Friday, September 17, 2010

September 12, 2010 Update

Here is an update for you on our three girls. Miss Brenna’s surgery on Thursday (9/10) to insert a drain into her abdomen went as well as we could hope. She is slowly recovering, but is heavily medicated at this point. The tube seems to be doing its job, they have not detected any gasses in her abdomen after several days of x-rays. It will still be another 5-7 days before we know what’s next. We are praying for poopies. This will indicate no blockage in the bowel and a successful procedure. About a week from now, they will give her some dye to track through her digestive system to look for potential narrow/blockages of her bowel, which could result in more surgery. Pray that Miss Brenna continues to improve. She has been weaned from much of the support she needed immediately after surgery, and has started moving around and opening her eyes for mommy and daddy. She’s still not herself, and we anxiously await her return to normal.
Friday brought tough news for Miss Anna and Miss Lucy, and Mommy and Daddy. After a night of keeping the nurses busy with erratic oxygen levels and heart rates, the girls had a visit from the cardiologist. Ultrasounds revealed both little girls have a condition known as PDA. A small valve outside their heart has failed to close on its own, and has begun to pass blood into their lungs. Normally this valve closes on its own at birth. This means our babies will require a surgical procedure to clamp off this valve. We are meeting with the cardiac surgeon early Monday morning, and the surgeries will follow Monday afternoon. We have been told it is a common procedure for micro-preemies, but terrifying for Mommy and Daddy none the less. There will be a few days of recovery during which time, the girls will be separated and sedated. Mommy and Daddy are very much enjoying watching them move around right now, as we know it will be the last for a few days. Pray for Miss Anna and Miss Lucy they come out of their surgery well and recover quickly.
Monday will also bring follow up head ultrasounds to check for any additional swelling. Currently, the doctors and nurses can’t detect any visual signs of swelling, but only an ultrasound will tell. A telling sign is an increase in head circumference and inflammation of the soft spot, which they have not seen. We are constantly praying the bleeding has receded. Pray for the girls they have no additional swelling.
As you can tell, we are still in desperate need of your prayers and support. The girls are fighting with all their tiny hearts, and Mommy and Daddy are so proud of our little warriors. Every day seems to bring a new challenge, we pray for the day things start to turn around and we can be a family. We have learned to cherish the little victories. Miss Lucy has been move off of the high intensity ventilator and we both got to experience the miracle of holding your baby for the first time, for the third time. She is very much a cuddler, and we wish we could have held her all day long. But she needs her rest for tomorrow. We were also able to hold Miss Anna again today. I can’t describe what it’s like to feel her little heart against ours. Holding them makes you forget everything else for that hour, and we don’t ever want to give the girls back to the nurse.
We are still working on finding time to get the blog up and going. We have managed to get some pictures on facebook, so if you would like to see them, and you have an account, send Angie or I a request. One last note, my mother is also having surgery Monday morning, as well and Angie’s Uncle Sherman later in the week. Also Angie’s parent’s neighbor Ann suffered a brain aneurism this weekend, and is in the hospital. All three could use some prayers sent their way as well. Thank you again for all of the support and prayers. We are humbled and grateful for the amount of love shown to our family. Please know if you have tried calling, emailing, visiting, etc, and haven’t had a response, it’s not because we don’t appreciate it. We have had many rough days, and it is difficult to focus on anything except our babies.
In His name,
Brad, Angie, Anna, Brenna, and Lucy Kamps

No comments:

Post a Comment