Okay so I thought that this might be easier for everyone to follow. Karter was born yesterday at 12:19 pm. She was 19 in and weighed 5lbs 9oz. We were so excited to see that precious baby girl! Jeremy and I were both beaming from ear to ear upon her arrival. However, soon after coming out they took her to the NICU for what we thought was precauationary measures. We later soon learned that our journey with Karter has just begun. The doctors came in about 45 minutes after her birth to inform us that they thought there were some complications. Our whole world was rocked with this information. There were no indications of anything being wrong in her ultrasounds or in any of our examinations. Throughout the day we received more and more devestating news, it seems that everything they kept warning us about that could go wrong...did. Eventually we learned that our sweet angel may have downs syndrome, which to us is not a curse or anything that we could not handle, but rather a blessing. God has chosen us to be parents to this wonderful beautiful baby girl! The complication that was devasting to us was that she is faced with an undeveloped heart. Not only is her heart partially undeveloped but she also has an AV valve that is not properly working or formed. Due to this we were immediatly set up to be sent to Children's in Dallas. Jeremy was allowed to be air flighted with our angel to Dallas, and the doctors did discharge me so that we could be with her. My grandparents drove me down while daddy and Karter loaded up and flew in here to Dallas. Upon arrival they were able to get her stable and set up for the night. The nurse on charge for the night made us feel right at home and told us everything that we needed to know for today. They set her up for x-rays and an echo scan for this morning. Upon taking these scans they would let us know about her AV Valve.
SCAN RESULTS: Karter's heart did not fully form in the womb. The walls seperating the four chambers are not completely formed. This complication can be fixed with surgury. The next issue is that her Pulmanry Autury valve is not seperating the blood like it should to the correct areas of the body, meaning that she is not getting her oxygen in the lungs properly. This is the key concern and the harder of the two to fix. They put her on a heart medicine that allowed this valve to act like it was still in the womb so that she could keep her oxygen saturation levels up. Once she was stable enough this afternoon they began to pull her off of this medicine allowing the valve to close for now. If she can keep her oxygen and vitals up, and if the valve completely closes over the next four days then they believe that she will be able to go into the recovery area of the hospital and learn to feed. If she feeds good then she will be able to come home to Tyler until she is strong enough to endure this surgury. Option 2 if she is not able to come off of the medicine or if the valve does not close then they will go in and put in a stint in the valve. Once the stint is in she will then have to recover from that surgury. From there she can go to the recovery part of the hopspital and be discharged in a few weeks. Then we would wait for her to get strong enough and come back for the big surgury in a few months.
All in all we are playing the waiting game and will not know any real answers for four possibly five days. The two things we do know for now are that she will have to have surgury to fix both the chambers and the valve and that she will have to continously follow up with a cardiologist for her heart.
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers!!! They are truly appreciated and have helped us get through one of the most difficult days in our life. We know that this will be a long journey but we are glad that we have friends like you all to help us through it! We will update the blog with any news that we receive and just ask that you continue to pray.
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Tara,
ReplyDeleteI know that ya'll will be blessed through this journey. My boyfriend actually had heart surgery when he was 4 days old. He still has to follow up with his pediatric cardiologist twice a year at 23 years old, takes medicine twice a day and will have to eventually have surgery again in the coming years. I have been blessed by his journey through heart doctors and sugeries and I know that you and your family will be also. Your family is in my prayers. Katy Underriner
This little angel is a miracle sent as a special blessing from God for you and Jeremy. God new yall were just the ones for this special little one and we would all be blessed by it. We are already seeing God's miraculous work in this baby's lives and will continue to see more and more. I love yall and and praying for yall and Baby Karter. God is Good All the time. Janie
ReplyDeleteTara, I agree that you and Jeremy are the perfect parents God could have chosen for her. You two are so strong and loving, she will have everything she needs!! We love you and are here for you WHENEVER you need us. We will continue to pray for all of you and we love you guys!!
ReplyDeleteTara - I work with your mother and I have a 6 year old Down Syndrome son. His birth was a total surprise to us also. He has been the BEST thing that God has ever given me. We were lucky with his heart, but his little sister had to go to the NICU, so I know where you are coming from on the exhausted, scared and confused side of your baby at this time. You and your family are all in my prayers. I can not tell you how much your life has just been blessed. God has chosen you guys for a reason,......at first, I just thought that people told me that to help me cope, but after his achievements and successes and after our walk I have no doubt that I have this special child for a very specific reason as you do Karter. I am willing to answer any questions you might have or might have in the future. I am always willing to share my story and help others. Give that baby a kiss and thank God for what he has given you. Visit my facebook page and read the mother's notes about how God chooses a mom for a Downs kid......Your life has been changed in all great ways now. God has trusted you with this special gift now take her in and love her and let his blessings bloom.
ReplyDeleteJenny Dunn
Jenny I am very excited that you are so close and willing to help us with all of the information that we will be needing to help out Karter to the best of our ability. I will get all of your contact information from my mom so that I may start asking all of the million of questions that I have. Thank you again for being a resource for our family!
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