Success!

Hi everybody,

GREAT NEWS!!! Elizabeth is doing great. The surgeon came in about 7:40pm to let us know that the surgery went just as planned, excellent, awesome. They were able to go with option #1 (cutting thru the muscle to make the "tunnel" to the valve) and all is well in that front. She should turn out just fine. God be glorified in this hard time.

We do find oursevles in the midst of a hard time still though, unexpectedly. We knew that she would have all sorts of wires and things coming out of everywhere, but we didn't know it would be as hard as it was to see. The surgeons were not able to close up the incision they made due to the amount of swelling in Elizabeth's chest (all normal responses to surgery). So they put a temporary patch over the incision, and they plan on closing it up when the swelling goes down in a couple of days. She is fine and responding as anticipated, just hard for Mom and Dad to see.

She is still sedated and will be slowly brought out of sleep after they remove the patch and close the incision. The aim is to sew up the incision on Friday. Then a couple more days in the Pediatric ICU for recovery / monitoring sake. Then it's back up to the neo natal unit for any "retraining" that might be needed (feeding, etc).

We certainly appreciate all of your prayers and your willingness to go before the Father on our behalf. Our Heavenly Father listened and responded by giving the doctors the utmost in skill. Thank you and thanks and praise be to Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.

Continued prayers for the reduction of Elizabeth's swelling, a speedy recovery and Steph and I dealing still with the "separation" from her are greatly appreciated. We can't wait to take our little girl home.

Thanks again.

Grace and peace,
Allen

Surgery is on its way

Hi everybody,
Well, we finally made it to surgery time. The morning surgery went a little long, and then the surgeons needed to get lunch (a delay I'm perfectly okay with :-)), so Elizabeth did not get wheeled down to the Operating Room until 2:30 (1.5 hrs ago). We met a couple of the nurses and the anesthesiologist, gave our kisses to Elizabeth and came to the waiting room. We should be getting periodic updates from one of the nurses, so once I know something more, I'll pass on the word.
Thanks for praying. Our God is faithful to listen.
Allen

Those beautiful eyes

Elizabeth's eyes can be a bit elusive. They were open more than ever yesterday, but it's still uncommon to see them. Here was my attempt last night to sneak a picture of them.

Courtesy of Grandpa H

Picture taken by Grandpa this past weekend.

Our little movie star

So Steph and I originally planned on just coming home this afternoon and hanging out. Go to bed early, get lots of rest... yeaaaah. We went back to see our little girl at about 8:30 and left there just after 11. Steph got to hold her for a while and enjoyed giving her a bottle full of 'liquid gold.' Amongst the holding and snuggling, there was this absolutely wonderful moment:

{insert funny caption here}

The Proud Grandparents (Hutchison's)

The Proud Grandparents (Young's)

Postponed Update

I serve a faithful God whose hand is swift. Just received a call from the surgeon 20 minutes ago. Elizabeth is scheduled for tomorrow, "2nd case" (starting time of somewhere between 12:00-1:00, just like today was).

God's name be praised. He is loving and gracious, and He answers the prayers of His people.

Postponed

Seems another baby had an emergency this morning that required the Operating Room. Which pushed back Elizabeth on the depth chart. Then the surgery went longer than expected. So right now, we're waiting. Looks like the earliest Elizabeth is going to have surgery is tomorrow morning. But even that is iffy right now. Steph and I should receive a call sometime tonight from the surgeon himself as to what time we're looking at for Elizabeth's surgery.

Please pray for patience for Steph and me, Steph especially. It's really hard not having our little girl home. And then to have her return pushed back at least one more day is just that much more difficult.

Elizabeth is doing well though. She's stable and strong, eating quite a bit and starting to open her eyes more. It's a wonderful sight to behold, lemme tell ya.

Surgery

Elizabeth is scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) at or a little after noon. Should be a five to six hour surgery.

They will first patch the hole in her heart (Tetralogy of Fallot) and then move on to fixing the valve issue (Pulmonary Atresia). To fix the valve, they will first try to cut thru the extra muscle that is blocking the valve and see if that allows the valve to work correctly. If that doesn't work, their aim is to make a detour for the blood to run around the blockage and then back to the pulmonary artery.

Please pray the hole gets patched well and that they are able to do the first option for the valve. The first option is a bit more permanent. The second option for the valve involves follow up surgeries later in Elizabeth's life as she grows (like at age 5 and then again in teenage years). And prayers of peace, comfort, trust and patience for Steph and myself are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again. Will let you know how it goes when we can.

Grace and peace,
Allen

p.s. If you've got a prayer chain/list that all this can go on, please add us! We've got lots and lots of folks praying and I would love to have us all beating on God's door (Luke 11:1-13). Thanks!