Friday, April 15, 2011

3 years ago today

Sweet Lilyann....This is the face of a child with a Congenital Heart Defect




It was this time 3 years ago that the night nurse was sending us to our hotel room. She ensured us over and over that Lily would be just fine and that we (Myself, Jed, and his mom) needed our rest. Cathy was her name...and she spoiled Lily every night shift she worked for those 7 long days.
You see, today-3 years ago-Lily had open heart surgery to repair her Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). Most VSD's close on their own over time, but Lily's wasn't closing...now it wasn't getting any bigger either. But it was causing her to not gain weight, dehydrate her, her bald little head looked like a road map...you could see all the veins. If her condition worsened, we were looking at Congestive Heart Failure. It was such a scary time...but it was all in God's hands.
I swear, that was the longest 5 hours of my life...sitting in the waiting room, watching the screen (they had a TV that showed who (by initials) was in prep area, in surgery, when they were stitching up, etc. It helped to keep us nervous parents informed since we couldn't be in there with our little ones.
Seeing Lily being wheeled through the Operating room doors, there was a security guard there holding the elevator that would take Lily and the anesthesiologist, nurses, and doctors straight up to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Lily was covered in tubes, wires, and plastic. They were trying to keep her warm...she was doing great. It just broke my heart to see her like that..but I knew again...It's was all in God's hands. This is where I broke down. Very few times did I break down going through the heart diagnosis, visits, hospitalization, echos, EKG's, feeding tubes, etc. But this time, It was so heart breaking...seeing my baby girl there...with all that stuff all over her. I just wanted to pick her up and cuddle her in my arms.
It took an hour for the Intensive Care nurses and doctors to get Lilyann situated and then we got to see our baby girl. I was so happy that she was okay. Everyone there working that unit at Medical City Children's Hospital was so caring and just right there for you. The nurse working with Lily went over everything that she was doing, she kept us fully informed.

Lilyann...a few hours after surgery

Lily's 1st smile...a few days after surgery...this is how we knew our sweet little girl was back!

It takes alot to let someone else have the reigns of control with your child. And this time, I am glad I let go. Lily has come so far....she was born weighing 7 lbs 1 oz. When she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, she weighed 8 lbs (this was at 7 weeks old). She climbed to 10 lbs the day of her surgery, thanks a continual NG feeding tube. (at 4 1/2 months old)...and Now, Sweet Lily...is teetering at 30 lbs at almost 3 1/2 years old. It is truly amazing....God is so Good!


"And we know that all things work together for good...." Romans 8:28

1 comment:

mammajigglypuff said...

I remember sitting and waiting for Mom to call and say everything was Ok.