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On May 4, 2009, Josh and I discovered that our soon to be little girl, due on August 25th, would be born with a CHD known as HLHS (hypo-plastic left heart syndrome). Upon hearing "something is wrong with your baby's heart" our lives changed completely. Our little Ruth Elizabeth was brought into this world on August 18, 2009. She was delivered via c-section and rushed immediately from Barnes to Childrens' Hospital for a cardiac cath intervention. Her arial septum was reopened and a week later, Ruthie underwent her first open heart surgery, the Norwood. Unfortunately, Ruthie was not able to survive on her Norwood heart and the Glenn procedure would not work for her. Ruthie was placed on the heart transplant list Feb.3, 2010. After waiting in SLCH, Ruthie received a new heart on July 5, 2010. We are so humbly blessed to receive this gift of life. We now are on the road to recovery. We have had our ups and downs. We have become SLCH regulars due to countless hospital stays and ER visits. We are learning how to manage life outside of SLCH and with another little girl. Now that we have two children, we are learning the about being a heart FAMILY.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Oh happy day!

The past few days have been going fine here for Ruthie. Occasionally she needs a bolus to help her stay calm, but overall no really big changes..... Until today!

Besides waiting for a heart, we have been waiting for Ruth to have a bowel movement. It has been 9 days since her last one. The doctors were a little concerned but they felt she just needed rest and time. After 7 sopositories (that I recall) over the past week, it finally happen:) Last night around midnight we had success! Whew! What a relief! However, Ruth was not done! At 4 am round two appeared for nurse Cassie to endure. Awesome! I never thought I would be so excited about poo. I mean seriously, when a nurse says "Ruth had two big poopies for me last night" and my reaction is cheering and telling Rue I am so proud, you know it's a big deal!

So what does this BM mean? Oh so much! It means that het bowels are working:) Good news! It means Ruth does not have GI issues. It means her heart can support her stomach! And it means we can start feeds SLOWLY again! 2 mils an hour to be exact ( totally 1.5 oz for the day!) Starting feeds again means we can slowly work on weening the vent. Maybe maybe iif everything keeps getting better, we can extubate. But that goal is still a long way away. However we are going in the right direction! Yay! Dr.Oren, CICU attending said that TON is good, but the gut is much better. So slow feeds here we come:)

Ruthie also has been working that fluid off her little body. She's been peeing non stop, which is excellent because now her swelling has almost disappeared completely. Besides have the tube in, she looks like my little Rue again! Absolutely wonderful!

Oh happy day! I told Josh this morning, if I am this happy with a BM I can't imagine my excitement when she gets her heart! I will be beside myself! I can't wait!

Thank you God for being so good to Ruth! Prayers are truely answered! It's the small victories that make this journey easier to bear. Taking joy in the small things keeps us going! This BM may be a minor thing, but it means so much! Thank you to everyone! Thank you for thinking about Ruth, for praying for Ruth and for being such a huge support system. Rejoice today! We have climbed another mountain successfully!

Oh happy day! Oh happy day in deed!

In other news, Derrick is doing great. He is getting close to coming off that icky fat free diet.
Lorenzo is getting closer to going home. They hope to pull the chest tube today. Fingers crossed.
Cameron is waiting on another heart cath. He is getting do big!
And Jacob who is waiting to make his big appearance!
Pray for them and their families! They each have their own highs and lows, but they all are amazing.

Heart hugs!
Laura
Heart Hugs from on

2 comments:

  1. Wodzisz FamilyFebruary 11, 2010 at 9:34 AM

    As a heart mom, I can understand the cheers for bowel movements and praying for pee. Isn't it amazing what we have taken for granted in the past. I never worry/worried about my other kids weight, bowel movements, or pee and now I can't think of much else.

    I am keeping Ruth in my thoughts and prayers!

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  2. ..................................................................................March 9, 2010 at 3:50 PM

    Hey Laura- I love your blog- Ruthie is so sweet! I just started a blog today, http://mommys-mayhem.blogspot.com/

    Keep strong! :)

    Sara Jones

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