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