Hello Everyone,
This is Heidi! I do exist still!  What a wild ride we have had and it’s been hard to find the time to communicate to you all.  Each time I think that I have time to sit and call or email, the time just gets away from me.  Between spending time with Natalie and “doing my chores” the time just disappears.  I want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and sending positive thoughts and love our way.  We can truly say that through this whole experience we have felt your love in so many ways. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family. Gods love and the love of our family and friends has helped us to stay strong and focused on what is best for Natalie.

Today has been a pretty long day waiting for rounds at 4:30 to get any updates from the doctors.  Over the past days we have watched Natalie grow and get stronger. After removing the PGE that was keeping the ductis open we were very hopeful that there was the chance of not having to go through the surgery. She was doing so well and was very calm and content sleeping and eating like all newborns do.  The last few days we have noticed a lot of change in how she has been reacting to being able to eat, and if she would be able to thrive without medications. First they started her on a medication to help her left ventricle pump better and move the blood out to her body.  The left ventricle has been functioning but not able to  pump the volume and relieve the pressures in the right ventricle which has caused her to develop fluid on her lungs. With the fluid build up she has not been able to breath as well and her breathing patterns and saturation levels have dropped.

Well, between paragraphs Dr. St Louis came back to the room.  After viewing her echo from this morning they have decided to restart the PGE, so that means that her heart is not able to regulate the pressures and that they will have to do some sort of surgical intervention.  We will have to wait for the ductis to open again and then we will talk about what the doctors will do and when.  We won’t know more about when and what until later this weekend or possibly on Monday.  Keep the prayers coming! Brad and I are very sad that she will go through this, but we know in the long term it will be what is best for Natalie and that God is watching over her and knows his plan for her life!  We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl!