Hospital Update- 3/23/2013

During Evin's journey through her first surgery up until now (mid-June), I have been sending our friends and family email updates on Evin's progress.  While we were in the hospital with her, I sent them almost daily, and I have sent several since we have been home as well.  In order to catch up on Evin's story, I will post the email updates that I sent.


Email sent to friends and family on 3/23/2013:

Our most precious blessing, Evin Kate Armstrong, entered the world on March 20^th, 2013 at 8:06pm.  She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 20 ¼ inches long.  She is beautiful and we were able to enjoy a little over 24 hours of pure bliss with her.

Yesterday morning Evin was being given her early morning assessment at Mansfield Methodist Hospital and the nurse noticed her coloring was “off.”  She was admitted to the NICU and they immediately began running tests.  After tests being run, they made the decision to immediately transport her to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. 

Evin has been diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (edit- this diagnosis was later changed), a congenital heart defect.  This heart defect does not show up until after 24 hours of life, which is why it was not detected until very early yesterday morning.

She has a team of doctors and specialists who will be getting together hopefully on Monday to decide on which procedure she will have in the next week or so.  There are two surgeries that they are looking at, with one being more invasive than the other.  She will either have one of her heart valves ballooned to open it up OR they will put in a temporary shunt.  We are praying for the ballooning rather than the shunt, but we know the doctors will make a decision that is best for Evin.

The earliest the surgery would be is next Tuesday in order to give Evin time to adjust to being a newborn and being outside of the womb.  It could also be later in the week.  Her recovery time in the hospital will be at least 2 weeks, potentially longer.  We SHOULD be able to take her home after the first surgery is complete.

The second surgery will not take place until she is at least 3 or 4 months old.  This will give her time to grow, gain weight and get stronger.  This will be major open-heart surgery to repair her pulmonary artery and valve and to close the hole between her left and right ventricle.

The patch to her ventricles will be permanent, but the valve repair will only last 10-15 years.  This means our sweet girl has a lifetime of surgeries ahead of her.  She will have frequent visits to a cardiologist and will have heart surgery every 10-15 years.

The cardiologist said she should lead a normal day-to-day life and will probably be able to participate in whatever sports or activities that she wants, with monitoring.

Mitch and I are trying to be strong for our baby girl. The doctors and nurses have told us that she has a temper and has been feisty with them at times, so we have a little fighter on our hands.

More than anything, we are asking for your prayers for Evin.  Please pray for her doctors, nurses, and for Mitch and I to continue to be strong for her. 

Please pray for our darling girl.

Mitch and Kori

Cozied up with her lovie.  The Teddy Bear Transport team gave me 2 of these- one to tuck into my shirt and one to keep with Evin.  I switched them out every few hours so she would have something with my Mommy smell to cuddle up with.