Thursday, August 19, 2010

15 months really? Wow!

*Disclaimer: the following post is full of run on sentences and bad grammer. If I had the time and energy I would edit it some more but I don't. Consider yourself warned*

Wow has it been 15months? Really?!? I have no idea how to catch you up on all that has happened in the last year so I am gonna take the easy way out and not do it. I figure as I organize and scrapbook the pictures I will randomly post things that have happened and eventually catch up :-D

That being said I do want to tell you about little Miss Sarah Joy. My last post talked about how we were expecting another baby and on May 3rd at 12:05 Sarah Joy Burdett joined our family. Weighing in at 7lb 2oz and 20.5in long, she was the exact measurement of her big sister when she was born :) Her pregnancy was much easier on me the Katelyn's. For example I only lost 15lbs to morning sickness instead of 20lbs lol (I can joke about it now cause its over ;-). One thing that was much easier was labor it was a whole 4hours and 1 and a half pushes until we were holding her in our arms! Everything about her was absolutely "wonderfully and fearfully made". I did notice that she slept A LOT. Which of course she did she was a newborn but she also started sweating during nursing and falling asleep before she had finished. It wasn't until her two week appointment that we (I say we because I asked to listen too) heard the murmur. The nurse side of me rationalized that all infants are born with holes in their circulatory system and it takes a month before they are all closed (part of Gods awesome design). But the mom side of me started freaking out! I started going back and forth between God is in control to worst case scenario of my little two week old could need open heart surgery! From peace to panic in no time at all! We decided that the best course of action was to wait. Like I said her circulatory system would not make the complete switch from fetus to infant for another two weeks and she was gaining weight which was a very reassuring sign that she was not compromised. At her one month appointment the murmur was still loud and clear (and yes I listened to her heart every day during those two weeks) and even though she was still gaining weight we felt it best to go and have a consult with a pediatric cardiologist.

Our pediatrician is part of a large network called Cooks Children and so when a referral is done its kinda like a random draw on who you get unless you know to ask for someone by name. Never having a need for a pediatric cardiologist we went the "random" route and had an appointment the very next morning with Dr. Siu. At the appointment Sarah had an EKG done, which came out normal, and an Echocardiogram done which showed a 5mm hole in the septum that divides the ventricles (the lower chambers of her heart). This hole is allowing preoxygenated blood to flow back to her lungs instead of out to her body. In severe cases this causes the fluid to back up in the lungs and cause Congestive Heart Failure. "Luckily" Sarah's case was only moderate not sever and even better then that due to the placement of the hole being so high in the septum it was actually partially occluded by the valve when open so it was acting as a 3mm hole which is why she was presenting with only mild symptoms.

We couldn't have asked for a better Cardiologist then Dr. Siu. He is kind, patient, understanding, informative and really took his time with us making sure we knew what was going on, didn't have any questions and was comfortable with the treatment plan. He had made several comments during the appointment that made his faith evident but we were still a little surprised
when he asked to pray with us at the end of the appointment. Let me tell you there is no greater peace in a medical situation then to hear your doctor pray for God's wisdom. Dr. Sius prayer was not a generic "I pray this for all my patients" kind of prayer. It was genuine, heartfelt and it brought us to Jesus feet where we found peace. I had tried to pray several times a day during the two weeks that we were waiting but my mind would always start to wonder to all the things it could be, to all the treatments and possible surgeries that might be in our future. It wasn't until the three of us laid our hands on Sarah and prayed that I found the peace that comes with fully surrendering and trusting God. He is the one who created her and He is the one who can fully restore her health.

At the end of July we had a follow up appointment where we found the hole had gone down to 3mm. No surgeries, no medications. Praise the Lord! It was also at this appointment we discussed the possibility of traveling to California. We found out that Dr. Siu had spent 2 years at Loma Linda working with the head of Pediatric Cardiology. So it was with his blessing that we traveled to Riverside knowing that if we needed to we could call Dr. Siu and he would let Loma Linda know what was going on and to expect us.

Through out this whole situation we have struggled but more importantly we have seen God at work in all the circumstances. As as parents we want our children to be happy and healthy and we tend to think more of what we can do for them and help them then what God can do. We are so grateful that He is the ultimate healer and He can watch over our children and loves our children more then we ever could!

All right I think you are caught up with whats going on with Sarah. We have another appointment in May. If we still hear the murmur we will follow up in 6months. If we don't hear the murmur they will do another echo so they can say for certain that it is closed. We know God is in control no matter what we find at that appointment :)


Meeting big sister Katelyn for the first time.

One month old

Two months old

Three months old and starting to rock the chubby cheeks

Four months old

Five months old and a rolling machine!

Six months old and discovering the joys of food!

Seven months old and sporting the comb-over!

Eight months old and as happy as can be!

No comments: