Surgery scheduled

Well we've learned some of the plans. After the heart conference this morning they gave us the news that they have decided to do a heart cath surgery on Thursday at noon. This is a surgery where they go through t groin with a small camera in an artery to get a close look at the heart. They felt with how complex Blaise's heart is this is necessary. The coronary arteries are what will determine the future. If they look okay he will be a candidate for the second round of his surgeries. This is early andvhevis very young still but think he is okay weight wise. If the arteries look bad then he will be put on the heart transplant list. Dr Hammel is out of town until Friday night so if they decide to do the surgery we aren't sure yet when that will be. It could be as soon as Saturday. We are all doing okay as we realize this is all beyond our control and in Gods hands. Mike will be staying home this week and not go to Montana. We pray for Blaise's cath to go very well and him to sail through with flying colors. We pray to get the news that we can proceed with the next surgery and not the transplant route. The closest hospital for this to be done is st. Louis. We pray for our continued strength and understanding. We pray that the next few days are ones filled with great moments and experiences. Blaise has melted the hearts of every single nurse. He is absolutely the sweetest babybin the world constantly cooing talking and smiling. He is so happy!! Thanks to our prayer warriors you lift us up and I know God is hearing all we say. Prayers for our hood buddy Landon too!

Let God

Nothing new to report really. Blaise will be the main topic at the heart conference tomorrow and we will know lots more after that. Today Michael and I talked about how we shouldnt stress over anything. Of course much easier said than done. However, stress gets us absolutely nowhere. There is nothing we can do to change any part of the situation except send our prayers to God, and that is what we do and find much solace with. We know he listens to every prayer said by all of us. We are ready for some plans to be unveiled to us tomorrow and learn what steps happen next with Blaise. Of course our minds wander in every direction from getting discharged tomorrow to next surgery by the end of the week. We let God be in control as he always is and Michael and I spend our time doing our favorite thing- snuggling, cuddling, talking to and playing with our sweet baby boy. Michael headed back to Oakland tonight and goes to Burwell in the morning and Montana the rest of the week. I know it was hard for him to leave tonight. Thanks for the prayers!

Chillin at childrens

Saturday is almost over. The feedingvteam came in this morning to help with his 9 am feeding. We are still adding rice cereal to his bottles to thicken them in hopes that will help. He screamed lots before his 9 noon and 6 feeding. The 24 hour holter heart monitor results have been read and from what we've been told by the floor residents is that they looked okay minus one time when heart pumped too fast. Still no word on the echo. Our nurse tonight told us Blaise is scheduled to be discussed Monday morning during cath conference which is when all if the heart cardiologists surgeons etc meet. We aren't sure exactlly what they will be discussing but his coronary arteries seem to be a topic brought up lots. At this point no discussions of gi dr or ent dr have occurred. Dr hammel the surgeon peeked in this morning to say hi. Ironic enough, it was exactly three months ago at the exact same time that he was performing surgery on Blaise's heart. We also met a family of a single ventricle baby that was born 8 days ago. Although not much further ahead of them in this process we hope we can provide them some assistance. Add baby raygn to your prayer list. Mike and I were talking tonight about how much fun it is to be Blaise's parents. We thank God everyday for this incredible baby. We feel great encouragement from all your prayers!! We know God hears every single one!

No answers today

Well today was a bit frustrating. We haven't figured anything out yet. Blaise had an echo this morning and we haven't heard results. He also had his 24 hour heart monitor pulled this afternoon and don't know the results. The feeding team came in this morning to watch him eat and thought maybe he was aspirating when drinking causing him not to want to drink. They ordered a swallow study where they have basically an xray that watches where milk goes when he swallows. Of course he acted great this round and all looked fine. They decided to have us thicken his bottle with rice cereal though to see if that would help. So far, all that's happened is the nipple gets clogged so he can suck with nothing coming out. In the end we've almost gone backward. After some frustrations of not knowing exactly what was happening it became evident as the day went on that Blaise will probably be here for a bit. After cardiology finally determines that it's not heart related they will probably ask for gibto look over him. Well nothing happens on the weekends, so that won't happen til Monday. Then I assume they will run tests making another possible day in. We are praying for the doctors to determine what might be causing the problem and whatever it is to be not serious and an easy fix. We also pray Blaise feels better soon.

Checked in

Blaise has settled into his room. He was seen by dr. Kuglar the cardiologist on call. He has had an EKG done and a chest xray. They've done a urine cath to check for infection. They have him wearing a holter monitor to watch his heart for 24 hours. No great improvent on his eating but he is the star of the floor as all the nurses have stopped in to see how big hes gotten and flirt.

Prayer Request

Please add Blaise to your prayer list today. After a week of lack-luster performance eating, the heart doctors would like to observe him for a few days. We are checking back into 5th Floor Children's Hospital later today. They will be performing an ECHO to look at his heart. Initially they indicated to us that struggles with eating can be a sign of heart problems/ need to do the next step of surgery. We are praying this is not the case, and that it is more gastroenterologist.

Please send prayers Blaise's way. Today marks his three month old birthday. What a fabulous three months it has been!

We pray that God's hands are upon Blaise in the coming days. As always, we look to Him for guidance, and are reassured by the good He does.

Diet crasher

Right now is the highlight of my day! I'm lying in bed listening to my sweet baby talk to himself in his crib on the monitor. There is no better sound in the world! Since this is typed on a phone excuse grammar errors. It has been a fairly long week. Blaise decided last Friday that he didn't like eating anymore for some reason. He started doing really small amounts on his bottles and screamed as soon as bottle hit his mouth and had no interest. We've made some adjustments including doing half formula bottles. We really haven't seen an improvement. Tonight we ask for some extra prayers for improved eating for Blaise and as always a healthy heart. I've got lots of stories to catch up on so be checking back soon! Oh and the cardiologist apt went good! We head back in a month to start talking second surgery.