Baby Annie's surgery is scheduled for today, November 1st around 11:00 a.m. Becca and Joe will have their parents with them as they wait for the completion of the surgery. They will have a brief time with Annie, post-surgery, then she will be back with the doctors before being sent to the ICU. Becca and Joe were able to visit the ICU last night, which Becca said was very difficult. Let's continually pray for them throughout today and the days to come... that they would have peace and be comforted by your loving presence.
Please everyone join with me in praying the following prayer for baby Annie...
"Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for our lives and our health. We love you, Father, and we love baby Annie. We are grateful she is in our lives.
We are offering a prayer before surgery so that Annie may feel your love and our love. And Father, please bless Annie and her family to be comforted and free from worry or stress at this time.
We are grateful for the skilled surgeons and medical staff that are all around them now. We ask you to bless the doctors that will attend to baby Annie, that they will be inspired by you, that their skills be made strong, hands be made steady and sure and that the operation will go smoothly and be a success.
Place your angels around Annie and her parents during this time. We invite you to attend and direct the surgery.
Please, Father, bless this day and those to come to be pleasant, free from illness, infection and stress. Please bless baby Annie's body to respond well to the surgery and all the medications.
Please bless the healing after surgery to be rapid and perfect. Bless baby Annie to live a long, healthy, restriction-free life following surgery. Give Annie strength that she will use her health to love and serve you all the days of her life as you have loved and served us.
Please bless the doctors for their skills and education; and for being able and willing to help baby Annie at this time.
We thank you for all you have given us, and ask for these blessings for Annie in Jesus Christ's name, Amen."
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
A visit to Annie...
Thankfully, I finally got to pay a visit tonight to Joe, Becca and baby Annie...
Baby Annie was adorable as ever as she slept snuggled up with her mommy. As soon as Becca began to eat, the surgeon performing Annie's surgery came in to meet the family, Annie woke up and the night nurse began her shift with checking Annie's weight and vitals. Becca and Joe are, needless to say, a little sleep deprived and certainly have moments where the reality of what is to happen this coming week hits them all over again. Their family has been in daily as Joe was back to work this week. Joe's mom in the morning, Becca's parents after that and Joe's dad popping in on his lunch breaks. They come in and spend time with Becca and allow her to shower and do things she needs to do to keep up their room. They seemed to have somewhat nestled in to their temporary home, as much as you can in a hospital room anyway.
As I mentioned, the surgeon who will perform Annie's surgery came in while I was there. He was able to answer some questions for Becca and Joe and confirmed that they will in fact do the surgery on Monday mid-morning. He said the surgery takes two and a half to three hours typically and then Annie will spend sometime in the ICU. Becca and Joe will be in their room waiting as she has her surgery -- with a social worker coming in periodically to let them know how things are going. They will not be staying with her in the ICU, although they can go sit with her any time they would like.
I can imagine that Monday and they few days to follow will be very difficult for Becca and Joe -- as expected. So let's be praying them through that time... praying that God gives them peace, despite what will be going on around them. Pray that Becca will be able to remain focused on eating, drinking and sleeping as much as she should... all these things are important for her milk production -- the nurses keep stressing this. Pray that they are able to cast out any imaginations that would tell them anything but the truth, which is that Annie will get through this, she will recover quickly and she will go on to live a normal, healthy life.
Jeremiah 30:17 "I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord.
Becca said to me that she "cannot believe she is there" -- "can't believe this is happening to her baby", but she also said to my mom that "this is not her" and that she would never imagine that she would be able to handle something like this. But she is... and Joe is... by God's grace.
It makes me think of the following scriptures...
2Tim.1:7 "For God hath not given us the sprit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Isaiah 26:3 "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him."
Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."
In Matthew 11:28-30 we are told, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
1 John 5:14-15 "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
Baby Annie was adorable as ever as she slept snuggled up with her mommy. As soon as Becca began to eat, the surgeon performing Annie's surgery came in to meet the family, Annie woke up and the night nurse began her shift with checking Annie's weight and vitals. Becca and Joe are, needless to say, a little sleep deprived and certainly have moments where the reality of what is to happen this coming week hits them all over again. Their family has been in daily as Joe was back to work this week. Joe's mom in the morning, Becca's parents after that and Joe's dad popping in on his lunch breaks. They come in and spend time with Becca and allow her to shower and do things she needs to do to keep up their room. They seemed to have somewhat nestled in to their temporary home, as much as you can in a hospital room anyway.
As I mentioned, the surgeon who will perform Annie's surgery came in while I was there. He was able to answer some questions for Becca and Joe and confirmed that they will in fact do the surgery on Monday mid-morning. He said the surgery takes two and a half to three hours typically and then Annie will spend sometime in the ICU. Becca and Joe will be in their room waiting as she has her surgery -- with a social worker coming in periodically to let them know how things are going. They will not be staying with her in the ICU, although they can go sit with her any time they would like.
I can imagine that Monday and they few days to follow will be very difficult for Becca and Joe -- as expected. So let's be praying them through that time... praying that God gives them peace, despite what will be going on around them. Pray that Becca will be able to remain focused on eating, drinking and sleeping as much as she should... all these things are important for her milk production -- the nurses keep stressing this. Pray that they are able to cast out any imaginations that would tell them anything but the truth, which is that Annie will get through this, she will recover quickly and she will go on to live a normal, healthy life.
Annie holding mommy's hand
Jeremiah 30:17 "I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord.
Becca said to me that she "cannot believe she is there" -- "can't believe this is happening to her baby", but she also said to my mom that "this is not her" and that she would never imagine that she would be able to handle something like this. But she is... and Joe is... by God's grace.
It makes me think of the following scriptures...
2Tim.1:7 "For God hath not given us the sprit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
Isaiah 26:3 "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him."
Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."
In Matthew 11:28-30 we are told, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
1 John 5:14-15 "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Keep 'em coming...
Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
After speaking briefly with Becca over texts tonight, they are definitely feeling the peace described in the scripture above. They can feel your prayers and God's love and peace. So please keep them coming...
After speaking briefly with Becca over texts tonight, they are definitely feeling the peace described in the scripture above. They can feel your prayers and God's love and peace. So please keep them coming...
Baby Annie in her adorable leg-warmers : )
They did receive some good news from the doctors that they will most likely be staying there at A.I. and not having to go home for any amount of time before the surgery. Nursing was proving to be a little exhausting for Baby Annie so mommy had to give her a bottle and said that she "took it like a champ"! She will spend the week, post-surgery, in the ICU so this is giving her a little head start in adjusting to a bottle temporarily.
Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust Him."
God Bless.
A hungry baby and a helpful website...
Becca wrote this morning to express gratitude to everyone who is praying for them. She said that Annie was happily eating and was certainly not screaming like you would think a sick baby would : )
She gave me the name of the actual diagnosis as well. So here is a website that can better explain Baby Annie's diagnosis...
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/coa.html
Hope everyone is having a blessed day.
She gave me the name of the actual diagnosis as well. So here is a website that can better explain Baby Annie's diagnosis...
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/coa.html
Hope everyone is having a blessed day.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The praying begins...
Baby Annie went in for a routine weight check on Monday, October 25th. While the doctor was giving a listen to her precious little heart, he noticed that she had a heart murmur. Heart murmurs in babies are common and usually resolve themselves quickly... this is what they call an "innocent" heart murmur. In order to rule out that it is not something more serious, the doctor wanted them to follow up at A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital with an ecocardiogram. This is an ultrasound of the heart that would better be able to determine what it is that is going on.
As any concerned parent would, they wanted to have this done as soon as they possibly could. Needless to say, they took her in today... one day after finding out this troubling news.
Unfortunately it turned out to be not such an "innocent" murmur after all. Now, I am no doctor so please bear with me when I try to explain their findings... Becca said that Annie has a narrowing in her aortic valve AND there is another part of the heart that has three strands and two of Annie's are fused together. There is only one solution to this problem... surgery.
Surgery, on their almost 3-week-old baby.
I asked her if this was "common" in babies -- and she said that although open-heart surgery on a newborn is not common, they have seen babies for it and newborns usually do well with it. Most cases the babies go on to live restriction-free lives, although she will forever have a cardiologist that will make sure things stay perfect. The surgeon that they want to do the surgery happens to be in Japan right now, so the earliest they could have the surgery would be Friday. They are thinking that it will be sometime early next week.
After an extremely emotional day and a half, Becca said she has managed to find some peace with the situation. They are all situated in their room at the hospital where they will hopefully stay until after the surgery. Becca said there was a chance that they might send her home in a few days and then she would return for the surgery, but her and Joe are really hoping to just stay and not have to go home. I can only imagine there is much comfort in knowing that they are there with medical professionals.
So what can we do? I asked Becca after a few concerned phone calls and messages and her response was this...
PRAY. Please pray for Annie.
She did not give me a list of what to specifically pray for so I've compiled one myself...
As any concerned parent would, they wanted to have this done as soon as they possibly could. Needless to say, they took her in today... one day after finding out this troubling news.
Unfortunately it turned out to be not such an "innocent" murmur after all. Now, I am no doctor so please bear with me when I try to explain their findings... Becca said that Annie has a narrowing in her aortic valve AND there is another part of the heart that has three strands and two of Annie's are fused together. There is only one solution to this problem... surgery.
Surgery, on their almost 3-week-old baby.
I asked her if this was "common" in babies -- and she said that although open-heart surgery on a newborn is not common, they have seen babies for it and newborns usually do well with it. Most cases the babies go on to live restriction-free lives, although she will forever have a cardiologist that will make sure things stay perfect. The surgeon that they want to do the surgery happens to be in Japan right now, so the earliest they could have the surgery would be Friday. They are thinking that it will be sometime early next week.
After an extremely emotional day and a half, Becca said she has managed to find some peace with the situation. They are all situated in their room at the hospital where they will hopefully stay until after the surgery. Becca said there was a chance that they might send her home in a few days and then she would return for the surgery, but her and Joe are really hoping to just stay and not have to go home. I can only imagine there is much comfort in knowing that they are there with medical professionals.
So what can we do? I asked Becca after a few concerned phone calls and messages and her response was this...
PRAY. Please pray for Annie.
She did not give me a list of what to specifically pray for so I've compiled one myself...
- uneventful few days until the actual surgery -- no additional problems
- wisdom for all the doctors and nurses that will be performing the surgery
- peace for Becca and Joe during this whole time
- that their faith in God would remain strong and they would not doubt
- a successful surgery
- quick recovery and complete restoration for their precious baby girl
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