Readjust

So I started this blog last Thursday, needless to say I haven't figured out how updating this blog fits into our route. I promise I will figure it out before Holt is in college ;) just be a little patient with me until I get the hang of this new mom stuff.


We made it home again! Well, we've been home from the hospital for one week tomorrow. I must admit this last hospital stay was much harder then any of the 12 weeks that we were at Medical City.  I know that sounds crazy, I've even thought how bazaar that sounds myself, but the only explanation I have for it is that I could see physically that Holt was sick. While we were at Medical City he was sick but looked like a healthy little baby. Not so much with this stay. I am so thankful for my family. I don't know what I would have done without them. Tuesday night my mom stayed with me and I am so thankful that she did! That was the hardest night for us because Holt was still running fever and not feeling good at all! Then Josh stayed with me the next night and Thursday night my sweet SIL was called in for "Mommy duty" and she stayed the night and let Josh and I go home and get an uninterrupted nights sleep. A good nights rest does wonders for the body and mind! I came back up to the hospital rested and feeling a little more confident that we were going to make it though this hospitalization ok! And that we did.

Friday we were sent home, again! They aren't really sure what caused our little miracle to have a fever because all of the million tests they ran on him came back normal, Praise the Lord- they were testing for some pretty scary stuff, in my opinion. Heart disease I can handle but heart disease and something else- God and I were going to have a little chat. But thankfully we didn't have to go down that road. All they could tell us is they found some bacteria in his urine, but it's a unique kind so they classified it as a UTI but not your normal UTI. The bacteria that was growing is found on the skin so the only thing they could think of is this came from the cath. he had placed in the NICU for the heart cath. procedure. Man was I glad to hear that's all it was!

The weekend was pretty uneventful except for a couple of sleepless nights (but that's nothing new) On Sunday my mom volunteered her babysitting services so that Josh and I could go to church. We gladly excepted the offer because we haven't been able to go to church since before I was hospitalized. Even though we haven't been to church in what has felt like an eternity I feel like I have grown so much closer to the Lord. I  know what you're thinking, well of course silly look what you've just been through!  My music has been my life line these days. I have had better times of worship while in my car then I have ever had in a corporate setting. Which kinda sounds a bit crazy to me, but it reminded me that worship can be anywhere at anytime. It doesn't have to be limited to a church building with a music minister singing hymns. Don't get me wrong that's a great thing and there is something special about worshiping with fellow believers, but it's not limited to just there. Well that's my ramble for the day! All that to say this experiences has opened my eyes and changed my way of how I worship.

This week has been a week of adjustments to say the least. Now that I have been able to catch my breath from the events of the past couple of months I have done a lot of processing. When you're in the middle of a situation "survival" mode kicks in and you do anything you can to make it through. Now that we're home I feel like that mode has shut off and we can relax for a moment. It has given me lots of time to process. Which can be a good or bad thing. This is going to sound strange but I've just started realizing the reality of what all we went through. Call it what you want but I think my mind was in shock for a while and then drugged (which I am thankful for) and now that I am back in my right mind I've had lots of freak-out moments. The verse that is on repeat in my head is "Trust in the Lord with all your heart". This has a whole new meaning to me. I keep telling myself "Trust in the Lord with all his heart" I feel as though I am in constant prayer giving my fears to the Lord. I know that the doctor's wouldn't have let us go from the hospital if they weren't confident that for right now Holt's heart is ok. And in fact the report we got on Tuesday from our visit to the cardiologist was that his heart has improved a little more. It is still enlarged but the ventricul has shown more improvement. Which is music to a mother's ears. I can't help but keep in the back of my mind that is heart is still not perfect. When we were in the hospital in Tyler the doctor that we were seeing came in after the echo was done and said "Man, this kid's heart is a mess!" I'm sorry but there are certain things that I do and don't need to hear and the fact that my child's heart is not perfect and worse a mess is one of them! I understand that we have issues but really to come in and say that it's a mess does nothing productive!

I wanted to walk Holt right out of the hospital right then and there! But after calming myself down and thinking rationally we stayed. Ever since then I haven't been able to get that out of my mind. That is one thing that I realize and am so grateful for this group of cardiologists that are treating my sweet boy. They have given us just enough information to allow Josh and I to feel informed but they have leaving out the details like "your kids heart is a mess". Really it does nothing productive. Just when I thought I couldn't handle this anymore, Holly the wonderful NP with this group called to check on us and allow me to express all my fears. I can't tell how wonderful it is to have her. She gives me the facts in a simple way that I can understand and is always reassuring.

Fast forward today. I am doing much better! I had a "slap in the face moment" this past Sunday at church. I was asked how we are doing and I told them that Holt's ok and I'm a mess. The response i got was harsh but I needed to hear it. "You had such great faith when y'all were in the hospital, what happened to it?" My first response was "You sit in a doctors office and be told that your child might be having heart failure and tell me you wouldn't be a mess!" But I didn't have much to respond back after that. I know it's new mom stuff but I am still trying to figure out what is "normal baby" and what is "heart baby" Here is a good example of what I mean. When we were at his check up with the cardiologist we were given a good report but after that the dr. said he is concerned that Holt is showing signs of heart failure or it could be acid reflux- because naturally they are the same symptoms. He wasn't really concerned because he was breathing normal and wasn't showing signs of distress. So he said "we'll touch base with you on Thursday and see how he's doing. If he hasn't improved any then we would do further testing to see what was going on." Then he ended with: "If everything is ok on Thursday then we'll see him back in a month, have a good day!"

And out the door he went! I was left there holding a kid that might or might not be in heart failure and I'm suppose to just go home?  Needless to say we had a couple of rocky days. I freaked out about the smallest movements. Friday morning I called Lindsey, my wonderful SIL, crying because I thought there was something wrong with his breathing. She dropped everything and come rushing over. Thank goodness her and my brother live only 2 minutes away. After her assessment and my calming down we decided that it was just gas.  I don't know what I would do with out her, I think the cardiologist need to pay her because she has saved them a lot of freaking out phone calls.

Sunday after church I really started digesting what was said to me that morning. I am so guilty of not trusting that Holt's heart is going to be ok. I keep forgetting that the Lord has everything under control and worrying about it does nothing but cause lack of sleep. I would like to blame sleep deprevation for the whole thing but when I am honest with myself I did need to completely give it over to the Lord. So that's what I did. I am happy to say that we are both doing good! Holt is sleeping in his crib and last night he only woke up once. Which makes for a more happier mommy in the morning. We have determined that is acid- reflux that was causing the symptoms and we have been put on medication to help with it. Heart disease can cause acid reflux  and i would take acid reflux anyday of the week over heart failure. I feel like we have taken a turn for the better! I am relaxing more and learning to enjoy every moment I get with this sweet boy. He is growing up way to fast for me!
I must end this now and go feed this kiddo- he's getting grumpy! Thank you for your continued prayers for our family as we adjust to our "normal" home life. I promise I will do much better at updating this blog.

Home Sweet Home-- or so I thought

Well we have made it through our first week at home and were just starting to get adjusting to life at home. Last Monday we went and met our pediatrician and on Wednesday we went back to Dallas for an appointment with the cardiologist. We had such a great report from that visit. Holt's heart is still stable and they are pleased with his progress. The rest of the week was lots of sleeping and enjoying our time at home. We were given a 2 week follow up with the cardiologist and are just watching until they feel like it is time for another intervention.

Our adjusting and enjoyment of home came to a screeching stop yesterday morning. On Monday I had noticed that we were becoming a little more fussier then normal. I just chalked it up to what I thought was acid reflux. We were given a medication to help with that and thought everything was just grand. At 3 am on Tuesday morning we awoke for feeding time and I noticed that Holt was feeling a little warm. I changed him from the jammies he was wearing to a onsie in hopes that would cool him off. I took his temperature and it was 98.9. I was glad there was no fever and went on about my business. Holt never really went back to sleep, just fussed  until 6 when it was time for more food. At 6 I noticed that he had not cooled off any and in fact felt much warmer. I took his temp. again, this time it was 100.1. And that's how are crummy day started. I called and got an appt. with the pedi dr. thinking we'd get some meds and be send on our merry way home. Boy was i mistaken. I am so glad that our doctor airs on the side of caution. While in the office we had labs drawn, blood cultures were done to rule out infection in the blood, chest x-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia and last but not least a lumbar puncture (otherwise known as a spinal tap).

When you're going on a very small amount of sleep the world seems much harder to deal with and add hunger to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster. While all this was going on I just sat in the office with tears streaming down my face. My sister-in-laws sister is the nurse for our pediatrician and I must say it was so nice to have a familiar face when all this is going on. She came over and gave me a hug and said "I know you thought you were finished with all of this". I must say, some part of me did think that. The selfish part of me hoped and wished that we would be able to enjoy the remained of his newborn stage without any more big dramatic scenes. Boy was I mistaken! After the x-ray and labs were done I was advised to have Josh come to the office for some moral support. So I put down my "superwomen" mask and called in reinforcements. It's amazing what the presence of my sweet husband will do for me, that and a granola bar I found in the diaper bag dried those tears right up. It amazes me this post partum business is like nothing I've ever experienced before.  I know that this to shall pass but man I wish someone could have given a little warning about this part! Ok, enough about me back to the crummy day. While the lumbar puncture was being preformed we were asked to take a walk. I am so glad we were given those orders. I don't know of a more helpless feeling then having your kiddo handed back to you after such a yucky procedure and he looks at you with tears in his big eyes that seem to say "why'd you let them do that to me". It' s enough to rip your heart out. I'd give anything to make this all go away for him, but God must think all of us are stronger then I give us credit for.

After what seemed like an eternity we were instructed to go straight to the hospital, do not pass go or collect $200. That seems to be a repeated theme with us. So we gathered our items and headed to the hospital. Luckily we were admitted to the hospital in Tyler. It's so much easier on us then being in Dallas. I must confess, after getting settled in our room here I felt out of place.  "That's not how they do it a Medical City" seemed to be a repeated theme as we were getting checked in and settled. I told Josh that I wanted to go "home" (yes, don't worry I was referring to Medical City- after all we did reside there for 12 weeks). We have decided for now to keep Holt here in Tyler. If our stay becomes long term then we will transfer over to Dallas, back "home".  We are very hopeful that this stay will very short and won't need to go back to Medical City.

"Now what?' I know is the question on every one's mind. Today we are resting. Yesterday Holt was stuck more times then I can count. He has a band-aid and scar from being poked from head to toe, literally. They tried probably 8 times to get an IV started and failed. They finally had to go to the last resort and put the IV in his head. I must admit I have never seen or even heard of that being done but it can be and has been. I was relieved that they finally got the IV in but they have taped a cup to his head to protect the IV. I can't help but this how painful it is going to be when they remove all the tape they have stuck on his hair. I have already been warned that he will be bald on that side once all the tape is removed. I'm not so much worried about the hair as I am the act of him becoming bald. This kiddo will be one month old tomorrow and I feel has already been through more then most go though in a life time. But he is such a trouper.

We still don't know exactly what is causing the fever. Last night we had a very rough night. Around 2 am he spiked a fever to 101.0. Fever puts extra stress on the heart which then has a domino effect on so may other things. So we worked to get the fever down and then around 3 he was placed on oxygen to help give his body a break and allow him to get some rest. It's amazing what a little oxygen will do to his mood. He feel asleep and allow me and my mom (who so wonderfully volunteered to stay with me so I could get some kind of rest and allow Josh to go home and sleep so he could work.) to get a small amount of rest. For now we just wait and watch to make sure he don't get another high fever, we still don't know what is causing his breathing problems or his fevers. Please be in pray that the doctors will find the issue and Holt will be restored back to health. We did have an echo preformed yesterday and our cardiologist in Dallas read it and gave us a good report. His heart function has not changed from last week and they are ok with where he is. We have been told that if we feel like we need to be transferred to Dallas then they will not hesitate but all the doctors are in agreement that we are ok here in Tyler for now. I feel that if this is going to be long term or he worsens again tonight then we will consider traning over to "home", but for now we are again playing the waiting game. Lots of sitting around.

I rest assured that this is just part of this sweet kiddo's story but I can't help and wonder when is enough enough? I know that God is good and has everything under control. So I leave him again in the best place that I know of. In the hands of our mighty and wonderful creator and maker who spoke us into being and loves us more then we can comprehend. It's so reassuring knowing that I don't have to worry about our tomorrows.

New Beginnings

I have decided I am not very good at this blog thing. I have been thinking about blogging for a few days now and every time I think about it I am never around a computer. I had a few minutes this evening so I wanted to update everyone.  This week has been such a great week! Last Thursday we were told that if the echo done on Saturday looked good then we would be going home on Monday. Sunday afternoon the NICU doctor came in and told us that Holt's blood pressure is too low (due to the medications we are going home on) and they need another week to tweak his medications. I'm not going to lie I was very disappointed to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad we are getting such good care that they will take the time to adjust the medication and give us extra time to work on feeding, but I am beyond ready to live in Tyler again. So here were are, still in Dallas. Holt is doing wonderful. I love sitting in the NICU and holding him. We have been working on feeding and Holt is such a champ. He is doing great with the bottle feedings. We are having to add 8 calories and fat to every bottle for him to gain weight. They have removed the feeding tube from his nose because he is feeding every time with the bottle.

As far as what is next for us, well the cardiologist came in today and said that if the echo looks good tomorrow the we can go home to Tyler on Friday! Oh, how I pray the echo is stable so we can go home! If it is then Josh and I will "room in" at the hospital tomorrow night and spend the night together with Holt to make sure we are comfortable with the medications and feedings before we head home. Once we are in Tyler we will see our pediatrician on Monday and come back to Dallas on Wednesday for a follow up with the cardiologists and then we will be seen weekly in Tyler there after that.

So the new question is what does the future hold? The doctors have said they can not be more pleased with how well Holt is doing. I can't help but be amazed with the mercy God has shown on our family. He has answered our prayers and has done "more then we can ask or imagine".  The Norwood procedure is off the table for us. His left ventricle is going to recover and has recovered for that matter. We were told that the heart cath was only a temporary fix, but temporary could be 4 months or it could be 5-10 years. Holt will have to have more intervention at some point in his life but our prayer is that we can wait until he's much older. The procedure now that they are talking to us about is called the Ross procedure. They haven't gone into much details about it but just wanted to put the name in our brains. From what I understand it's basically where they replace the aortic valve with a pulmonary valve and use a mechanical valve as a replacement for the pulmonary valve. And surprisingly it's a much simpler surgery. Of course we will be given more information when it's time for the procedure. I am just so thankful that we are able to take him home and get him as old as we possibly can before the surgery. 
We will have weekly follow ups to the cardiologist for a long time, then they will lengthen our leash to 2 weeks and someday a long time from now I was told that one of the cardiologist will get brave enough to let us go for one month before coming back for a follow up. I told them I am ok with coming weekly! So between them and our pediatrician it sounds like we will be in the doctors offices a lot! But I don't even mind because we will be home!

I feel like this chapter in our journey is closing and another one is beginning. It has been a long time coming and I know it will take sometime to process all that has really happened. I feel like the last couple of weeks I have been on autopilot. Just doing what we can to make it through. I am so ready to be in my own home and get into a routine, to find our new normal.

Today on my way to the hospital I thought what a sweet day it is going to be when Holt plays his first sport. It brought a tear to my eye thinking about how faithful God has been through this whole process and how far we've come. I now understand more " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" I know that it is nothing but the strength of God that has gotten us through all of this.

 I feel like I am so scatterbrained these days and I'm sure it's reflects in my writing. My brain hurts. I am so overwhelmed by the love and support we have received during the 12 weeks we have been in the hospital. I know we owe so many people "thank yous".  I've tried to keep up with my thank you notes but I've decided I am not superwomen and I am learning I can only do so much with my time during the day. Please know that Josh and I are so very grateful for the encouragement, love and support that was poured on us. We have truly seen Jesus in so many ways. He has provided in ways I can't even begin to list. Thank you for being Jesus to us!

I can't wait for the day when we have the conversation with Holt about his heart. I can't wait to tell him how God healed his heart. I can't wait to tell him about all the love we received while we were in the hospital and how many people prayed for him. I can't wait to tell him that God has such big plans for his life.

I will update when I can about our transition home and how we are adjusting to our new normal. Please pray for us as we do make our way home. It comes with mixed emotions. I think taking him home is going to be another test of our trust in the Lord. We won't have any monitors telling us his heart is still beating. We just have to trust that his heart is still beating without hearing it. I've gotten so use to a machine. It's going to be an adjustment for sure to not have a monitor around.

Thank you for your prayers, I know the Lord has answered our prayer and I will forever be thankful for the miracle he has preformed.

To God be the glory for great things he has done!

1 Week

I cannot believe it's been a week since our sweet boy was born. Let me tell you it's been a week! It has felt like it's been a month! Since my last post we have had some great news! I'm going to go day by day because there has been so much happen I don't want to forget anything (sorry this part is more for my benefit so I can have it documented).

Friday was an emotionally tough day. I got to leave the hospital and I can say that I was excited about that but I was not ready to leave Holt. You know as a new parent it's hard to leave your new baby after 4 days. Let's just say I cried a lot! We left the hospital around noon and went to Target to get my pain medication and some blankets and mittens for Holt to have while in the NICU. Then we went to the house where I will be staying for the rest of the time that I am here. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family friends that have opened their home to us while we are here in Dallas. After getting settled in we of course went straight back up to the hospital. Holt is doing great! I got to change his diaper and take his temperature. I'm sure the nurse thought I was crazy because I got so excited about changing a diaper. Of course when you go from no contact with your baby to changing a diaper you will take any chance you can get. All day Friday they were slowly taking Holt off the pain medication to allow him to wake up so they could take him off the breathing machine. It took a little longer then they expected because he was just as happy as could be sleeping. (something he gets from me of course, I love sleep! )  Thursday they closed his PDA and he did great! They watched him closely on Friday and they were very please with how he was responding and the function of his heart.

Saturday we came into a great surprise. Holt was breathing on his own! He has a nasal cannula to help him breath until he gets the hang of breathing. Saturday  Holt learned how to suck on a pacifier. He loves the pacifier. We are teaching him how to suck on the paci while he his being feed. We are feeding right now through the feeding tub in his nose. Once his breathing slows down to normal then we will start bottle feeding until I can hold him then the next step will be breast feeding. He also opened his eyes on Saturday for a few seconds. He has such wonderful blue eyes!

Sunday I got to place my arms under Holt's head and legs. It was the closest I have been to holding him and I was in heaven! I haven't been able to hold him because of all the lines he has in him but the sweet nurse took pity on me and let me semi-hold him! Oh what a wonderful day it will be when I can finally hold that sweet baby in my arms! But for now I am just over joyed when he holds my finger.

Today has been a wonderful day! My sister in law came in town to help drive me around and help while I still recover from my c-section. This morning when we walked in Holt's room he was wrapped in a blanket and sucking on his pacifier. It was the sweetest cuties thing I'd ever seen!! And of course the first thing we did was grab the camera and take a million pictures. Holt today was very awake and alert. It was so fun to watch him lay there looking around the room.

I mean how could you not stare at that face all the time?  It is so fun to watch him discover the world around him. While we were there this morning the cardiologist came in and we had such a great report! He said they could not be more pleased with how good Holt is doing. He went on to say that they feel like it's highly likely that the cath. procedure will be enough for a while to get Holt older before he will need other intervention. He said more intervention is inevitable but when we will just have to watch. It could be a 4 months or it could be 5 or 10 years old. Of course that will only come with time. He also said that his left vent. is pumping better. We were told a percentage today and I cannot tell you exactly what it is for but I'm going to share it because it's wonderful. I think it has to do with pumping. When we were first seen the left vent function was at 3% today it's at 18%! A normal heart his size is between 22-46%.... if that's not a miracle I'm not sure what is! I can't help but see the Lord every time I look at Holt's sweet face. He is our little miracle. We still have a couple more weeks here in the hospital but everyday that we are there gets better then the day before.

I know that the news we heard today is only because of the grace of God and the mercy he has shown on our sweet boy. So thank you for standing with me and Josh in prayer for our little guy. I can't wait for the day when he is old enough for me to share with him what God has done for him and the miracle he already has been. Don't worry I already tell him that every time I see him but someday he will understand. As for what is next, we are just watching. Everyday they take away a different medication and Holt is doing great.

As for now please continue to pray for Holt's heart to continue getting better and better. Also for Josh and myself. It was very hard for him to leave and go back to work today. He has been so wonderful! My emotions are all over the place and he has been so understanding and my rock during this time. At any given moment I can burst into tears and he just sweetly takes my hand and lets me know that it's all ok. He even stayed in Dallas last night and got up early today to drive back to Tyler. I am blessed beyond belief to have him as my husband. I could not have asked for a better one! He will be back on Thursday night but it is not easy having him be so far away. I know we are going to be stronger from this experience and someday we will be able to live as a family under one roof someday but it's just not easy while you're in the middle of it.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. They are so needed!



Cautiously Optimistic

It has been a whirlwind of a week so far! Our emotions have been up and down and sometimes feel like we are on a merry-go-round! I wanted to give an update since it's been a couple of days. First I wanted to say thank you! For all the facebook messages, comments, and texts. I wish I could respond to everyone but I just don't have the brain power yet but know that I appreciate the support and encouragement.

Yesterday was definitely an up and down day emotionally. Tuesday night was a tough night for Holt. The cath. procedure went great and bless his little heart he is a fighter. We were told he started "shunting" through the PDA vessile (the vessile he was born with that they have been keeping open with medication).  We are hopeful that after the PDA closes this problem will resolve.  There is still talk about when we are going to close the PDA, the are not wanting to rush the process and want to allow his heart to heal from the cath. procedure.

Dr. Day (cardiologist) came yesterday afternoon and gave us an update. He said he is very pleased with the progress we've made. We talked about the first time he saw us the left vent. muscle was not moving at all and now it's moving. After the cath. the pressures in the vent. went from really high to almost normal! That's a small victory that we are rejoicing about. We also talked about 3 different roads we can go down, but won't know for a couple more days. Right now they are just watching him very closely. He did say that we are over the hurdle of "emergency surgery", though the Norwood procedure is still on the table we don't have an emergent need for it anymore. He said that he is cautiously optimistic about Holt.

Josh and I went down for a little while this morning and got another good report. They did an echo this morning and he was taken off the medicine that was keeping the PDA open. Around 3 this afternoon they are going to do another echo to see how he is doing. So far all his stats on the monitors look good and he seems to be tolerating it well. After the echo this afternoon they are going to talk about taking him on the respirator. He is having some pulmonary hypertension, which we have been told is a normal reaction to all that he is going through. They are giving him medication to help control that and the worse case senerio is we will have to be on the medication when we go home.

Last night they started feeding him with breast milk. He is tolerating it very well and this morning they increased the amount they are giving him. He was not urinating so on Tuesday night they placed a cath. in to help him urinate. This morning they have taken it out and he was placed on Lasix to help him start to urinate and also he is having fluid retention and this will help keep that low.

We don't have the report from the echo performed this morning but the cardio NP stopped by while we were in the NICU and she said she doesn't know much about the results but Dr. Laird has said it was good, but will come explain in detail to us this afternoon. 

Right now Josh and I are in my room resting, I am having a good day today. We got a good nights sleep last night and have been resting a lot today. They are planning on discharging me tomorrow sometime. Which I am excited about but know it's going to be an adjustment to live outside a hospital. I'm sure I'll figure out how!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. We are by no means anywhere close to out of the woods but it's a good day!

The Results

The doctor came up a few minutes ago and let us know that the heart cath went tremendously well. He said that Holt's heart is already beginning to look less stressed and enlarged. He was very optimistic that the procedure seems to have had a successful result. It looks like the left ventricle is beginning to pump a little. Holt will remain anesthetized and on a ventilator today, but they will soon be moving him from the cath lab back to NICU. God is so good!

The Procedure

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! We are rejoicing in the Lord because Holt remained stable through the night! He is a fighter, though he is not fairing quite as well today as he did yesterday.

Right now, Holt is being prepped for his heart cath procedure. The process should take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours. Honestly, this procedure is quite risky. There are a multitude of risk factors involved, some as bad as you can possibly imagine.

In the procedure, a tiny balloon will be inserted into Holt's aortic valve, which is currently not opening sufficiently. The best scenario is that when the valve is opened, the left ventricle will begin pumping correctly, resulting in a normal 4 chamber heart. The doctor was quick to say that we will NOT be able to immediately tell whether or not the cath worked. Instead, we will probably see Holt get sicker from the stress of the procedure before he gets better. Then, in a few days, we'll know whether the cath was successful or if Holt will need a greater intervention (surgery).

If the procedure is 100% successful, Holt will likely be in the hospital around 2 weeks.

Please pray that the cath is successful and without negative side effects.

Lauren has been up walking, but the effects of her epidural haven't yet worn off. She continues to feel quite sleepy.

Please pray for a speedy recovery for her body.

Josh is a trooper. He is quietly attending to all of his family's needs. What a blessing that is to watch!

Keep praying!