Day 5 Recovery

Everett had a very good day. His cardiologist discontinued the telemetry (heart monitor). We were able to take him on a short walk around the unit. We still don't know when Everett will be cleared for discharge or when we will be able to go home. The doctor wants to make sure he eats well and has gained weight. He will also have another X-Ray tomorrow to check the fluid around his heart and lungs. Please pray for the fluid to be gone completely and for Everett to surpass expectations during his feedings. The goal is for him to take 2oz in under 30 minutes. Just now he ate just under 2.5 oz in 20min. He is doing a great job so far! Please continue to pray for healing and for no complications. We are excited at the possibility of being discharged tomorrow but also nervous to leave the doctors and nurses at the hospital. Thank you again for praying. We hope you have a wonderful Easter celebrating Jesus.

Blake&Caroline

Day 4 Recovery

Everett continues to improve every day. We are witnessing God's healing in our little boy and it is amazing. The doctors are not sure yet when we will be able to leave the hospital. We could be discharged as early as Sunday, or it may not be until Tuesday. Everett's chest X-Ray still shows fluid around the lungs that is from surgical trauma. He is getting Lasix to help get rid of all the extra fluid. Please pray for complete healing and for a good report on his X-Ray tomorrow.

Since Everett is doing such a great job taking his bottle, his cardiologist allowed us to remove the NG tube today! Our little handsome man no longer has any tubes or lines connected to his tiny body. Praise the Lord!

Everett still needs to eat well for the next few days and get over the excess fluid before we can head home. It has been very difficult for us to balance our time with both boys. We miss Elijah so much when we can't be with him. Please pray for us. We want to make sure Everett is ready before we head home, but we are very anxious to be all together again. Please pray for that time to be sooner than later.

Today I am reminded of all that our Savior has done for us. This week especially we can see how blessed we are. My heart is overwhelmed by the gifts he has given to Blake and me in our children. We appreciate your continued prayers. They mean so much to us.

Blake&Caroline

Picture of Everett without his NG tube and Eli just because he's cute :)

Day 3 Recovery

This was a busy day for Everett. His pacemaker wires were removed this morning and his IV was removed this afternoon. He had an echo today to make sure that his heart still looks good since surgery. He is eating pretty well today which is a relief. The best news of today was...Everett graduated from the ICU! He was transferred back to the cardiac floor this afternoon and Eli was able to visit. We aren't sure if they missed each other or not, but it was fun having them together again.
Everett's cardiologist told us that he may be discharged this weekend. We have mixed feelings about leaving the hospital. Today, Everett's nurse had me change out his NG (feeding) tube. I was not excited about this task, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. If Everett still needs the NG after we are discharged, we have to be prepared to put one in at home if he pulls it out. Please pray that Everett will continue to take more by mouth and that he won't need the feeding tube anymore. Pray that his pain will decrease and that his body will heal quickly. Everett has some skin breakdown on his neck and face from the tape and betadine used during surgery. Please pray for it to heal quickly and that it will not become infected. We are amazed by the healing that has already occurred so quickly and we know it is God's grace. Everyone here has grown to love little man and we can't say we blame them. He is a pretty special little guy and we feel honored to be his parents. Thank you for praying.

Blake&Caroline

Picture of Everett after the pacemaker wires were removed and of Everett and Eli together again after leaving the ICU

Day 2 Recovery, Part 2

Chest tubes are out! Thank you for praying. So far there are no complications and the X-Ray was clear. I'm holding Everett now for the first time since surgery and it is wonderful!! They did put in a feeding tube and we are about to start feeding him. Please pray that he tolerates the first feeding without throwing up.

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Day 2 Recovery

Everett had a good night. He only needed morphine once and otherwise, his pain was controlled with Tylenol. One of his doctors came by and turned off the pacemaker! His heart rate is fast enough on its own now. They will probably leave the pacing wires in place until tomorrow just to make sure he is okay without them.

Two nurse practitioners just came in to remove his cardiac lines. In 30 minutes, if he has no bleeding complications, they will remove his chest tubes. Please pray that he will not have any complications from either procedure. We can hold him as soon as the chest tubes come out. I can't wait!!

We still don't know for certain when Everett will get to leave the ICU. He has not been interested in eating so he will probably need a feeding tube again. Please pray that he will eat on his own as soon as possible so that he won't need the feeding tube at home.

Our little man is so strong. God has taken care of him throughout this whole experience. We will continue to update you today on his progress. Blake's grandma's funeral is today. We hate that we can't be there to celebrate her life. She is missed so much already. Please pray for Blake's family today.

Blake&Caroline

Day 1 recovery

First we want to thank you again for praying last night. Everett was extubated around 1am and he has been breathing on his own with no problems! He doesn't even need the nasal cannula. The nurse removed his catheter and femoral arterial line (it's like an IV but goes into the femoral artery) this morning. He has had some pain through the night and this morning, but the nurses and doctors are doing a great job of keeping it under control. He is taking Tylenol and morphine. He is waking up off and on but is still drowsy from his medication. We can't hold him until his pacing wires and cardiac lines are removed.

Specific prayer requests for today are: that Everett will continue to heal and recover according to plan, that his chest tubes, cardiac lines, and pacemaker wires can all be removed as soon as possible, and that his pain will remain under control. Please pray that his heart rhythm stays normal and that he will be ready to leave the ICU tomorrow. Please also pray for Elijah. He has been disrupted by all of this chaos but is handling it pretty well. Our families have been taking care of him and giving him lots of love. It is hard to be away from him so much, but we know he is being taken care of.

Blake and I feel so refreshed today and we know it is because God has answered the prayers of so many family and friends. We are humbled by the love you have shown to our son. Our prayer has been that God will be glorified through Everett and it is such a blessing to see him answer that prayer. Blake said to me today that he has never been more proud to be a father than when he saw Everett breathe on his own for the first time last night. God is so good to us. We will continue to update you.

Blake&Caroline

Awake and Off the Vent

Everett was extubated late last night and is breathing well on his own. What an amazing answer to all of our prayers! Thank you Lord!! He even took a bottle. His pain is under control but I can't stand it that he has pain at all. Please continue to pray for his healing and pain. Pray that he will tolerate his feedings and that his strength will increase.

Blake stayed with our little man in the ICU last night so that I could get some sleep. It was so hard to leave him but I knew if I didn't sleep I would collapse and not be able to do anything for him. Please continue to pray for strength-physical and emotional. We have never been more exhausted and we still have a long road ahead in recovery.

Blake&Caroline

ICU Update

Everett is doing well. The surgeon was here about an hour ago to check on him. So far he is progressing exactly the way he should. He has opened his eyes a few times but is still heavily sedated. It breaks our hearts to see him like this but we know he is already on the mend. His heart is working the way it should and we have been assured many times that we will see a dramatic improvement in his activity level and eating habits. It is hard to believe now, but most kids like him will only need Tylenol for pain after the first few days. The doctor removed his central line an hour after he arrived in the ICU and they hope to remove his breathing tube later tonight or tomorrow morning. Please pray that he continues to recover well and that he can be off the ventilator very soon. Pray for rest for all of us who have spent the day on pins and needles. Pray that Everett will not be in pain tonight and that his little body will heal quickly. We are overwhelmed by your love and support. God is holding us up and using all of you to be his hands and feet.

Blake&Caroline

Great News!

Little man is out of surgery and in the ICU. The surgeon said everything went great and he fixed everything. We got to see him and kiss him briefly on his way to ICU. He looks good considering all of the wires and monitors. I will post pictures soon. Thank you so much for praying!

Fourth Update

Praise God! We received word that Everett is off bypass and his heart is beating! I can not begin to describe our joy and relief. He will now have an echo to check to see if the repair was successful. Then they will close him up and put in the chest tubes. Please continue to pray that there are no complications.

Third Update

We just got a call that Everett is still on bypass. We originally thought it would only be 45 min but it has been longer. They called to say he is doing okay but that it's taking longer than they thought. Please please pray that he will be off bypass soon and that there are no complications. This is so hard. We are ready for it to be over!

Second Update

We received word a few minutes ago that Everett is now on the bypass machine. This means that his heart is not beating but a machine is pumping his blood for him. Pray for focus and steady hands for
Dr. Forbess. Pray that Everett's heart will restart without any complications. Pray that there will be no kidney damage from being on bypass and that he will be off of it as soon as possible. Pray that there will not be any arrhythmias caused by the surgery. Thank you.

First Update

We just got a call from Everett's OR nurse. Surgery has just begun and so far baby Everett is doing great! He is already under anesthesia without complications. Praise God. He will be on the heart/lung machine in about 45 min. During that time there will be no updates because Dr. Forbess does not allow any interruptions while he has children on the bypass machine. Thank you as always for praying.

Here We Go

They came to get Everett at 11:00 to take him to Pre-op. we got to carry him down.  We briefly met Dr. Forbess and the anesthesiologist.  They were ready for Everett by 11:45. We are waiting in a family room surrounded by our parents and Blake's brother. We are holding tight to little Eli who is sleeping peacefully.  God has already answered so many prayers. Please don't stop-we feel every one.  We will update you as we get new info.

Hurry Up and Wait

Everett is ready for surgery. We will go down to Pre-Op sometime around 12:00. We got the report from yesterday's echo. It looks like Everett does not have overriding aorta or the malaligned type of VSD. We originally thought he had both so this is a bit of good news although it doesn't change much about the actual surgery. If the VSD was malaligned, the patch would have to be angled. Please continue to pray for peace and rest for baby Everett. Pray that the Lord would give us strength and courage today.

Blake&Caroline

Officially on the Schedule

We were notified late last night that we are officially on the OR schedule as the second case for 1:00pm. This is still tentative based on how long the first case takes. Everett slept well. He is on IV fluids now and will not be allowed to take anymore feedings. We will meet his surgeon and anesthesiologist this morning. Thank you for praying.

Preparing for Surgery

We had a good night last night.  Blake and I were able to lie down at 8:30 and although we didn't sleep long stretches, it was such a blessing to be off our feet all night.  Everett slept great.  He is on tube feedings every 3 hours and each feeding takes 1.5 hours.  He already has much better coloring and his cheeks are filling out again.  Today he got an IV and all of his pre-op labs drawn.  The IV team starts all of the IVs here and Everett's nurse was awesome! She got it on the first try.  Little man screamed a long time and his heart rate went up to 198 which scared us a little. He wore himself out and slept the rest of the morning.  The nurse practitioner met with us and went over the plan for tomorrow. Everett will stop getting feedings at 4:00am and will only have IV fluids after that.  It will be hard to console a hungry infant from 4am until ???- whenever they start surgery.  We are supposed to be ready at 10:00 am to go to pre-op and then Everett will go to the OR from there.  We will be able to walk with him all the way to the door of the OR and then kiss him before they take him from us into surgery.  I'm tearing up now just thinking about how hard it will be to hand him over.  God keeps reminding me that he will never leave Everett and that he will be holding him the entire time.  More capable hands can not be found.

We will wait in the ICU waiting room until he is out of surgery.  We have been told to prepare for 6 hours but it could be as short as 4 hours.  We will try to update everyone tomorrow as we hear updates from the surgical team.  After surgery, Everett will go to the ICU for 2-3 days and then back to the cardiac floor.  We had a tour of the ICU today. Only one person can stay overnight with Everett in the ICU, but there are chairs that convert to beds in the waiting room so we plan to trade off depending on how he is doing.  Right now, they are doing another echo on his heart. We are told that the last thing they will do today is scrub his chest for surgery.  Seems strange to start cleaning him this early but they will scrub it gain tomorrow morning.m they say it has been proven to help prevent infections.

Blake's mom and dad are here with us and my parents will arrive this evening with Eli.  We will try to rest as much as possible before the big day.  Please continue to pray for Everett that he will rest tonight and not get too hungry.  Pray that his IV and feeding tube will stay put.  Pray for the surgical team to get plenty of rest and that the surgery will go well.  Pray for Blake and me to have peace and strength.  Pray especially that we will only hear the Voice of Truth and not the lies of the Enemy as we have felt a lot of spiritual attack these past few days.  Pray that God will help us overcome our fear and trust in him in all things.  We will continue to give updates.  Thank you as always for your love and prayers.

Blake & Caroline

Arrived at Children's Medical Center

We made it to Dallas last night around 8:00. It was a long night with several visits from doctors and nurses. Our little man was a trooper through all of the exams and tolerated all of the wires and monitors. He was so exhausted by 11:00 that it took quite a while to get him to sleep. Poor baby has endured so much the past few days. The plan is to work on feeding and gaining weight until surgery. He is scheduled as the "second case" on Monday. The doctor has prepared us for the possibility that Everett could get bumped to "first case" or even moved to Tuesday. It all depends on any emergencies that arise between now and then. Please pray with us that we can get it over with Monday and work on recovering our sweet boy. Surgery will take approximately 4 hours. We will meet with someone tomorrow to discuss the surgery in detail. Here is a picture of our brave boy after his bath this morning.

We had a long day today. Everett had an EKG, Chest X-ray and echocardiogram. He slept well today and tolerated most of his tube feedings. He did throw up once today but it was less volume than he usually vomits. Please pray that he continues to take his feedings without vomiting and that his reflux will not cause him discomfort. One of the hardest things for Blake and me is to see Everett in pain or discomfort and to not be able to fix it. This will only get worse when he wakes up from surgery with even more tubes and wires. Tomorrow our parents will arrive with Eli (can't wait to kiss our chunky monkey) and we are so grateful for their support. Blake's grandma passed away Thursday night while we were still at OU Children's. This week has been one of the most draining on the whole family. Prayers for Blake's family are appreciated. Thank you for your continued love, prayers, and support. We are beyond exhausted, but God is holding us up. He has given me Isaiah 40:28-31 over and over again this past week. We cling to his promises!

Love,
Blake&Caroline