mortiz007

One month ago we were packing three suitcases, yes three, and headed into the unknown of open heart surgery with our newly adopted three year old child.  A step of faith we knew God would see us through.  Today we can sing praises of God's glorious walk beside us and his incredible healing is her body.  She feels better, her color is improved, and although her heart will never be "fixed", life has resumed and we feel blessed with her presence in our family.  Joy comes in the loud giggles, as the windows are all down and we feel the wind through our hair.   Love is felt in the snuggles and tucked away in the those special kisses. Huahua and Mom enjoyed planting flowers and the whole crew was able to get the garden planted even though we spent a good part of May gone on "a get away". This is great experimental time with water.  Entertains her for a long time.  She even had her first water balloon fight with her brothers and sister.  She put up a mea...

Friday we went to the hospital with our bags packed in anticipation of possibly being admitted....her x-rays showed the pleural effusion (fluid) around her right lung unchanged, but the lungs slightly improved from a fluid stand point.  So the doctors/surgeon discussed and decided we could go home and enjoy the weekend!  We will return on Tuesday morning at 9 am to repeat the process with our bags still packed.  Praise God for a day the family was able to spend together at the races Saturday.  Huahua enjoyed just being a little girl and getting really dirty.  Occasionally she hopped on the bike to give the throttle a good twist.  She enjoys exploring and loves to be outside.  She found favorite rocks and leaves to carry with her.  She played so hard yesterday she fell asleep in the car as we were leaving the track.  Jordan was such a good helper taking care of her little sister.  The two have such a special bond.    Here she fo...

Some people like the live on top of the mountain looking out over the hillside enjoying the breeze through their hair.  Others feel more protected in the valleys down near the stream.  Either living situation brings it's own natural beauty and obstacles.  We built our house upon the top of the hill enjoying the breeze and views, but unless you have a secure foundation in the Lord no matter where you live rough weeks can make you feel like your family can be blown right off the hillside.   We started off the week with a discharge from our 2 week ICU stay; probably the most expensive "vacation" a portion of our family will ever take.   It was a formality we knew we would undertake when we stepped out in faith and adopted Huahua and I am so thankful to be on this side of the surgery with her.  We knew the risk going into the surgery, but never wanted to believe our baby might not survive the initial procedure. So no matter if you want to live in the valle...

We're home!!!!  We came home yesterday afternoon.   The children were so excited so see each other and the house was very loud with excitement, playing hide and seek, and eventually we had to settle down later in the day and watch a movie...."Frozen!!!"  Today a friend dropped off a meal and her little friend Ella went for a walk with her.  They enjoyed picking dandelions in the yard smelling the fresh country air.  Feeling so blessed to have my baby home with this surgery behind us. Tomorrow we go back to the clinic for an echocardiogram to see how she is functioning and see the cardiologist.  Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Enjoying her breakfast in bed. So why are we still at the hospital when she looks so good???  Her lung x ray shows fluid in the lungs on the right side again this morning.  There is a balance after the fontan procedure of fluid intake and pressures in the lungs.  We are trying the find the happy medium for her body with oral lasix medication in comparison to her daily input/output.  They are monitoring her closely, along with oxygen saturation, which have been fluctuating on the lower end of the acceptable level.   We are thankful for the team of doctors and nurses working to make Huahua's heart/lung function at the most optimal level.  So if that means a few extra days here, we will endure. I She gets a little antsy in the room.  I figure soon they will just want to kick us out of the ICU! Always entertaining the nurses.  Stacey is one of her favorites.  She has the pull cord on her name tag and let's Huahua pull it over and over and over ag...

 Looking out the windows on the fourth floor awaiting in anticipation for her brothers and sister to arrive.  Everyone was coming for a pizza dinner.  She has begun eating well again.  She feel asleep last night talking about everything she was going to eat tomorrow. Saturday's 4 am x ray was clear.  As much as the x ray's show.  Apparently they don't show true amounts of fluids.  When she had her drain tube put back in there was about 3 times the amount of fluid expected.  Her little body was hiding it.  Good news was though it did not drain much afterward and this morning they removed it.  It leaked a little bit and the bandage was changed a few times, but we are much happier without the tube hanging outside our chest!  Today (Saturday) is another test day.  Trying to allow her to be as if she were at home.  We will drop the oxygen and continue to she how she manages on her own balancing the fluids/pressure in her lungs....