Waiting for Grace

Jeff, Andee and Gracelyn right before her surgery

Gracelyn happy in her mom's arms

Sweet Baby Grace... she looks just like her big brother.

You can see the new IV that was put into her little head today.

Gracelyn went in for her surgery about 1.5 hours ago. It is supposed to take 2-3 hours to complete. The nurse who took her in just wanted to hold her instead of taking her in, as does Andee. She is very content when she is being held tight and does better than when she's laying there on her own. When Andee and Jeff were with her today, she was responsive to their voices. The cardiologist said that Gracelyn has been a very "low maintenance" baby and with the way that she has been breathing on her own and that she should recover quickly. Her oxygen concentration has been 90% today and she got a new IV put into her head. Her little eyes still are closed, she probably just wants all of these things happening her to go away.

The procedure that Gracelyn is receiving has been done here on 4 babies in the last month. Before that it hasn't been done here for six months. So Grace is lucky that the doctors have had "practice" lately. To fix Grace's heart, two lines have to be put in an artery in her little leg and fed up to the heart valve that is fused closed. One will go below the valve, and one will come from above. The one that is above will be put against the valve. It has a metal piece on the end of it that can be heated quickly, similar to a microwave. They will push the hot piece through to make a hole in the valve. Next, the one that is coming from below will be inserted into the hole. It is a balloon. They will then inflate the balloon and basically tear the valve open, and theoretically it should tear where the heart valve flaps should be. If Grace is doing well, she won't have to be intubated (have a breathing tube put down her throat) when she comes out. Possibly Monday, she will also be able to come off the prostaglandin medication that makes her feel like she has the flu all the time.

Gracelyn is a beautiful baby girl. She has done very well so far and we hope that all can continue to go well. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers in behalf of the family.

Aunt Camee

(Andee's sister)