1st off I need to clear up that Jamie did not give Brayden's favorite nurse Ava's blog site. Amy looked it up on her own. That's the kind of nurses U of M has here, and that's why we love her because even when she's not making our little girl better she still thinking about her. Thank you Amy!!
Now, Jamie can fill in the blanks or maybe even Amy. Ava took a few steps backwards today. We are not sure (at least I'm not) why though. Anyways her heartbeat was keeping in the upper 200 regularly and her breath-rate was staying in the upper 90's lower 100's. (that is a minute) Her blood pressure wasn't really effected by this though. She started turning pretty pale along with this. The nurse (Bob the Builder as Brayden would say because his name was Bob) found out she had a small fever but was a little nervous himself as he said. Anyways they tried the C-PAP again and it wasn't working so they had to go back to the tube in the mouth. (If I knew what it was called I would say but I don't.) So she is now sleeping like a baby should be after they gave her some drugs.
By the way if you can't tell I did not leave. Brayden and I tried to but we only got about 50 miles down I94 and had to turn around. It was too hard for us. Brayden was so happy to come back to see his little sister and mommy and I have to say I never felt so happy to come to a hospital in my life. I do have to thank Jenny Johnson for coming up and visiting. She was going to stay a night with Jamie until Brayden and I surprised her.
I would also like to thank Rolf Nelson and Universal Forest Products for being so understanding at a time like this. It sure makes things easier when your boss says to take care of whats most important 1st and to not worry about work, your job will always be here when things get better.
By the way, Brayden now has a crush on Jenny also. Sorry to little buddy Jamison for me and his cousin missing his birthday party tomorrow at Poppy's house.
Monday, October 22, 2007
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Ava with Mommy & Daddy
Isn't she beautiful!
It's A Girl!
Hello everyone and welcome to Ava Christine's Blog.
First a little info about the new edition to our family.
This beautiful little girl comes to our family after many years of trying on her parents part as well as her being the first girl in 19 years. Yes 19 years! So to say that she is going to be a little spoiled is putting it very lightly.
Ava Christine was welcomed into this world on September 29 2007 by her mommy Jamie, Daddy Jamie, big brother Brayden, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous friends. Shortly after Ava's arrival the wonderful medical staff at Memorial hospital of South Bend found what they called a murmur in Ava's heart. After some testing little Ava was transported to Motts' Children Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Jamie and Jamie were informed that little Ava has a heart defect that could be life threatening and that she needed to undergo open heart surgery to fix the defects. So, on Tuesday October 2 2007 Ava was operated on by the wonderful medical staff at the U of M. What this team of doctors did to Ava is incredible. First of all Jamie explained to me over the phone today just what problems Ava's heart has endured. Ava's heart has a couple of different problems. The first is known as Interrupted Aortic Arch. The following info about interrupted aortic arch is best explained by the U of M Cardiac website, "Interrupted aortic arch is a very rare heart defect that occurs when the aorta does not develop normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It comprises about 1% of all congenital heart defects. It usually occurs along with other heart problems such as truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, and aortic stenosis.The aorta is the large blood vessel that arises from the left side of the normal heart and takes red blood out to the body. The first part of the aorta, called the ascending aorta (1) arises upwards. It then curves leftward forming the aortic arch (2). The aorta then curves downward towards the lower body, and this part is called the descending aorta (3). Three blood vessels exit from the aortic arch and supply the head and arms with red blood. These vessels are called the innominate artery (4), the left carotid artery (5), and the left subclavian artery (6).In babies with interrupted aortic arch, there is a complete blockage between the ascending and the descending aorta (1). This means that there is no direct way for red blood leaving the heart to reach the body parts that are "downstream" from the blockage. The site of the defect varies (2) and may or may not involve the take-off of the head and neck vessels. In most babies with interrupted aortic arch (70-90%) there is also a large ventricular septal defect (3).In newborns with interrupted aortic arch, the only way for blood to bypass the blockage is via the patent ductus arteriosus (4). Prior to birth, this small blood vessel permits blood to by-pass the baby’s fluid-filled lungs. One or two days after birth, this vessel usually closes on its own. In a baby with interrupted aortic arch, if the duct closes, blood can no longer reach the lower body. This can cause the baby to suddenly become very ill. Therefore, after the diagnosis is made, a medicine called prostaglandin is used to keep the ductus arteriosus open until surgery". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
So how did the doctors fix this? "Interrupted aortic arch is a serious heart defect that requires surgery soon after birth. The goal of surgery is to create remove the blockage. This used to be done in a two-stage operation but is now done most of the time in one stage. The two ends of the aorta are sewn together (1) and the patent ductus arterious (2) is tied off. Sometimes a patch is needed to reinforce the repair. If present, a patch is sewn over the VSD (3)". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
In #1 of the picture below is the part of Ava' heart that was repaired.
First a little info about the new edition to our family.
This beautiful little girl comes to our family after many years of trying on her parents part as well as her being the first girl in 19 years. Yes 19 years! So to say that she is going to be a little spoiled is putting it very lightly.
Ava Christine was welcomed into this world on September 29 2007 by her mommy Jamie, Daddy Jamie, big brother Brayden, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous friends. Shortly after Ava's arrival the wonderful medical staff at Memorial hospital of South Bend found what they called a murmur in Ava's heart. After some testing little Ava was transported to Motts' Children Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Jamie and Jamie were informed that little Ava has a heart defect that could be life threatening and that she needed to undergo open heart surgery to fix the defects. So, on Tuesday October 2 2007 Ava was operated on by the wonderful medical staff at the U of M. What this team of doctors did to Ava is incredible. First of all Jamie explained to me over the phone today just what problems Ava's heart has endured. Ava's heart has a couple of different problems. The first is known as Interrupted Aortic Arch. The following info about interrupted aortic arch is best explained by the U of M Cardiac website, "Interrupted aortic arch is a very rare heart defect that occurs when the aorta does not develop normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It comprises about 1% of all congenital heart defects. It usually occurs along with other heart problems such as truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, and aortic stenosis.The aorta is the large blood vessel that arises from the left side of the normal heart and takes red blood out to the body. The first part of the aorta, called the ascending aorta (1) arises upwards. It then curves leftward forming the aortic arch (2). The aorta then curves downward towards the lower body, and this part is called the descending aorta (3). Three blood vessels exit from the aortic arch and supply the head and arms with red blood. These vessels are called the innominate artery (4), the left carotid artery (5), and the left subclavian artery (6).In babies with interrupted aortic arch, there is a complete blockage between the ascending and the descending aorta (1). This means that there is no direct way for red blood leaving the heart to reach the body parts that are "downstream" from the blockage. The site of the defect varies (2) and may or may not involve the take-off of the head and neck vessels. In most babies with interrupted aortic arch (70-90%) there is also a large ventricular septal defect (3).In newborns with interrupted aortic arch, the only way for blood to bypass the blockage is via the patent ductus arteriosus (4). Prior to birth, this small blood vessel permits blood to by-pass the baby’s fluid-filled lungs. One or two days after birth, this vessel usually closes on its own. In a baby with interrupted aortic arch, if the duct closes, blood can no longer reach the lower body. This can cause the baby to suddenly become very ill. Therefore, after the diagnosis is made, a medicine called prostaglandin is used to keep the ductus arteriosus open until surgery". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
So how did the doctors fix this? "Interrupted aortic arch is a serious heart defect that requires surgery soon after birth. The goal of surgery is to create remove the blockage. This used to be done in a two-stage operation but is now done most of the time in one stage. The two ends of the aorta are sewn together (1) and the patent ductus arterious (2) is tied off. Sometimes a patch is needed to reinforce the repair. If present, a patch is sewn over the VSD (3)". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
In #1 of the picture below is the part of Ava' heart that was repaired.
Before surgery
The Next Step
The next step in repairing Ava's heart was to fix what is known as Truncus Arteriosus. Truncus arteriosus is "characterized by a large ventricular septal defect over which a large, single great vessel (truncus) arises. This single great vessel carries blood both to the body and to the lungs". (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11073) Below is a picture of what Ava's heart was like before surgery.
Before Surgery
After Surgery
The above picture shows what the surgeon did to repair Ava's heart. "Surgery is required to close the ventricular septal defect and separate blood flow to the body from blood flow to the lungs. This is generally done early in infancy to prevent high blood pressure from damaging the lungs' arteries. A patch is used to close the ventricular defect. The pulmonary arteries are then disconnected from the single great vessel and a tube (a conduit or tunnel) is placed from the right ventricle to these pulmonary arteries. This is sometimes called a Rastelli repair". (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11073)
Blog Archive
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2007
(67)
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October
(28)
- Turning a corner?
- Holding Tight!
- Extubated Again!
- Happy Birthday Ava!
- Quick Update
- sick day at Ronald McDonald's
- Life's Rainbows
- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
- U-Turn on I94
- Last post from me
- Even More to Overcome!
- The End of C-PAP - Coming Soon???
- Cherishing Every Moment!
- In Her Own Good Time!
- Short and Sweet
- Another message from me
- Ava's on Viagra! What?
- A lot to be thankful for
- Ava's update
- Brayden's note to Ava
- MRI Results
- A different note
- Another Day of Progress for Ava!
- Courage is not always big and loud, sometimes it's...
- More to the roller coaster ride!
- Big Brother Brayden
- UPDATE.....Ava is slowly getting better!
- Trying to keep this up to date
-
▼
October
(28)
7 comments:
You are an amazing family! I truly take such inspiration from the love and support you give to each other.
My thoughts and prayers are on little Ava tonight.
Love,
Janelle
Thank goodness you have such a great boss. This is truly the most important thing right now and I am glad he sees it that way. I am so relieved that you can be there with Jamie. My heart was breaking for her at the thought of you leaving. Take care of both of them.
Love,
Emilee
boy jamie, once again your post has made me cry. You are such an amazing man, we all should take notice of your strength and commitment for your family! As long as you have faith in each other the rest will fall in place.
I'm praying for you all!!!
erin
Jamie,
Jeff and I are so glad that you turned around...your family is most important and we are glad you are with them! We pray that Ava gets stronger every day, and we pray that God gives all of you the strength to get through each day.
All of our love to you and yours,
Charisa
Jamie you must be so relieved to be where you should be. (I know girl Jamie is as well) I was aching for all of you being apart. The 4 of you need each other now. Applause to your boss and UFP.
Prayers & strength for you all from all of us~
Tell Bray Bray hi from Mac
The Gaideski's
Jamie-what a strong family you have. How did the scope on the laryngeal folds come out? All the speechies are praying for Ava. Love, Karen
Good morning our Ava Christine! I think I am coming to see you tomorrow. I cant wait to look at you again and have you hold my finger! For all of you out there, Ava has a strong grip!!!!! Ava, as I have said before, you have the most loving mom and dad. I am so very happy and I stree very, that your dad and brother are back at the hospital with you and your mom. Your mom should never be alone. We all love you Ava. Keep on showing every one your strength.
love you
granny and poppy ps Like Erin, I cried at your dads words also.
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