Here were the updates on Sweet Little Alynna

Thursday, July 16, 2009 5:29 AM, CDT

Good morning everyone. I just came from Alynna's room where she is ....... resting comfortably?... Her nurses report she had a good night! Her body temp is a little low, but I thought it was cold in that room! She's under a warmer, of course, but she's so long her feet aren't getting any of that heat. Brrrr. They have her pretty well sedated now. From what I can gather, they wanted to see ' her fight' and they saw that yesterday when she was pulling at things and moving her arms and legs. Everything was good, but they want her to rest, so more meds and to sleepytown she went. From what we've seen, everything looks encouraging. This was a major, major setback for her, tho and it is going to be a long road back... well, unless of course a miracle occurs and she's instantly better! That would work for me!

Jacelyn and Matt went to the R. McD House to sleep last night -- hope they got some rest. Other gparents went to the Ramada. Mike and I camped out here at the hospital -- we just like to be near her and concrete really isn't THAT hard, for goodness sake. lol. Too bad we aren't still on the 4th floor, Heart Center - they have awesome accomodations for overnight family. We hope to get a nap at the R McD at some point today when other family members can watch over the l'il one.

Thank you all for your gifts, emails, phone calls and messages of encouragement. But most of all thank you for the prayers. YOUR prayers will be what pulls Miss Alynna through this. Yesterday was an ugly day, but we made it through it and are hopeful for a much better day today. I will let you know if any changes occur throughout the day.

We love you all!

Mike and Darla, Jacelyn and Matt, Miss Alynna "Lynnie-Boo"

God is in control!
~Monday, July 20, 2009 11:19 AM, CDT

PRAISE REPORT...Several are asking how to pronounce Alynna - its "Uh lin Uh"... an "uh" on each end. lol. K. Now for the good news. They are finished with the surgery and the doc feels it went well. Her heart is pumping again on its own. They are leaving the sternum open for now in case they have to go back in and tweak things. Right now they are doing an echo to see if things are rolling the way they need to be (my term, sorry - I'm no med student - prob should have said flowing, huh). Soon she will be moved to recovery and that may take a couple of hours - then we get to see her. She'll be on the vent for probably a week, then another week of recovery and stabilization before she gets to come home. If anyone's counting, that makes a full month at the hospital.

-Darla
~Tuesday, July 21, 2009 4:55 AM, CDT

Good morning everyone. The doctor was just in to see us. He said she had a good night and all her numbers are good. He put in the order to begin the process of weaning her off the ECMO machine, life support. It will be a slow process - 10 cc per hour - to see how she handles it. Said it should take all weekend and then take her totally off on Monday.

He said she is a critically ill patient, but for someone in her condition she is doing really well. (Prayers, doc - GOD is doing this) He agreed with me that she is strong and said that babies are resilient.

I would like you all to begin speaking as if she were already healed. If someone asks you about her, please say she is being healed at this moment. Speak it out loud if you have no one else to speak to. We have to have faith.

We're doing great. We keep getting encouraging words and acts of deeds constantly...... CONSTANTLY -- not when "we're low" b/c we haven't gotten low - you have not allowed us to go there - you area constantly lifting us up so we are doing fine. We love little Alynna and KNOW God has great plans for her. It's so exciting to be a part of this and see what He has in store.

She is so beautiful and everyone comments about how absolutely adorable she is - so it just isn't grams that think this.

Love to you all.

Mike and Darla, Jacelyn and Matthew, Alynna Faith
~Tuesday, July 21, 2009 8:33 AM, CDT

Good morning everyone. Alynna held her own over the night. Sweet Baby. Mike stayed in there with her until 1 a.m. and then came in here and slept in a straight chair until 5 when he went back in. He has been the one to stay right by her side, praying without ceasing. At first (last week) the nurses thought he was falling asleep and feared he would topple into her bed and "equipment", but they have now learned he is just in prayer and eventually he will say amen and open his eyes. lol.

Matt, Jace and I, along with 5 other snorers slept in the lounge last night. Jace was next to me and kept rubbing my arm softly if my snoring got out of control. There is a man across the room who is snoring so loudly now I think the rest of us are contemplating dumping him out of his recliner. OVERTHROW THE SNORER. haha. JUSt KidDing.

The nurse told Jace at 5 when she checked on her that she had slept really well from 10 - 4 and that would be a good schedule for her once she got home. Jace was hoping for maybe 10-8...LOL. Jacelyn did have a meltdown yesterday -- all the stress finally got to her. I told her it was ok to cry - that it didn't mean she lacked faith or that she didn't believe God would heal her little Alynna, but that it meant she was human. And physically and emotionally worn out. So she did let it all out, I gave her a back rub, Matt bought her chicken Mcnuggets ( by the way a 24 hour McDonalds just steps away is a dangerous thing), she got an encouraging report from the doctor via Mike, then she was much better.

So today's plan is probably much like yesterday's. They said it would just take time for them to get all the levels consistently where they need them. The problem yesterday was (and maybe still is) her bp was so low they couldn't give her the amount of sedation she needed. Alynna threw some fits when they suctioned her and also the nurse said she throws a fit when Matt and Jace come down the hall. Fits are not good when you've had your second open heart surgery in 11 days with a code thrown in as well. Chest is still open except for the skin- he did stitch that back. She's still on a vent. I don't know how long we'll be here. She is 3 weeks old today.

Pray we have a good nurse. You would not believe - or maybe you would - what a difference it makes in our life and in Alynna's when we have a 'good nurse'. One of the best ones we've had was on duty last night, but it was her last night here b/c she's going to a pediatric clinic. Lucky them. Her name is Angie. God Bless Angie! Mike said she didn't sit down the whole time he was in there --- always up checking the machines and adding this or that --- and scolding the lab for not getting Lynn's calcium up to her in a timely manner.... Oh, life in the hospital.

It was not a good day on this floor. Two babies died yesterday and 4 others that I know of didn't have a good day. Everyone, it seemed was out in the hallway crying, or on their cell phones crying. But before night time, most had encouraging news as their l'il loved ones had made some progress. When one is discouraged we gather together here in our l'il Lounge Motel and sit in a circle holding hands and praying for one another's children. We are blessed to be surrounded by Believers even here. And we are soooo blessed to have you in our lives, praying on our behalf and also doing the practical things that need done at our house. Thank you all for the visits, cards, money, food, and emails of encouragement. It truly builds us up when we open our mail and there is a scripture or some other word of hope from you. You'll never know how many times you have comforted us when we were down.

A friend of ours wrote a song for Alynna. She sent it last night by a mpg file. It is beautiful and we all just sat listening to it over and over, crying.. Beautiful words, April -- thank you so much! I'll share it if she gives me permission. Otherwise, I've just forwarded it to family because she said it was for the family.

Time to get our routine started. Please continue to pray. We have a mighty God and His timing isn't our timing, but He has a great plan for Alynna. We know that.

Love,
Mike and Darla
Jacelyn and Matthew
Alynna Faith
~Wednesday, July 22, 2009 8:37 AM, CDT

Good morning. ... whatever day it is. A new family has moved into our Lounge Motel. Let me just say I have a new appreciation for my hubby who has a near silent snore... just a l'il pffffftttt. This poor lady in here was rocking the walls all night. Another younger gal sleeps sitting straight up. We had one empty recliner last night and I was going to offer it to her as it was beside mine. But when I went to her she was sound asleep and I don't think she would have fit in the recliner anyway. Speaking of which, I note my hubby has left me the breakfast of champions -- a Ding Dong and a Coke. ?????? What is up with that? He usually brings me a cup of coffee so I can enjoy it while I do the morning update for ya'll. I think he pulled a l'il switcheroo today. He's probably not thinking clearly - Doc Roser had to put him on meds last night for a nasty toothache. Thanks, Doc, for calling that in. However, I just googled the closest CVS -- turns out it wasn't in the best part of town. You know you are in trouble when a sign at the checkout reads: "Free HIV testing in the parking lot Tues, Wed., Thurs". I am NOT making this up!

I know you are here to learn about Alynna.... remember I don't have my coffee yet..... I'm trying to wake up, tho. Hang on, I'm going to walk to Lynnie's room and see if Mike is drinking my coffee. This is just too weird. He ALWAYS brings me my coffee. Been married 34 years -- always coffee, never a ding dong and coke. Be right back.

K. I'm back. Had my coffee and I'm fully awake now and can tell you the GREAT NEWS. Lynnie had a wonderful night! Praise the Lord! She looks soooo much better today. She peed 10-16 cc's each hour last night (she was struggling to do 3 before). Pee is good. I made up pee songs last evening and sang them to her; I asked for special pee prayers. I told the nurses it was the pee prayers. The nurse also said she was awake and very alert last night and didn't even throw one of her Lynnie Fits when they changed her bed. Her nurse was Colie (short for Nicole) and she was wonderful. She has her bed all arranged very cute with all her stuffed animals strategically placed to help hold tubes and such. Cute. I took tons of pix and will upload some to share.

Mike and I have to leave today -- Mike to the dentist and then to work tomorrow. I suppose I should do something about that Avon that has been sitting on my table since a week ago Monday. And laundry. Mike didn't have a chance to do the laundry I sent back with him on the 13th = Yuuuuuck.

Ok. so here's your report! Its a good one! Very good news. She looks beautiful, not all puffy like yesterday. She had a good night. There's be no more talk about an infection. I think she'll be ok while gma and gpa leave for a day and a half. Thanks for the prayers! YAY

Love,
Mike, Darla, & Alynna
~Saturday, July 25, 2009 10:12 PM, CDT

Date: Saturday, July 25, 2009, 10:12 PM

Hi - I know I'm late posting this but I left my computer in the truck for the evening. It was so nice out Mike and I took a walk and sat outside for quite a while. We got to babysit this afternoon while Matt and Jace went to the zoo. They thought it would be a nice outting and in some aspects it was, but when Jace got back she said there were a lot of people there with strollers full of babies and that made her sad. First the good news: Alynna's left lung was much better today. We are thankful for that. She's taking breast milk through her ng tube, so that is an addition for today. She's still on the vent and she still has two drain tubes. Her bp is staying in the 40's - would like 50's, but this is better than the 20's and 30's! Now for the prayer request: She has a leaky mitral valve. She's had it for a while - they were hoping it would correct on its own. The surgeon didn't want to fix it during the last surgery because he didn't want to rock the boat. However, if it doesn't correct itself in two weeks, Alynna will have to have another surgery to fix it. I can tell each surgery wears her out just a little more, so we are praying for it to be corrected on its own. Jacelyn said today she thinks God is answering the prayers of the little ones -- Lexi and Kylie, Alia and Eli, Jacob and Jacob, Bella and Sophie, Macy and Branten - and all the other little ones who are praying and believing for God's healing for little Alynna. Kari - Jacelyn was able to put the little bunny slippers on Alynna tonight! You would not believe how happy that made Jacelyn. Lynnie has worn only a diaper for 24 out of her 25 days of life. I had to admit, it made me cry when I was cleaning their Ronald McDonald room last week and I came across the diaper bag full of baby clothes -- all unworn. So the bunny slippers are a hit and the nurse was nice enough to let her put them on her. She looks adorable in a diaper, bunny slippers, and about 10 tubes and wires. We've had ups and downs today. Alynna was sleeping soundly when I left her and her granddaddy has just now gone down to sit with her until probably midnight. Please keep us all in your prayers. Love, Mke and Darla, etc.

~Monday, July 27, 2009 7:41 PM, CDT

Alynna has had a pretty good day today, although she seems to have her days and nights confused. When I called to check on her this morning to see how she had been overnight the nurse said she had had a great night, peed 'remarkably' and had two big poops. WTG Alynna! :) We get excited about that kind of thing around here! She did spit up once through the night (all mucus, no feed).. and thought that now that she's more awake she realizes the tube is in and it irritates and gags her... Nothing a little Fentanyl won't take care of though - and off to nighty-night land she goes.

When I came in this morning her BP was up in the 70's!! Much better than those 30's and 40's we were dealing with several days ago! She was awake a lot of the morning, just looking around - taking it all in. One of her IV lines has been leaking so the Dr. came in and changed that and took out the line that reads her left atrial pressure. She looks great today, good color and not as swollen. They discontinued all of her antibiotics... so that means none of the cultures they took during surgery grew anything. Yay - no infections for Lynnie-Boo! They are slowly weaning her off the vent.. She is down to 45% oxygen now.. I believe room air is around 20%.. so thats the goal. She is able to breath on her own, over the vent, and does when she's mad! We all know she's a feisty one!

Kari and Duane came to visit today, and were amazed at how long she is (she definitely takes after Daddy in that aspect..and the temper, but that's a WHOLE other story) It was nice to visit w/ family.. and the homemade lasagna didn't hurt either! ;) We took pictures of Alynna's hands w/ a Sharpie as a reference point, D thinks they're freakishly long.. I think she's just gonna be a volleyball setter!

Well, I better close for now - time to pump aaand..this mama's tard!!

We thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Every time I pray I ask God to heal her quickly so we can get her home and do a different activity with her.. My most recent prayer was for quick healing so we can take her camping :)

Again, thank you for all the prayers - this girl is LIVING proof that prayers are answered!

Love,
Matt, Jacelyn, and Alynna FAITH

~Tuesday, July 28, 2009 2:34 PM, CDT

Miss Alynna seems to be having another good day. When I called to check on her over the night she had been up all night partying with Nurse Colie. Her central line that was replaced yesterday was still leaking, so Colie had to run all her meds through the right atrial line.. Made it more difficult on her b/c of drug compatibility - but that was all the more eventful the night was. Alynna didn't get all the heart medicine that was prescribed (b/c of compatibility issues), but handled it well - her BP never dipped.

They weaned her vent down to 40% today, and will continue to wean by 5% as long as she tolerates it. Her blood gasses have been great today. They removed her foley catheter, so thats one less line - 7 to go! :) jk, I haven't counted.. I know she's got 2 chest tubes, her RA line, a line in her wrist, and the central line in her groin... and on the vent - whats that add up to?

She got moved to a new room today b/c her huge ECMO room was needed for another patient. We've already got her new room all decorated, and made as 'homey' as possible. Mom and I are watching The River Wild in Alynna's room since Duane made the comment yesterday that Alynna's hair looked like Kevin Bacon's. (Thanks for that D... We requested a couple of bows, but they haven't made it yet).

When the doctor came in to tell me that they were gonna change her central line, I asked how she was doing overall. He said she was looking really good. Her color looks even better than yesterday, and her face is back to normal size. I asked about the mitral valve situation and he acted like it wasn't a big deal. He said that he didn't hear much regurgitation when he listened to her. The focus of their attention at the moment is getting all the extra fluid off - said she's got about 150-200 cc's that needs to come off.. and its mostly around her abdomen. They'll do another echo once the fluid is off, and before she comes off the vent to check the mitral valve, and see whether its going to be an issue.

I believe that's all I have to report at this time. We are so thankful that Alynna is having a lot more "good days," and know that answered prayers are the reason for that!

Thank you all!

Love,
Matt, Jacelyn and Alynna

~Wednesday, July 29, 2009 2:13 PM, CDT

Not much to report today - all seems to be going well... They are SLOWLY weaning Alynna off the two heart medicines, as long as she tolerates it. Her BP has been in the 60's most of the day. This morning when I came in the doctors were rounding and the critical care doctor said he thought she looked even better than she did yesterday and asked what I thought - I told him w/ 7 doctors around her I hadn't really gotten to look at her yet! :) She does look better though, the only obvious swelling is in her belly. Last time I checked she had had 10 cc's more out than in. 150 to go! We're back to saying potty prayers to get this fluid off!

Echo looked pretty much the same... Still has some mitral regurgitation, and has a tiny leak where they repaired the VSD during her first operation. Said it was nothing earth-shattering and would probably just treat with medication. Overall heart function was pretty good though.

Other than that, not much to report. She's been sleeping quite a bit today, but was up for a while this morning. Mom and I just finished watching "While You Were Sleeping".. it seemed appropriate!

Please continue to pray for this sweet little life who has already impacted so many. We are truly blessed to have her in our lives, and can't wait to get her home and watch her grow.

Love,
Matt, Jacelyn & Alynna
~Thursday, July 30, 2009 2:10 PM, CDT

I can't believe Alynna is 1 month old today!! The doctors expect us to be here until at least mid to late August.. Siiiigh.. All my time off from the hospital will be spent at a hospital! Can't wait to bring this little girl home though!

Alynna has been doing really well today. I got a note from Nurse Colie (the night nurse).. "Jacelyn, We totally partied all night long! Alynna was awake from about midnight to 4 am. She was happy and wide-eyed"... I'm going to have to bring Nurse Colie home w/ us since she apparently likes to party a little more than I do! :) I got to give Alynna a bath last night and then we put her on the pretty new blanket Nurse Colie bought her, which she looks adorable on. We tried to tame her hair, and Colie looked for a bow - both were failures though.
As for changes with Alynna - today they've decreased her Fentanyl drip (for pain), the Dopamine and Milrinone (for BP), and increased her breast milk. Even with decreasing her BP meds she has been running mid to upper 60's...They're happy as long as she stays above 60.. which she has. The doctor came in a took out one of her chest tubes and her RA. Yay!! So she's down to one chest tube, pacer wires, the line in her groin, the line in her wrist, and the vent. A couple of steps closer to holding her!! Its been waaaaay too long.

I believe thats all the news I have for now!

Love ya'll bunches!

My plan was to get on here this weekend and do all the updates of whats been going on and an update all the awesome progress sweet little Alynna has made. But as I sit here with a saddened heart and tears pouring down my face I am asking for prayers for this family and friends. Little Alynna coded last night, this time God has called her home. I will post later all the progress that Alynna made the past two weeks so people can read and see Gods work but right now I am just heartbroken and can't really even see the computer screen. So please keep this family in your prayers.

Prayers Needed

I am asking for prayers for a sweet little girl named Alynna. Alynna Faith is the daughter of one of my friend Jacelyn that I grew up with. I'm going to make this as short at possible,they found out with the first ultrasound they had that there was a heart problem with little Alynna. Alynna was born on June 30th, 7lbs 14oz. and 21 1/2 inches after 30 hours of labor! Just a little over a week old the doctors preformed the surgery to fix her heart. At first they weren't sure if they were going to do one part of the surgery and in a few months come back and do the rest but when they got in there they were able to fix all of it. Things have been going great. They first were told that she wouldn't be coming home for at least two weeks and on Monday, just four days after surgery, that she would possible be moved out ICU on Tuesday and possible go home Friday or Saturday. Today Alynna coded at 6am and the doctors have no idea why. She was put on life support and went back to surgery. Now its just a waiting game. The surgeon told them that Alynna has a 10-20% chance of pulling through. I KNOW God has a testimony for this little girl and her family and I don't believe the percents that doctors give us. So I'm asking you to pray for this little girl and her family. Please send this and repost for others to pray for Alynna and her family.


If anyone wants to know Alynnas whole story, here it is. (Jacelyn or Jace is Alynnas mom, Matt is Alynnas dad; Darla and Mike are the grandparents since all of them write posts on Alynna)
~**February 12, 2009
Most of you have heard our upsetting news by now, but for those who haven't - here's the scoop. Thursday we went in for a routine 20 week ultrasound. 45 minutes into the scan I had a horrible feeling something was wrong b/c they kept focusing on the heart, and getting new techs to come back and see. My doctor finally came back after an hour of scanning and told us that there were some heart abnormalities and that she wanted us to see a doctor upstairs, and the pediatric cardiologist. I was sent up to Dr. Fitzpatrick for another ultrasound. 2 1/2 hrs later he was able to see me and he scanned for what seemed to be an eternity. At 6:15 (my initial appt. started at 1), both doctors came in to talk to us. They said they believe the baby has a hole between the upper two chambers of the heart, another hole between the lower two chambers, and the vessels that feed into the lower two are flip-flopped. They suggested an amnio w/in the next two weeks to see if this was caused by a chromosomal abnormality, but Matt and I decided against that b/c even if that were the case, we're not gonna love this baby any less.
**Other than the heart abnormalities, everything looks good - baby weighs 12 oz. We told the techs we didn't wanna know the sex of the baby. When she got around to measuring the legs the tech said, "It's a good thing you don't wanna know, b/c it has its little hand down there covering the "privates"... Matt now thinks its a girl, b/c a boy would be proudly displaying his goods :)

We go back to Dr. Fitzpatrick in 3 weeks for another ultrasound, to Dr. Cave in 4 weeks for a regular appointment, and Dr. Morera (the pediatric cardiologist) in 6 weeks.

After many tears and prayers we are leaning on God to get us through this. I'm praying for a miracle, and know God has the power to provide!

At church the sermons have been on the Power of Prayer. This morning's message was applying the power - "The Power to Heal"... I looked at the title and leaned over to Matt and said, "Just so ya know, I probably won't make it through the message w/o crying" :)

Just a few points that were extra meaningful in our situation:
-Our connection to God does not provide us an immunity to troubles.
-God has the power to heal even when our hope is diminished!!!!!!!
-We have the opportunity of impacting others through the power of God's healing.
-I have to be ready to praise the One who can heal.

and most importantly:
I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR GOD!!!!!!

So I thank you all for all your prayers, and ask that you continue to do so. God will heal my sweet little baby, I have faith in that :)

Love,
Jacelyn, Matt & Baby P

~TUESDAY MARCH 10TH.......The doctor now believes both of the great vessels are feeding into the right side of the heart only - instead of being flip-flopped as he originally thought. He said the prognosis was generally pretty good for this condition. We didn't really learn anything new other than that. (Mom said God has only gotten around to getting one of the vessels in the right place, but is working on the other ;) We go to Dr. Morera on the 30th, and he will make the final diagnosis. He will determine where we need to deliver, whether he is comfortable w/ the baby to be able to be delivered here - or if it needs to be in Indy.

Everything else with the babe looked good - weighs 1 lb 9 oz... (I've been feeding it well!) All the other internal organs looked normal. The baby was being a stinker when the tech was trying to get us a profile shot - arms over the head and playing with its feet (apparently its a gymnast!!) She did manage to get us a pretty good 4-D face shot. Matt says it looks like me, I've already apologized to it! :)

Before the appointment I prayed (and prayed, and prayed, and prayed) that we didn't learn anything WORSE than we'd already been given, and that I could handle it. Mission accomplished! I continue to pray for a miracle, b/c ultimately I trust God more than any doctor to take care of my baby. (Sorry docs!)

Please continue to pray for Baby P - I think it likes all the attention ;)

-Love Matt, Jacelyn, and Baby P

~*** UPDATE - MARCH 30, 2009 ****

We went to Dr. Morera today for an echocardiogram of Baby P's heart. The appointment started off well, he kept saying everything looked good, and even made the comment that he didn't know what the other doctors had seen. Then he got quiet and said he wasn't going to say anything until he knew for sure... Soooo, an hour and 1/2 later he explained exactly what he had seen (which was pretty well what Dr. Fitpatrick had said a couple of weeks ago.)

Baby P has a Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV). A DORV is a very rare congenital heart defect in which both the pulmonary artery and the aorta  -- known as the great vessels -- arise from the right ventricle. Normally, only the pulmonary artery that carries blood to the lungs for oxygen arises from the right ventricle. The aorta, which carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the body, normally arises from the left ventricle.

Typically, some form of surgery is used to correct the defects from DORV. Although the surgical procedures vary, they all share the same basic goal: connecting the left ventricle to the aorta while keeping the pulmonary artery connected with the right ventricle.

Dr. Morera would prefer if we deliver in Indy at Riley's, just so surgeons would be immediately available in the event that they are needed. He said normally surgery can be put off for at least a few weeks.

We continue to pray, and hope that you all will to. My hope is that God gets so tired of everyone praying for Baby P that he will finally be like, "FINE.. I'll take care of it!!" :) Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!!

-Love Matt, Jacelyn, & Baby P

~** May 18, 2009 - Appointment at Riley's/IU

Thank you all for continuing to pray for Baby P! Today we headed to Indy for our appointments with the OB for an ultrasound and the pediatric cardiologist for another echo. We got a tour of the facilities where we would deliver, and where the baby would be "whisked away" to for stabilization and further procedures. The neonatologist told me I would probably not even get a peak at the baby before it was rushed off for evaluation and stabilization - but would be brought to me for a "brief visit" before being taken to Riley NICU for an x-ray and echo to determine the exact plan of action.

We then went for an echo of Baby P's heart. The cardiologist believes the vessels are normally aligned, just shifted to the right ventricle (as previously thought). There is still a large hole in between the ventricles, but that is a good thing and will allow baby's blood to mix w/ enough oxygen to breathe outside the womb. W/ some heart defects the doctors have to put baby on a medication which keeps the baby's blood/oxygen flow as it is in the womb, but Baby P will NOT be dependent on this med and should be stable w/o. :) :) :) They said the only thing that might need to be done immediately is to band the pulmonary artery to constrict it enough to keep the baby from breathing too fast and burning too many calories, and in turn not gaining enough weight. The banding will enable them to put off the open heart surgery (to repair the hole and move the vessel to the left ventricle) until the baby is around 1 year old. (Another blessing).

Other good news - the chambers are all good sized, the vessels look good, and all the blood is circulating to the limbs properly.

Baby P weighs 5 lbs :) - and they have scheduled me for induction on Monday, June 29.

We sure can't wait to meet this little one.. and continue to pray for God's healing hands on Baby P!

Love Matt, Jacelyn and Baby P!

God Bless!
~SHE'S HERE!!
Alynna Faith is here! 7lbs 14oz and 21 1/2 inches long!!
im sure Jace and Matt will want to tell you more so i will let them tell ya everything!!
thanks for all the prayers and please keep them coming!

~Hello everyone-- the cardiologists just came in to tell us how the heart cath went. She tolerated the procedure well with only a small glitch that they really couldn't figure out why it happened, but they fixed it right away with a little bit of adrenaline and 100% oxygen. They enlarged the hole in her heart in order for the blood to mix better -- they'll close it later, but this was an easy way to accomplish a short-term fix for her problem. Also -- good news -- no coarctation, so that won't have to be fixed (that would have meant an additional surgery for l'il Lynnie). What they did find was a form of DORV, but one that is treated similar to transposition of the great vessels. So those will have to be switched. The information they gleaned from the cath added to the information they got from the echos will be discussed by a team of surgeons and then a plan will be made to fix it all with open heart surgery. Doc said she was big enough in size so they may do it as soon as next week.

We are so proud of little Alynna. She pulled through the "glitch" immediately, and she was also able to be off the breathing tube right after the procedure. Many times they are returned to the nursery still on the vent, but Alynna started breathing on her own as soon as they were finished. Go, Lynnie-Boo!

Mike and I were able to go into the nursery and pray over her right before they took her down. The cardiologist had just read all the possible complications as a result of the cath. We quickly asked God to put a big X across anything that ~could~ happen
bad. I must say we were all calm and collected the whole time she was down there.

Ok recap: they'll switch the arteries and close the hole in one surgery. (we think) May be as soon as next week. Would probably do it now but hey, its a Holiday - right?

We think Alynna will be able to eat today for the first time! They'll start with a feeding tube but Jace should be able to feed her soon.

Thanks again for all the prayers, thoughts and concerns, offers of help and spreading the word for more prayers! As Jacelyn would say -- keep it up, we think Alynna likes the attention.

Love,
dj

~Hi all - thank you all for continuing to pray for Alynna. She's been doing amazingly well! She's scheduled for surgery Thursday morning. They still haven't decided whether they will make the full repair, or just do the PA banding to buy them a few months until she is bigger. They've prepared us for what she will look like post-op.. although I'm sure it will still be tough for us to see her hooked to so much stuff! We're just asking for prayers for a successful surgery and that Alynna come through like a rock star like she has been!

They'll take her back at 7:30 to prep, and surgery will begin a couple of hours later - lasting 4-6 hours if they do total repair.

Thanks again! We'll update as soon as we can!

Love,
Matt, Jacelyn and Baby----Alynna!!!

~PRAISE REPORT...Several are asking how to pronounce Alynna - its "Uh lin Uh"... an "uh" on each end. lol. K. Now for the good news. They are finished with the surgery and the doc feels it went well. Her heart is pumping again on its own. They are leaving the sternum open for now in case they have to go back in and tweak things. Right now they are doing an echo to see if things are rolling the way they need to be (my term, sorry - I'm no med student - prob should have said flowing, huh). Soon she will be moved to recovery and that may take a couple of hours - then we get to see her. She'll be on the vent for probably a week, then another week of recovery and stabilization before she gets to come home. If anyone's counting, that makes a full month at the hospital.

So folks - if you are in conflict with anyone you love -- make amends now. Don't sweat the small stuff. Put pettiness where it belongs and live every day to the fullest.
We are so blessed! Thanks for the prayers!

~July 13 (Jacelyn)
Alynna is doing great - Docs plan to move her out of ICU as soon as tomorrow, and are talking of discharge Friday or Saturday (possibly).... Oh, and I got to hold her tonight for the first time since surgery! :)

Today (Wednesday) Posts
~Our little Alynna has had a major set-back and we need everyone to pray like never before. She 'coded' around 6:00 am this morning, and they are taking her to surgery as I write--to put her on life support. They aren't sure, but there could be brain damage. Darla said that if they didn't see any brain activity in the next two days, they will have another difficult decision to make. Please, please pray! Pray for Alynna and pray for the family. Mike and Matt had to come back Sunday to work this week, and they are on their way back to Indy now. Pray for them a safe trip also. Thank you so much!! We will keep you informed........With God NOTHING is impossible!!!!!!!

~Alynna is still in the operating room but she is on life support now, holding her own. Surgeon just met with us and said her heart looks good - the main concern now is if there has been brain damage. Said she will probably get worse before she gets better and may have some seizures. She will require at least 3 more surgeries if/when she gets off life support. They do not know what caused this - they don't think it was a cardiac event.

Mike and Matt made it here just before the surgeon came in to talk to us.

Jacelyn continues to just cry her eyes out -- as we all are, really. Thank you for your prayers. We still believe in miracles and we hope and pray we are granted one in this situation.

~Alynna is in her room. Doc has said it is just a waiting game now. I say it is just a praying time. God can heal this precious one. All grandparents are here now. We know we have the support of everyone back home and they are spreading the word we need a miracle for little Alynna.

They still have no idea why or how this happened. At least she was right here at the hospital when it did and we just have to believe that no brain damage has occured. That is our prayer along with the rest of her body to heal.

We are doing pretty well considering the news we've been dealt. Scott or Gretchen had a big tray of Jimmy John's subs.etc sent to us No one wanted to eat but I urged everyone to keep their head up and their faith high - told them it wasn't helping Alynna for our faces to look like we had no hope. So everyone ate and I think felt a little better.

Keep Praying for us and the staff here atRiley to know what to do.

Love,
Lynnie-Boo's lovedones

~PRAISE REPORT!!! Alynna opened her little eyes, moved her little limbs, and her head! They had to sedate her because she was trying to pull out tubes. Miracles! Thank you for your prayers, friends. Keep praying for more miracles. The surgery this morning was to insert full life support...the upcoming surgeries will be to remove them..
this morning lil Alynna coded and her heart stopped beating on its own..they put her on life support but the paragraph above shows that she is one lil trooper and that she is a true miracle of Gods work and proof that there is power in prayer and i know i say it all the time but she sure is making a believer out of me!!!!...thanks for the prayers i m sure Jace Matt and especially Alynna Faith is grateful!!

~ AS OF 7 PM WED. Friends -- I am humbled by the response and promises to pray for our precious grandchild. I know many of you are staying on your knees all day long. We feel the prayers and have had some positive news: Alynna has been opening her eyes and moved her limbs and head "in a good way" they said. She was trying to pull out wires, so they had to sedate her. Her nurse says she has very little bleeding for someone with an open chest, so that is also good news. The 'numbers' that are supposed to be going up are going up and the one which are supposed to be going down are doing that as well. I have been in to see her three times. She's such a beauty. Her color is good -- can't say that for this morning, for sure -- wow, that was a very scary sight for these grandma eyes. There are so many Christians here at the hospital -- most of Jacelyn and Alynna's nurses acknowledged their faith (even before baby had this setback) and a little bit ago a doctor was standing at Alynna's door and prayed with Jacelyn. The Chaplain has been by a few times and Matt and Jace's pastor from Newburgh was here with us this afternoon.

The surgeon has told us she had a 10-20% chance of pulling through this --- some of the nurses and physicians in the room while Alynna was coding did not even agree that she should be put on life support, but that we should just let her go. I'm thinking all those people do NOT believe in God --- yet. Alynna has already touched so many lives during her 15 days of life -- I imagine God has greater plans for her yet.

We cannot know how long this process will take. And they don't know what caused her to code. They had just taken a chest xray a bit before it happened and the xray looked fine. The doctor doesn't think this was a cardiac event and he says while she was in surgery he was able to determine there has been no damage to her heart. Right now she is on the life support because her heart would not pump on its own, and even if it could now, it needs to rest, along with her lungs. The machine she is on is called an ECMO. I'll have to google it b/c I couldn't remember what all it stands for.

I hope this answers some of the questions that are surfacing for so many of our friends and prayer warriors. I will update as I get news --- we are expecting it to be good news, because we serve a Good God.

All for his glory,
Mike and Darla
Matt and Jacelyn
Lynnie- Boo

The Boys Check-Ups

On Monday, Blaine had his five year/kindergarten check-up and Bryce had is 4 month check-up. I have been anticipating this for a few months now wondering how it would go.
Bryce is 14lbs and is 27in long! Which in his weight he is in the 38th percentile and his length he is greater than the 97th percentile! He is doing great. He already rolls over...all the time, he is constantly smiling and giggling and I am so blessed to have a really happy baby. We are still dealing with reflex and the hydrocele hasn't gotten any better but those are minor issues. On his 6 month check-up we might have an ultrasound done to see if it really is hydrocele or if he has other issues so we will see. I got the go ahead to start cereal feedings and work our way up to first foods. So next week we will start cereal.He flirted with all the ladies there and I got a lot of compliments on how adorable and how good he was which makes any moms day to hear that!
Poor Blaine, he's five year old check up didn't go according to plan. Blaine has really bad reactions to bug bites. Even with bug spray on, the bugs find the one place you didn't spray and end up biting him there. On Sunday he came home from his dad's (where it was nice outside and he swam and played outside all weekend) and he ended up getting chigger bites all over especially in his underwear region. So when we went to the doctor for a check up he also had other issues as well. He has balanitis again from chigger bites, fluid behind his ears, and he is also has some wheezing in his chest that could be from allergies or he might be developing asthma.
On the check up side he is growing so much. He is 43lbs and is 46in which in the beginning of May when Blaine graduated preschool he has a little over 43in tall. So in little over a month he has grown 3in! Blaine was not thrilled with the 4 shots that he had to get. He actually cried worse than Bryce did. Blaine didn't mind shots until he was 2 years old and he had to have a rocephin(antibiotic) shot and if anyone has ever had one of those even adults tear up with that shot. The antibiotic is very thick and it takes at least 10 seconds to inject plus it hurts going in and I can speak from experience. So ever since then, ever time he goes to see the doctor he tells her "no shots and no needles!" We also didn't realize until we were getting ready to leave that he had to have a TB skin test and an urinalysis. So that meant another needle and Blaine really did not like that one bit but he did good. On to the urinalysis, Blaine had already went to the bathroom so we only got a small sample and when we did it showed that he had a large amount of blood and protein in his urine. So we had to get another sample so they could send it off for microscopic examination. On Tuesday I got the phone call with the results which we were all surprised at the results. He had small amount of blood this time, large amount of protein and to keep it simple for everyone he had a large to moderate amount of crystals in his urine. The type of crystals they found are those indicative of kidney stones. So they are sending him to a urologist on Tuesday to see if they can find out what is going on. Please pray for him that God will heal him. I will keep everyone posted on what the urologist has to say.

This is what happens...

when your mom decides to eat a chocolate chip cookie while she holds you when your sleeping!!!

Bryce

I forgot to post that Bryce officially rolled over today while he was getting his pictures done today. He is getting so big so fast! I can't believe he is already 11 weeks old!

Family Pics, Blaines 5yr and Bryces 3mo pictures

We had family pictures done today and I must say it went great. I thought it was going to be a nightmare. Last night I kept praying, please let the pictures go awesome and the boys would be calm and behaved and that we would get good pictures. Well it did! It went awesome, the boys smiled all the time, Blaine sat still and listened (for once). I was completely stress free! I'm just going to post a few pictures on here but go to thehappeningsattheminkshouse.shutterfly.com and see the rest of them.

Since I have a hard time deciding which pictures to post (which I'm sure none of you couldn't tell that due to the amount that I post plus I'm the most indecisive person ever) I created an account at shutterfly to post a lot of my pictures. It should be a lot easier for me since I spend a lot of time on the computer uploading pictures to family members, and it takes a lot of time to do that. Also the can order the pictures they want and I don't have to guess which ones they would like. So if anyone would like to check it out it is thehappeningsattheminkshouse.shutterfly.com I will keep posting pictures on here but I will be putting a lot more on there.

All this week Blaine has been refering to Dustin as Dust. I'm not sure what brought on this nickname but all week it has been, Hey Dust this and Dust whatcha doin? So I'm think that Dustin now has another nickname besides Dusty, which is what most of his family refers to him as. He is also on the kick of calling Bryce, Brycey. I'm kind of curious of what he is going to come up with next.

Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks.















My Boys; One with beautiful blue eyes and the other with gorgeous chocolate brown eyes!

Zoo Trip

Last Wednesday Lois and I took the kids to the zoo. They had a blast!

Our One Year Anniversary

Sunday is our one year anniversary, so yesterday Dustin and I took the boys and we went to Louisville to eat at Joe's Crab Shack for our anniversary. I had only been there once years ago and Dustin hadn't ever been so we decided to celebrate our anniversary yesterday instead of Sunday, which is our actually anniversary, because Sunday is Mother's Day and it would be really busy and hard to get anywhere to eat. We all really loved it. I found out that Blaine really loves seafood. He had the popcorn shrimp and corn on the cob. For an appetizer we order calamari and great balls of fire, which is jalapenos, shrimp, and crab in a ball. It was delicious. I had a pasta dinner with shrimp and it was awesome. Dustin had one of their new stem pots. This was one of the first times that I didn't have to keep getting on to Blaine to eat his food. He cleaned his whole plate and also ate calamari, some of my food and kept eating Dustin's crab legs then he ate ice cream.

After we ate we drove around for a while and showed Blaine to Louisville Slugger Stadium and next to that there was a skate park and we stopped there for a few minutes to let Blaine watch. We went to the Bass Pro Shop and walked around for a while. When we walked in the expression on Blaines face was priceless. He was so excited. It made my day to see that expression, he was just in awe of all the stuff they had. On our way home we stopped at Culver's and had ice cream.

Blaine and Bryce were great all day. It was a great day and a great one year anniversary.








The waiter put the bib on. HEHEHE... Blaine kept telling him he had a baby bib on.LOL