Frost Family Faces

Elizabeth had her Surgery on Saturday April 21st, 3 days after she was born.  Now the next step for her was to heal.  That was going to be a long road for this strong little girl, but she amazed me, and all the staff at how well, and how fast she healed.  She's a strong girl. 

This is what she looked like after surgery.  Her eyes are open but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's alert.  She was on a lot of pain meds.  And even if she was in pain, she couldn't cry because of the ventilator in her mouth and lungs helping her remember how to breath.

The next big step for Elizabeth was to get her ventilation tube out.  Until that happened (and a few other things) we couldn't hold her.  On Tuesday April 24th, I went in to PICU and found that she had failed yet another test where they turn off the ventilator and see if she can breathe on her own.  She usually only would last about 20 min before the machine would have to kick back on.  They decided to try again in a few hours and this time I was there to talk to her and tickle her and try to help her remember.  Well...she lasted longer, but I couldn't stand at the foot of her bed all the time and tickle her toe to get her to remember to breath, so the nurses decided to wait another day and let her rest.  It was very disappointing.
The next day, Wednesday we had an interview that morning for a charity telethon that was being broadcast in a couple of months and when we got to Elizabeth's bed she was awake and alert and was going strong on another ventilator test.  After the interviewers left, they had her go for another 15 min.  I had to and pump.  When I came back, they were getting ready to take her off the ventilator!  
That first cry after the ventilator came out was like waiting to hear her cry all over again when she was born.  It was the most amazing sound ever! 

These pictures are a couple of days apart, but once the ventilator was out, she started making a lot more progress.  By Friday she got her pacemaker wires (just in case, but they were never used) out, and an IV that went to her heart (in case they needed to get meds there fast) and then I was able to hold her!








They also told us that they would be moving her up to the recovery floor and out of PICU!  (I loved all the nurses and staff down there...absolutely amazing people!


Check out her incision!  Its healing so well


 
And daddy got to hold her too!



Moving her on up to 'The Floor'!


Getting comfortable after her move upstairs...

My Grandma was able to hold her on her way up to Wyoming for a wedding...

This is Kellee, she was one of my favorite nurses there...

I love her little feet.  The light is from the oxygen saturation sensor...

Add your own caption...

Ariana!  She'll be a handful when Elizabeth comes home...

Ethan was so excited to hold her.  He was practically giddy!  I wish I could have gotten how excited he really was on camera!

And Ella got a turn too!

Grandpa Gough...

And Grandma Gough... (who was a complete life saver for three weeks!)

I got this picture to show her weight gain progress...

Uncle Dustin was up for a Soccer tournament and got to hold Elizabeth.

I'm going where!  Then they told us the good news!  Elizabeth was well enough to go home.  We a lot of education on how to care for her.  We had to learn and pass CPR, learn, and actually place her feeding tube, know how to give her meds through her feeding tube and how to care for her incision.  She also had to pass her car seat test which she did...twice (once with oxygen) then she realized she really didn't need the oxygen so they gave her another test without oxygen...

All ready to go home!

Ready to go!

Happy mommy and daddy!

We didn't get home until late Thursday night, So when Ethan came into our room and saw Elizabeth he was so excited!  He wanted her to be home so bad!

and Ella gets to hold her too!

It was a good thing they gave us the feeding tube education because 3 days after we got home, Elizabeth ripped out her tube.  We put it back in, and all was well, and put socks on her hands.  Then a week later, she did it again...yeah, good thing we knew how to do that. 

It's been an interesting experience having this baby home.  I don't get as much sleep as with other newborns becuase I give her her feed, then I have to pump and by the time that's all over, its been 3 hours and I have to feed her again, and then pump again so my naps are for like 30 min. here and there. 

But, we are very grateful to have her home, and doing so well and is so healthy!  She has a home health nurse come about once a week, and then we go the her pediatrician once a week, but every time she gets an exam, she has good oxygen, her heart sounds good and her incision is healing nicely.  We are so grateful for this little package that has given us such huge blessings.  She is a very special little girl and our own miracle baby.  Miracles have followed us continually on this path that she's on and we are so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers prayers, sends comfort and especially sends us angels both in this world and out that lifts us to higher planes and brings us so much peace and inspiration.

Her surgery was scheduled for Saturday April 21st.  We were able to spend some time with her, and I was even able to feed her a little (a very little) before the surgery.  They could give her 5 cc's (about the equivalent of a tablespoon) every two hours until 2 am before the surgery.  I relished every one of those feedings.  It was a delightful feeling being able to feed my daughter!


This is technically her 2nd bottle...but it was wonderful too!


Grandpa Gough...Yup she's crying :)  But it's a wonderful sound!


Grandpa Frost got a turn too...

We stayed at the hospital until about 12:00 Friday night.  Charles, my Dad, Charles' Dad, and Travis all helped to give her a very special blessing.  Then I got one, and Charles got one.  They were very comforting.

The morning of the surgery, Charles and I got there by 6:30 am.  The surgery was scheduled for 8:00 am, but we wanted as much time as possible with our precious baby. 

We each held her and kissed her and snuggled her, then the Dr. came in and explained a little more about the surgery and what to expect for the next 6-8 hours and then we signed the release form, and they let us walk next to her as they wheeled her down to surgery. 


It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do to let her go.  She was so precious!  So little!  How could a tiny baby be able to undergo this kind of extensive surgery!  We went to the waiting room and I just sat and cried! 
And we waited. 
There would be phone calls to the waiting room from time to time and everything they said was that things were going well.  The most important part came two hours before the surgery was over, and after the repairs were over as they let the blood off the biopsy machine and back into her little body.   They had to make sure things were working properly. 
I had come back from pumping about an hour earlier, and I knew I had to take my milk down to the freezer in the CICU.  As I walked slowly down the hall, the prayed (again) and the distinct thought came to me.  "Don't worry, I got it".  I felt very peaceful and then I heard the doors open behind me and the doctor walked out toward the waiting room.  I immediately turned around and followed him and made it just in time for him to tell us that the surgery was completely successful!
I immediately started crying and everyone else either sat there completely happy or cried along with me.  My mom and dad, Charles' mom and dad Uncle Mike and Aunt Melanie and Charity were there.  They were all such a great support. 
We said a very heartfelt prayer of gratitude, then I excused myself to go and (finally) put my milk away.  In the process I was going to see if I could see her, which I did.  I called Charles and he came down to the room too.
I just sat there crying and staring at this beautiful strong baby girl!


Walking back to the waiting room. 

I stayed at the hospital all day on Sunday.  Elizabeth did great!  She looked so good.  She had a long road of recovery to go, but she started off on the right foot.  We are so grateful for the power of the priesthood and for the power of prayer, and for the power of faith!  What an amazing blessing we've received through this miracle!

Sorry everyone!  This post has been a long time coming, but I've not been in an emotional frame of mind to sit down and blog lately.  However, today I found I had a half hour before I have to go to an appointment, so I decided to get some of this documented.  Bear in mind, I have almost a half of a notebook full of all the details, but I'll spare you most of them and just get to the meat of the story..

Labor and delivery:
I woke up at 5:15am Wednesday the 18th (my due date) to contractions that were long, hard but still really far apart.  By 9:15, they were coming at 2.5 min. apart and were still long and hard.  By 9:45, Charles and I were on our way to the hospital...and with every contraction I felt the urge to push.  We got to the hospital at 10:00, swapped vehicles with my mother-in-law (Ella and Ariana were in the van with us), she whisked away the kids, and Charles and I made our way in.  We checked in quickly, and I slowly walked down the hall to a delivery room.  Painfully slowly, I got into a gown, and got checked, I was at a 10, my water was bulging, and I was ready to deliver.  The wonderful nurse helped me focus on my breathing, the doctor was rushed in (Dr. Terry.  My normal OB was in surgery) and at 10:22 I gave birth to my beautiful Elizabeth Faith. 




I nursed her and snuggled and held her for the first hour, then they moved me up to recovery.  We were up there a half an hour when they said we needed to go down to the nursery to give her a bath and to give her a physical.  



Charles said that when they got down there, they realized her oxygen saturation was low so they gave her some oxygen, but it didn't come up, in fact in continued to fall, so they took her down to NICU for more testing.  Thanks to an observant nurse who said that she just didn't look right, her life was saved and steps were taken to save her sweet life...



Down in the NICU they started doing Echo cardiograms on her heart and discovered that she had Transposition of the Major arteries.  Everything about her was perfect.  She had a strong heartbeat, was breathing well, but the blood was not getting oxygen from the lungs.  The blood from the lungs was staying in the lungs, and the blood from the body was staying in the body.  No matter how much oxygen they gave her, it wouldn't help unless the heart was functioning properly.  They were able to give her some medication to keep the hole open that mixes the blood while she's in the womb and stabilize her until they could get her up the primary children's to take the next step. 



Charles gave her a beautiful blessing before she was transported and we both cried a lot!  She's a strong girl!

Charles went with her up to Primary Children's and it was so hard for me to have to stay behind.  The doctors first procedure was to force open that hole so they fed a line up her leg with a small balloon on the end.  The first procedure failed and it caused a blood clot.  The 2nd procedure was a success and they were able to keep that hole open long enough to stabilize her for surgery a few days later...

The rest of the story on the next post...