I was relieved to know that the surgery (if she needs it) is surprisingly minor, considering it is a heart surgery. Really all they have to do is make a tiny incision on her side, move their instruments through her still-flexible ribs, and place a clip on the PDA to close it. Apparently the surgery only takes about an hour and won't require cutting open the rib cage like I thought (whew).
Since Brynn can only have so much fluid for the size of her body, and because the IV will bring more fluids as well as the Ibuprofen, Brynn will have to take a step back on her full feeds. So basically, some of mom's milk has got to go. But other than that, it seems the Ibuprofen may be a quick, easy fix and we might be able to escape surgery.
Well, from what I can tell, this is really not too scary of an ordeal and its still quite common for these little 25-weekers to need. So I'm trying not to worry. I'll admit, though, it took a couple hours for me to be able to handle the news. I guess I just wasn't prepared to hear it, but then again, when is anybody prepared?
Matt just says that he's had such a wonderful life so far, free of any major challenges, that God is going to have to play catch up by giving him a lot of struggles throughout his adult life. He believes this enough that he even warned me of it before we got married. But I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because I like trials! After all, how else are we going to grow? :) I am still happy I'm married to my wonderful husband and no amount of challenges will change that! I think after we make it through the next 3 or 4 months in the NICU, we'll only come out that much stronger.
On a lighter note, I must include a funny photo. Apparently at Brynn's stage of development, the cartilage in her ears hasn't hardened yet. So if she sleeps on her ear wrong, it ends up looking like this:
Here's another shot of the ear and her "feisty one" face (the nurses had the audacity to touch her):
Thanks again for all your prayers
Natalie
3 comments:
Hi Natalie:
I think of you & your family, pray for you daily. Thank you for the opportunity to see you, Mat and Brynn while we were in MO. What a precious little girl. May God continue to bless you all.
Love Diane
I do remember you making a comment in RS one time back in Rochester about the importance of trials and how you knew the Lord would be testing you. (Yes...I do remember all - well, not all but a lot.) Doug and I pray for you guys every day (and check the blog multiple times everyday).
Hello Natalie! This is Melissa Lee, wife to cousin casey lee and mom to annabelle grass, 3 months old. I am amazed and inspired and i want to cry and laugh and hug you when i read what you write and see your pictures, and i haven't even met you! casey tells me how wonderful you are, and i can see that he is right. i just had to comment here, because the ear picture cracked me up! anna's ears do that sometimes too when she sleeps on one of them. the little things babies do to show you they have a big spirit in a little body, like brynn's "feisty one" face, put them into your heart like nothing else. i never knew before i had a baby that i could have feelings like those you describe. thanks for being brave and sharing. i hope to meet you and your family sometime!
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