 to 12 hour mark.  This is when they can act up.  We are praying that Emma does not have an episode, but the doctors and nurses are trying to prepare us just in case.  Her glucose is running a little high, so they are going to be checking it frequently; however, they just told me that it was coming down on its own which is good.  They are continuing to monitor all of her levels and stats.  The nurse will be super busy tonight checking on everything. 

Specific Prayer Requests:

1.Pray that Emma has a restful and uneventful evening.

2. Pray that Emma is not a typical cardiac patient that has a downturn.

3. Pray that Emma will stabilize with all of her levels so they can start weaning her off of her meds sometime tomorrow.

4. Pray for the doctors and nurses that will be caring for her this evening that they will have the knowledge and wisdom to make the right decisions for her.

5. Pray that Scott and I will be able to be strong for Emma and get some rest this evening.

6.  Give God the glory and adoration for everything he has done for Emma over the past week!

We cannot thank you enough for your support and prayers.  All of the comments today were very uplifting. 

Sarah (Emma’s Mommy)

All snuggled in and resting after our big day!

Norwood Success!

We just met with Dr. Forbess and he said that everything went very smoothly!  He also said that they did not find any additional problems during the surgery, which is really really good!  We got to see her briefly in the hall as she passed by during transit to her CICU room.  She looked so good!  We were told that we would be able to go and see her in about an hour once they get her in her room and all stable.  We can not wait to see our precious little princess!  Praise God that everything has gone so great!  Please continue to keep her in your prayers during this next 24 to 48 hours and days following, as the recovery process can be a difficult time for some kids.  Thank you everyone who has been praying!  God has truly answered our prayers!  I will keep the blog updated with info on how she is doing.

Specific Prayer Requests:

Pray that Emma's recovery is easy and uneventful.

Pray that Emma will handle the surgery well and not have any struggles post surgery.

Daddy Scott

The pictures below are of her coming back from her surgery to her room.

Surgery Update 12:55pm

Well they called and said that they have finished the repairs.  She is off the heart/lung bypass machine.  Cardiology is doing a checkup on her as we speak.  Then we are going to meet with Dr. Forbess.  Praise God!!!!!!!  Lots of answered prayers!  Please keep praying that her recovery process will go smoothly and that she will recover quickly!

God is good, all the time!  And all the time, God is good!

Daddy Scott