Welcome to Isaac's Story

To those who are here for the first time & to those who have come many times before, welcome.

This is the story of Isaac Jordan Leino, an amazing boy who lived with HLHS for 24 weeks & changed the lives of all who knew him. To start at the beginning of his journey, scroll down to the very bottom of this page & progress upwards. Our prayer is that his story would touch your heart, that you would know the power of the God who loves you, & that you would see every child's life as precious - no matter the form in which it comes.

::Jordan & Patience Leino
www.leinolife.com

Beauty for Ashes

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me...to grant consolation & joy to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, & failing spirit - that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." Isaiah 61.1 & 3

How can one measure this past year? How do you put to words all that has transpired since that Sunday when Jesus welcomed Isaac home? I awoke this morning to a flood of memories, remembering each moment of that last day with our son. I'm so grateful we were home with him. I'm so grateful that Jordan & I were together with Isaac that entire day. I'm so grateful that those final moments were peaceful for our boy & the room filled with the sound of instrumental hymns & the prayers of family & friends. Yes, I wish there could have been some other way...that God would have miraculously healed Isaac's heart & body, that the doctors would have been baffled to find four chambers pumping away instead of three. But just as He promises to know all our days before even one of them begin (Psalms 139), I know God's plan for Isaac was perfect & that our son lived out the life planned for him to the fullest.

Nevertheless, this past year has been the hardest of my life. You hear of tragedies in the world, of the loss others incur. They grieve you & pull at your heart. But when your own sweet child, whose life you've completely trusted to God with genuine hope that the saving miracle will come...when his journey ends...when his gain comes at your loss...when his healing comes on the other side of eternity...it hits you with a force you can't describe & rocks you to the core. True, I'm forever grateful that Isaac no longer has to suffer, to undergo surgeries, to be bound by the machines that keep him alive. I'm overwhelmed to know this very moment, he is perfect in heaven with Jesus. But it doesn't change the physical loss of him here on earth. All those dreams, all those hopes, reduced to ashes on the ground. Completely spent. Burnt up with no life of their own remaining. Ashes.

If I could express one thing today on the anniversary of Isaac's death...one truth that I've learned through this year...it would be this: God is faithful to give beauty for ashes! He is true to His Word. God has taken the ashes that remained from our journey & all that died on August 5, 2007, & He has brought forth true beauty from them. He is not ignorant nor indifferent to what we go through. HE CARES about what has died in your life. HE CARES about those things that are now only ashes on the floor. This year has taught me first hand that treasures are to be found in suffering. Though the journey can be almost unbearable & the pain more real than you ever imagined, when you elevate God above those circumstances & choose to trust His Word, precious gifts are to be found. And on the days when you don't feel you can hold on any more, God's grip on you is even tighter. He will never walk away from you nor let you go! (Isaiah 54.10 & 30.18) God is mighty to save, He is faithful to complete the work He has begun in you. Our Lord gives beauty for ashes. He takes the remains of what has died in your life, those fragile pieces of dust from the dreams you once had...even when it is with the smallest of faith, when you lift Him up above the physical despair that surrounds, He brings forth the most beautiful treasures to be found. Peace. Joy. Hope for tomorrow. And the experienced assurance that He IS true to His Word & He IS faithful to never let you go. Were I to write all the treasures that have come forth from our ashes, you would not have time to read them.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me...to give a garland of beauty for ashes...that He may be glorified!" (Isaiah 61.1&3)

Spring

The view from my window is beautiful: clear, blue skies, trees blooming everywhere, birds chirping away winter's chill. The sun shines brightly & there's not a cloud in the sky. Spring has arrived. There's something in the cool breezes & sun's clear light that calls my heart back to Chapel Hill. Something about it pulls at the deepest parts of me to return - to that place of describing the window's view to a little boy who had yet to experience fresh air, to the familiar ICU walls & medical alarms, to waiting by the cherry blossoms for the shuttle to arrive, to those 5-minute croissant breaks outside in the butterfly garden. To simply being with my son as he experienced each new day. It has caught me off guard & yet is treasured just the same.

Peace has enveloped our home these past several weeks, allowing in the treasured memories of our sweet boy while holding off the deep pain of his absence. We delight in knowing he's whole & complete, free of pain & strain in Jesus' arms. We've passed the deepest depths of grief's pit to start the long climb up again. God continues to show Himself near & faithful.

But there's something about today...something...that just makes my arms ache for my little boy. Something that calls the depths of me to return to that spring in Chapel Hill. I can't quite define it. All I know is that today...I just want to curl up next to Isaac & hold him tight.

At times I feel like the children of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," having wandered from the wardrobe, filled with memories from the journey there - the friends gained, obstacles conquered, tears shed, & new joys experienced. Our 5ish months in that distant land (or Holland as once we called it) remain vivid in my mind & dear to my heart. There's a sweetness to those days with Isaac in Chapel Hill. Some would ask, "don't you miss home?" To be honest, I really didn't. Our family is our home & as Isaac needed us at UNC, it had become our home. The hours reading him books & holding hands with Isaac would wake us in the morning, while visits with the PICU staff became much like catching up with old friends. And as our journey took us from hospital to house, our feeling of home followed. Amazing...to have our darling in the place we had long prepared for him. Those days were a gift & a blessing.

Then in an instant, that world was to be left behind & the "now" at times showing very little evidence of our time there other than the change in our hearts & souls. Life moves on, passing people on the street who don't even know of this distant land. And yet the littlest thing - a kiss of the breeze on your shoulders, a song's melody, the smell of a child's clothes, the sound of an alarm - & immediately you're transported back to that place forever captured in mind & time. While the wardrobe no longer grants passage to that place, its memory sweet remains.

Spring is in the air. And on its gentle breeze, the daydreams & longings for the most precious little boy. Something...calling me back to that place & time that will forever remain the sweetest in my heart. So for now, I'll cherish these images of my son: his playful hands, his expressions full of personality, the peace of him sleeping & the joy every time he'd wake to look into my eyes. Thank you, great God, for the treasure of them. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Easter Memories

As we celebrate on this, Resurrection Sunday, we find ourselves more grateful than ever for the gift of Jesus's victory over the grave. Through it we are saved & through it, we are able to hope in seeing our sweet boy once again. Because of His resurrection, death is defeated & we have the hope of spending eternity w/our son, worshipping in God's presence evermore. In honor of today & in memory of our sweet boy, we're reposting our blog from last Easter. To God be the glory for all He has done.

Easter::Reflecting on God's Miracles
(Originally Posted 4.10.07)

"Another Sunday has come & gone. Sweet Isaac is now six weeks old!



I've found myself in a state of reflection on this, the crux of our faith. It's Easter, the celebration of Christ's resurrection! The past several weeks have taught me in a profound way the depth of God's love for us. As we've journeyed through this trying time, watching our sweet boy struggle more & more each day, we've found rest in God's loving arms. He also has watched His Son struggle & suffer. Through the pain & tears, we've heard His gentle whisper, "I know your pain. I've been there. I will see you through." Because of love, God sent His only Son on our behalf. Because of love, Jesus bore the cross & sin's consequence of death in our place. The perfect sacrifice, Christ rose from the grave, conquering sin & death. Because of this, we can be reconciled to God &, because of love, live our lives for Him. What an awesome & loving God we serve!

Easter rejoices in Christ's victory & celebrates new life. Watching Isaac this weekend, I've been overwhelmed by God's power & the new life He has brought to our sweet boy. By all medical accounts, he should not be alive. Last Sunday, we watched our little boy slip further & further away, unable to stop his decline. Empty-handed, we had nothing left to do but wait to say goodbye. And pray. Pray like we'd never prayed before: prayers of surrender & thanksgiving, prayers of longing & pain. Through it all, God did not leave our side. Because of the cross & Christ's victory, we could come directly to God with our requests, our burdens, & lay them at His feet. Because of "Easter", we could face death with the hope of new life shining through our tear-stained eyes. Holding our dying little boy, we could honestly sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" & "It Is Well" because the truth contained in the lyrics did not pend on our ever-changing circumstances, but on our ever-steadfast God.

In the quiet of our hospital room, Jordan & I now understand the depth of Easter unlike ever before. The love of a God who hears. The power of His Son's sacrifice & resurrection. And the sweet pleasure of watching our precious child, still alive & now recovering towards health. What a miracle! Isaac has been given new life. Though we still don't know the end of the story, we do know that God brought him back from the clutches of death & has touched his tiny body. Every doctor & nurse who cared for him last week has been awestruck & dumbfounded. "It's a miracle!" "He's a completely different baby!" "In my 20 years of this, never have I seen someone come back from where he was, let alone to be doing so well!" And to all of that, we give praise to our God, the Great Physician!

Thank You, Lord, for Your great love & for the hope we can find in You. Thank You for Your Son, for the new life we can have through Him. And while the road ahead is still long & unknown, thank You for one more day with our sweet boy. You are a God of miracles & for that, we give You praise!"

Happy Birthday, Isaac

Beloved child::

One year ago today, God's miracle met us face to face. On a rainy night in Chapel Hill, our eyes beheld your precious face & looked into your eyes for the first time. At 3:40am, we held our breath as you entered this world with quiet strength. And from the moment we saw you, sweet boy, we were certain: you were perfect.

Sweet boy, we've never loved anyone more! You opened our hearts in ways indescribable & showed us the beauty of completely loving someone without limit. And that love simply grew by leaps & bounds with each passing day. Our lives are full because you have been here. It was amazing to see you grow, to see you open your eyes that became bluer with each passing day & your hair become so red. As soon as it was safe, we held you more than anyone has ever been held. You barely touched the bed once we could have you in our arms. What a joy to hold you! You'd always surprise us...sleeping soundly & the next thing we'd know, you'd be awake & looking straight at us with the sweetest look on your face. It always warmed our hearts to see you looking at us.

Isaac, you are the bravest little boy! No one has more strength than you. We remain amazed at all you endured with pure innocence & peace in your eyes. We would have given anything to take your hard road from you...oh, sweetheart, we would have given anything. On the days we were most afraid for you, its amazing...you seemed so at peace & at times, would look at us. Silently, you communicated volumes to us - that you were going to be alright & we could trust God with you. You taught us so much & showed us strength when ours was gone. "And a child will lead them..." Mommy & Daddy love you so much & could not be more proud of you if we tried. Even the doctors & nurses fell in love with you, coming to visit you every time they were on campus & calling in on their days off just to check on baby Isaac. What a charmer you are! You are the darling of our hearts & of all who know of you.

Do you remember the day we brought you home? You slept the whole way! But once we had you settled, wrapped in your fuzzy car blanket, & rocking in your glider...your eyes opened with happiness shining through them. You were home! You were safe! Every moment home with you remains precious in our minds. You loved playing with Daddy...you would light up for him in such a special way. If you were hurting or sad, he'd simply put his hand on you & speak into your ear...and you'd relax so peacefully right away. A father's love. Mommy always enjoyed wrapping you up after a bath, snuggling you warm in your frog towel. Remember how you loved light? Whether a lamp or a window or the shiny birthday ribbons from Maima, they fascinated you! It was probably incredible to see the lights of heaven that day Jesus took you home. Did you love to see them, the shiny golden gates & all the precious stones shining in the light of the King? We can't wait for you to show them all to us...

We miss you, Isaac. We're overjoyed that you no longer have all the tubes & tests, that your heart has been made complete & you can laugh all day long. Sweet boy, you changed our world. You changed the world. We know you're happier than we can fathom. We do miss you though. And given the chance, we'd have you back in our arms & home again in an instant, tubes, machine, & all! You were worth every bit of it! It was our absolute joy & honor to take care of you, sweetheart. Sometimes the love of a parent rejoices in their child's gain even when it comes at their own loss. We cry only because we love you so very much & miss you...miss holding you, kissing your cheeks & belly, rocking you while you sleep & playing with you while you were awake. We love everything you are, Isaac.

A year ago, rain fell from the sky. Today, its beautiful outside. The shining sun turns our thoughts to you & the beauty you must be beholding this very minute in heaven. We love you, Isaac. We are so proud of you. We miss you but will see you someday soon.

Happy birthday, Isaac!

::Daddy & Mommy

A Tribute Remembering Our Son

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Visit CFHusband.Blogspot.Com.
Read. Be inspired.
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Pressing On...

Nearly every day, I've come to this site...browsed through the pictures of our perfect boy...and tried to find the words to scribe the next entry. And each time, the words are not to be found. What does one say? How can you describe the vast span of emotions & thoughts filling each day since Isaac died? Some days the strength is there & the smiles are genuine. Others, you're blindsided with paralyzing grief & a heaviness that reduces you to nothing but tears & longing for what you cannot get back this side of heaven. And the days in between fill with a mixture of everything between. All the while, two things remain: the real absence of our sweet boy & the ever-presence of God's love & comfort.

To be honest, there aren't many words to say. No words of inspiration nor incredible strength. No great insights or profound thoughts. Simply this - we are hurting, but one day at a time, we're making it through. God continues to carry us on the hardest days & reveal the many ways Isaac changed this world in his brave twenty-four weeks here on earth.

gratitude

Thousands of you have walked alongside us in prayer & support. Thank you for your steadfastness in following Isaac's life & your compassion in his passing. Thank you for your continued prayers for us & our families as we still are in the throws of the grieving process. And thank you to all who contributed to the Memorial Fund. We have been able to meet all of our medical & funeral debts due to your generosity. What a tremendous blessing to move forward from nearly six months of intense medical care, debt-free. We know not how to thank you enough. With the medical bills behind, we're now able to use Isaac's Fund to bless & contribute to other non-profits groups who so greatly helped us along our journey, as well as young families with dire medical needs (such as cystic fibrosis & pediatric cancer research).

Again, thank you all!

The Touch Felt 'Round The World

Jordan & I eagerly await the day when we can tell Isaac of all God did in his life, of the people his journey has touched, & how far reaching his story has traveled. If you've been impacted by his story or follow this blog, we ask that you post your name, city, state &/or country following this post so that we can show Isaac one day of all the lives he's touched. Even if you usually don't leave any comments or don't want to put your name, please let us know if you've been following his journey by letting us know where you're from. USA, India, Guam, UK...it'll be amazing to see where his story has traveled!

A Month Gone By...

One month ago today, the world changed as a precious little boy stepped from this mortal life into the eternal presence of Almighty God. Not a day goes by where we don't miss our sweet Isaac, look at his many pictures, & ache to hold him again. At times, kissing his cheek on the photograph, imagining his soft skin. We miss our Isaac. We miss his bright, loving eyes. We miss his funny expressions. We miss his little puckers & his enormous yawns. We miss holding him for hours in our arms.

But oh, what peace is found in knowing he now stands with Jesus, face-to-face, worshipping ever at His throne! No tubes, no needles, no meds, no wounds. Perfect & complete, our son is home with his heavenly Father who loves him more than anyone could ever imagine. No surgeon's knife will ever cut him again, no tests will ever need to be run on him. He can simply be the precious boy he was created to be, laughing with joy in heaven evermore.

This past month has been filled with grief & peace, the closing of a chapter as life's pen begins the next. We cherish the twenty-four weeks we had with our sweet boy. What a gift! With all of his health problems & abnormalities, its truly a miracle that he even lived past a day old. Thank You for the time with him, God! In looking back over our journey with Isaac, so many memories & lessons flood the mind. One in particular was the day we had to rush him to UNC for dehydration. Isaac slept the whole ride there, so I pulled out my Bible to hopes of finding some encouragement during this frustrating turn of events. I landed on Exodus 25, where God instructs Moses to take up a heavy offering to build the tabernacle. As the chapter progresses, it lists the things to be given in the offering. What an extravagant list of items! And I got to wondering...where did the Israelites get such valuables (porpoise skins?) when they've been wandering in the wilderness for years and slaves for generations before that?! If you look back to Exodus 12, we see how God enabled the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians when they were released from Egypt. Everything of worth & value that they had, God Himself had provided! In chapter 25, God recognizes that this offering will take sacrifice, offering up things that they want to hold onto most. But ultimately, even the most precious of items came from God anyway. Even by having this hard offering taken up from the Israelites for the tabernacle, God showed His love as He wanted to dwell with them! And that morning in the car, God comforted me saying, "I know that this journey is hard for you & that you love your son so very much. I know how hard this is to trust what is most precious to you in My hands. But he is My child, My gift to you. I am not ignorant of how hard this is for you & will carry you through whatever the road may bring. I love Isaac & I love you. Trust Me." What an impression that ride made on my heart. And it was just two days later when we got news that Isaac's heart was not growing & his time here could be much shorter than we'd hoped. Two weeks later, he was home with Jesus.

While this road has been hard, God has never left our side. He has always provided exactly what we've needed to get through. Yes, we miss our son...more than words can say. But he ultimately was from God & we were so fortunate to be stewards of this precious gift for 24 weeks. What a blessing!


"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables Him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.
-Philippians 3:20-21

Tribute to Isaac

Here is the video we created and showed at Isaac's funeral. These pictures captured many of the sweet moments we had with our little Isaac. Thanks to Benjamin Canady for his hard work on putting this together.

Our Thanks

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this week & who came out for Isaac's Memorial Service, particularly those who traveled long distances to get there. We were overwhelmed by the love & kindness from everyone, coming to celebrate the life of a little boy they'd never met in person. Isaac has left an indelable mark on all our hearts.

We will write more in the days ahead & try to post the slideshow from his service, but for now, we're away for a much-needed vacation. Thank you again to you all - for your love, your words, your cards, your gifts, & for simply standing with us through this journey.

Isaac J. Leino Memorial Fund

Many people have expressed interest in giving in ways other than flowers, so we have set up the Isaac J. Leino Memorial Fund. Money received will go towards Isaac's medical bills and giving back into organizations that have shown us their generosity.

If this is something you'd be interested in participating with, feel free to mail contributions to:

Isaac J. Leino Memorial Fund
c/o C3 Church
8246 Cleveland Rd.
Clayton, NC 27520

We thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Events To Come

We have been so touched by the hundreds of comments & stories already posted, offering condolences & encouragement during this time. Thank you all!

There will be a viewing at the McLaurin at Pinecrest on Wednesday night from 7p -9p.
12830 US 70 West
Clayton, NC 27520
For more details, visit their site: www.McLaurinAtPinecrest.com.

Isaac's Memorial Service will be at 3p on Thursday, August 9, at C3 Church. Viewing will also occur at the church an hour prior to service.
8246 Cleveland Road
Clayton, NC 27520
For more information on the church, visit www.c3church.org.
A private burial will follow.

Further details will be posted soon. Again, thank you all for your support during this time.

Answered Prayers

Today, our God answered the countless prayers for our sweet boy. With our eyes flooded with tears & loving arms holding him close, today Isaac Jordan Leino went home to Jesus. At 5:10p, God healed our son & gave him a new body, free of defects, tubes, & alarms. While our heavy hearts grieve the loss of our precious child, our spirits find peace & hope knowing he now stands face to face with our Savior, worshipping in His presence. What a bittersweet joy is found in trusting him into the arms of Jesus.

Details will come as we have them regarding the events to follow. We'll never be able to thank you all enough for standing with us through this journey.

Mommy & Daddy love you, Sweet Isaac. Though we miss you more than words can say, we'll see you soon.

Time for Prayer...

The past few weeks have been full & sweet, spending every possible moment & many sleepless nights with our sweet boy. Thank you all for your prayers for Isaac & our family as a whole. We've known God's peace in deeper ways than ever before.

Over the past 48 hrs, Isaac's health has rapidly declined (much like a snowballing effect). We've consulted every physician involved in his care & are doing all we can to support him. In spite of all this, he continues to decline. Our greatest concern is making Isaac as comfortable as possible. Join us as we pray for God's will to be manifest in his life, for total healing - one way or another - & above all, for peace & comfort for our boy. While we don't know how much time he has left, we are confident in the One who holds him firmly in His ever-loving hands.

We love you, sweet boy. We are so very proud of you.

Praying for a Miracle...

Saturday night bore a heavy blow. What began as a trip to the hospital for a sodium imbalance took a severe turn that no one saw coming. Our Isaac needs a supernatural miracle.

Finding our boy dehydrated, he was given IV fluids to correct his fluid balance. But once this occurred, he spend two days with oxygen sats in the 40's & 50's. Through tests & observation, we ruled out the respiratory system as being the cause of this. Dr. Blair Robinson, Isaac's cardiologist, did a bedside echocardiogram to fully assess his heart. What he found took us by surprise & has brought a great heaviness to our hearts.

As you know, Isaac has one ventricle doing the job of two, pumping blood to both the lungs & the body. The strain of bearing the load for the whole heart has caused the heart muscle to thicken considerably, making it difficult for his heart to fully fill. Also, the pulmonary artery (from the heart to the lungs) is a third the size as it should be. This significanly limits the amount of blood his heart can pump to the lungs to be oxygenated. His heart is working very hard to function & is not growing as it should.

Bottom line - as it is right now, Isaac does not qualify for either the next stage of surgery nor a heart transplant. His body would not survive either. His current status leaves him without options &, if nothing changes, only a month or two left to live.

We need a miracle! There is nothing medicine can do to help him. We are doing our best to give him the best nutrition & medicines to optimize his chances to grow. But as things are now, his heart is burning all those growing calories to simply function day to day. If ever there was a time for prayer, this is the time!

Our hearts grieve with this news. Sadness was written on the doctors' faces as they conveyed the reality of Isaac's situation. Thankfully, he's back home now with family & familiar surroundings. Whatever God choses, we find our boy in a win/win situation. If God intervenes in a supernatural way & heals his heart - either completely or enough to have the next surgery - then He will be glorified & Isaac will remain with us! Our hearts long for this! But should God decide to take him home, then we rejoice that Isaac will be with Jesus, face to face - free of tubes & tests & struggles. He won't know hurt or disappointment or limits. But still, we pray for the miracle!!!

Mr. Smiles!!!

Isaac has a new favorite hobby - smiling!! He's been happy as a clam today, bearing his gums for all to see. Enjoy!

Two Perspectives

Isaac's resting comfortably in his PICU bed & to look at him, you'd never know anything had been wrong. After a frightening seizure episode & several blood labs, it was determined that Isaac had become extremely dehydrated - most likely a result from sweating his little heart out over the past week...he sweats like a grown man when he's mad! Thankfully, Benny was able to gain IV access to give Isaac fluids & meds. An echocardiogram revealed thickening of the heart muscle, a result of working hard to function. So the gameplan at this point is to successfully rehydrate Isaac, stabilize his sodium levels, & adjust his heart medication to assist his heart further.

What a day. At first, we were very concerned for Isaac's health & frustrated by the awful timing of it all. We'd finally come to the point where Isaac was doing well, nursing arranged, & work all in order. It just didn't seem fair! But as the day progressed, another perspective came into view. Thankfully, the call had come while Jordan & I were still home. Thankfully, Isaac was already at the hospital when his seizure hit. And thankfully, it wasn't worse...as it very well could have been! God knew we needed to be at UNC to learn about his heart thickening & at the end of the day, our sweet boy is still here.

Hopefully, we'll only be in Chapel Hill for another day or so. Now we know more of how to pray effectively for Isaac - that he would maintain hydration, safe electrolyte levels, & for his heart - that the muscle would work efficiently & go back to normal size. We see the cardiologist next Thursday to learn when he'll need the next surgery, most likely within the next month or so. Until then, we hold our sweet boy close, bathe him in prayer, & that God for His love & never-ending faithfulness.

20 Weeks with Hiccups...

As of 8 o'clock this morning, Jordan & I were packing up for our vacation to the beach. Nursing all set up & Maima in the loop for watching Isaac, we were headed to Holden Beach for a much needed break, just the two of us, since December. Isaac has done very well up to that point, 20 weeks old & now weighing 12 lbs 2 oz at the doctors yesterday. Growing strong & coming more alive each day. I was writing up an update post for the blog to report how well Isaac was doing before we ventured off to the beach.

And then the phone rang...

During yesterday's pediatrician appointment, labs were drawn to check his electrolyte levels since adjusting some of his meds. Results came back with sodium & chloride in dangerously low ranges to the point of putting him at risk for seizure activities. This shocked us as he's been amazing over the past few days. So instead of the beach, we're back in Chapel Hill awaiting a PICU bed to open up. We're not sure why his levels are so out of whack & are praying for wisdom in discerning the root of the problem. Jordan & I are praying for a quick resolution to Isaac's condition without additional complications.

For now, the beach will have to wait...

Nineteen Weeks & Still Going Strong...

July is already here! Where has the time gone? There are moments when it seems only yesterday we were heading out to Chapel Hill to meet our sweet boy for the first time. And then in a blink, he's growing before our very eyes at four & a half months old. We now understand what mom meant when she told us "you kids just grew up so fast!" It seems each day flies by quicker than the last. Our little boy certainly keeps us busy!

We are so blessed to have this precious little boy in our lives. What a relief to have a good report from the pediatrician last Friday. The staph infection has responded well to the IM antibiotic injections, so we've been able to transition Isaac to oral (Gtube) antibiotics instead. Thank goodness! His poor little thighs were getting so tough & sore from the daily muscle shots. He's very brave, rarely crying when getting his shots.

As you know, Isaac's heart has to work twice as hard as a normal heart would. Because of this, his growth has slowed as he requires more calories to support his heart's workload. We're working to find the right balance in his caloric intake without giving him fluid overload as well. So please pray for him in this - that his body would continue to thrive & grow.

Today we trek out to Chapel Hill for a visit with the pulmonologist (basically checking everything from a respiratory standpoint). It will be good to see the familiar faces at UNC & hopefully get the green light that everything continues to go well with Isaac. With each day, I realize we're just one day closer to his next surgery. Our appointment with his cardiologist on the 26th will give us a better understanding on when that will be. Much lies ahead for our precious little boy. Our prayer today is for a good report from his pulmonologist.

Thank you all for your support & prayers for us as we've transitioned home, as well as patience between posts. Isaac's doing well, grows more handsome each day (which means he looks more like his daddy each day), & continues to teach us to trust God with what's most precious to us. Now, its off to UNC!

Our Brave Boy

Touching Base...

We're home. We're grateful. And we're tired, so very tired.

Isaac's doing better: still on IM antibiotic meds (daily shots in his thighs) but looking great. He's had some sating issues over the past few days, so we're hoping & praying to figure them out & resolve them without another hospital visit.

To top it all of, Isaac is FOUR MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!!! Happy birthday, Champ! We're so proud of you.

Setback

Isaac is back in the hospital.

At his first pediatrician's appointment yesterday, Dr. Hunt evaluated a rash that had been brewing as well as his fever. Blood labs revealed his white cell count more than double the normal range, revealing infection. So we're back in the PICU awaiting the results of cultures drawn yesterday. Preliminary results indicate some type of infection in the blood, possibly staph. Full results will come back within the next 48 hours. After several tries (remember - tricky access), a delicate IV was established in Isaac's hand so that he could receive antibiotics. In spite of the labs, our sweet boy seems to be very comfortable & happy in his "new room." Right now, we're looking at a minimum of two more days in the hospital, possibly a week or more depending on culture results.

Our Hero

To The One We Are Most Proud Of::

What a joy to spend this, your first Father's Day, at home together!

You have led our family through this long journey with strength, wisdom, & character, never once faltering or doubting God's plan. In times of uncertainty, you always hold me close & remind me of God's faithfulness & that we can put our whole trust in Him. You've faithfully led our family & our church in worship through this journey, even at the darkest times, & it has been humbling to watch you follow Christ wholeheartedly no matter what was happening around you. I could not have made it through without you. Isaac is most blessed to have you as his Daddy & to follow in your example. Even at his young age, I know he already looks up at you by the way he lights up whenever you're near. We couldn't ask for more in a husband, a father, a worship leader, & a friend.

Jordan, we love you & are so proud of you. Happy Father's Day!
::Mommy & Isaac

HOME!!!!!

::Psalm 20.1-8::
May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May He send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May He remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah

May He give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;
He answers him from His holy heaven
with the saving power of His right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.


June 14, 2007 will forever be remembered in our hearts. It is a day filled with a mix of emotion; a day where months of prayer were answered with a loving "yes". To say the day has been surreal would fail to do it justice. It marks the triumphant close of a chapter & wets the pen to scribe the next. On June 14th, Isaac came home!!! After 110 days at UNC Hospital, we packed our belongings & our beloved into the car, & as a family - all three - traveled home.


To think back on all our sweet boy has come through - so many nights where we thought we'd say "goodbye", times of unexplainable deterioration & recovery - and to see him now sleeping peacefully in his own bed, the experience is indescribable. Our miracle boy has been touched by God's mighty hand time & again. We could not have asked for more from the amazing team at UNC's PICU. Isaac & our family as a whole received tremendous care & compasssion from their staff, making each day more than just a visit with our son, but a time with friends as well. We were so touched by their send off, decorating Isaac's door with streamers & letters to us. It brought tears to our eyes to see the unit celebrating with such sincerity over our sweet boy. Thank you, PICU team, for all you've done for our family & for countless others across the state. We will certainly miss you all, though we're thrilled to not be seeing you for a little while. :)


Almighty God has brought us through quite a valley, faithful in every moment. How great is our God, who answers us when we call, who provides strength & peace when we have nothing left, & who turns our mourning into joyous dancing. Only God could take the sufferings of a newborn baby to unite so many people across the globe in prayer & draw us closer to Him. Only God could take such a road & fill it with new friends & new believers. Only God could have done the unexplainable things that have occured in our lives. To see where Isaac has come from & where he is now, we have nothing but humble, awestruck gratitude to Him who does immeasurably more than anything we could ask or think.


Our hearts overflow with gratitude to you all who have held our arms up through this journey. We long for the day when Isaac understands the floods of prayers offered on his behalf for so many months by those who had never met him, of those who fasted & spent sleepless nights beseeching God to intervene & spare his life. Countless times, we would pull up your words of encouragement in his hospital room & through them, find the refreshment needed to take the next step forward. We know not how to thank you enough!


Coming home is a huge transition for Isaac & our family as a whole. While stable, Isaac remains fragile & thus certain precautions are necessary to enable him to thrive at home. We know so many of you are eager to meet him & we will begin to slowly have visitors once he grows stronger. Until that time, we ask for no surprise visitors to our home. For those interested in how to help out with our homecoming, please contact Karen Dawkins as she is coordinating meals for us. (kadawkins@gmail.com)

Again, thank you all for your support & prayers. What a joy to have our sweet Isaac home at last!!!

101 Days in Chapel Hill

Today marks Isaac's 101st day of life & our 101st day in Chapel Hill. A mix of emotions comes at this realization; astounded & fatigued that we've been here so long, yet in the same breathe, tremendously grateful that Isaac has made it through thus far. He has come through 5 surgeries & 3 brushes with death, with 2 more open-heart surgeries remaining as well as 3 more procedures to correct his palate, pyloric valve, & inguinal hernia. So much for one little boy!

Though Isaac will be nearly 4 months old by the time we get home, he'll essentially be a newborn in terms of development due to his extensive hospital stay & lengthy sedation (came off sedation meds completely just last Thursday). Through prayer, God's mighty hand, & excellent medical care, Isaac has overcome tremendous obstacles already with many more still to come in the months ahead. Days can be hard as we see even the simplest things be difficult & exhausting for our sweet son. Thankfully, he can know no disappointment as this life is all he's ever known & even in the midst of it, he remains a precious, happy little boy. To see him sleep peacefully amongst tubes & wires & machines is to be reminded of the peace we all can experience through Christ. Even in an environment that is unnatural, uncomfortable, & simply undesirable, we can rest peacefully in God' mighty arms, knowing He is carrying us through & has a good purpose for it all. "Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In Your love You kept me from the pit of destruction..." (Isaiah 38.17)

Jordan & I are deeply grateful for these 101 days with our sweet Isaac & pray for many more ahead. As our time in the PICU has been extensive, we've indirectly observed many families loose their children; some to long-term issues & others to surprising traumas. Even today, a recent admission lost their fight; family & friends cycled through the unit to say goodbye before the transplant team arrived. Every time we realize this is occurring, our eyes well with tears in grief for those families & in gratitude to still have our sweet boy here with us. No matter how many times you experience this occuring, it never looses its potency. We've learned to truly value each & every single day & to live each day on purpose. So many lessons learned, so many more to be gained. What a gift the past 101 days have been! We wouldn't trade them for anything as we've seen God's mighty hand in ways we would not have otherwise.


Keep on, Isaac! We're so very proud of you!

Going Home...Soon!!!

(Pardon the lack of blogging over the past week due to limited internet access)

When asked to describe the past seven days, the word "phenominal" comes to mind. For so long, it seemed sickness & set backs were on a snowballing path. Now, health is gaining with every day. As we watch our sweet child, sheer amazement floods our minds at all God has brought him through & how well he is doing now; amazement that his is simply alive, let alone thriving! Were it not for the many scars on his tiny body, one would never know the dark road he has travelled. To the eye, he looks like the most adorable 14-ish week old ever! (And for those interested, Isaac now weighs 12 lbs & is 20.5 inches long!)


On Memorial Day, Isaac took his first trip outside! We loaded the stroller with his home vent, charged the IV pump batteries, & with the nurse & respiratory therapist by our side, headed out to the butterfly garden at UNC. Isaac was absolutely wide-eyed on the journey to the garden. And as soon as the sunlight hit his sweet face, he fell fast asleep. The 45-minutes outdoors was truly refreshing for us all.


Isaac continues to hold steady on his home vent & has weaned on the rate from 20 to 14. We've received most of our home equipment & interviewed with our home nursing care company. The bile reflux issues has resolved with a few changes to his medical regimend. He's learned to suck on his pacifier, which is truly amazing in light of never having fed by mouth & having an ET tube down his throat for 10 weeks. What a joy to watch our sweet boy acting like a precious healthy baby instead of an incredibly sick child. And to top off the good news, Isaac is now free of IV lines!!!! The IJ line was pulled yesterday, so the only pump our boy is connected to is his feeding pump!!! For the first time in his life, Isaac has no lines in his veins, nothing stitched to his skin. Words fail to express our amazement & gratitude to where God has brought our son from & the place He has brought him to. Wow! We can now pick up & hold our sweet boy without worrying whether we'll throw a clot or compromise his access. Lord, You are faithful; Your lovingkindness endures forever!

Jordan & I have been training with trach & G-tube care. Our trach nurse, Cindy Reilly, has been nothing short of incredible, walking us through the adjustment process. What a wonderful resource she has been to us, coordinating everything needed for Isaac in the hospital as well as the process towards going home. And speaking of home...we have a tenative home date!!! June 19th! Cindy's working with our home nursing care company, Maxim, to hopefully bump up the discharge date...possibly as soon as the end of next week. It all depends on staffing for Isaac's case. He'll require 24 hour nursing care the first week he's home & then 20 hour care after that. So join us in praying for full staffing for Isaac's case!!


How faithful is our awesome God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome To Holland

The story below was given to us this past week by the Turner family in the UK. They also have a sweet boy with HLHS (charlieturner.blogspot.com). In their journey with Charlie's condition, someone gave them this story to help describe what life with a special needs child is like. It vividly illustrates what we wrote about last time with changing dreams & has touched our hearts. Thank you, Turners, for this wonderful story. Enjoy!


"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this . . .

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, Michelangelo’s David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, 'Welcome to Holland.' 'Holland?' you say, “What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.' But there’s been a change in flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland, and there you must stay.

The most important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for awhile and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, 'Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.'

The pain of that will never, ever go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland."


We may or may not experience Italy down the road. Only God knows whether our journey will take us there. But for now, our Holland is bright. We would have never known the beauties of this country without God's plan for Isaac. Holland truly is beautiful this time of year...

Progress & Planning

All three Leino's in Chapel Hill are enjoying a fabulous day. Isaac has made his way up to full feeds & no longer requires TPN (IV nutrition). He still has occasional gag & bile issues, but we're working to figure out the cause of this. The medical team planned to transition Isaac to his home vent on Friday. However, Isaac has done so well that we bumped up his first trial to today! He did so well with it that we've completely switched him over to the home vent now! Its more of an adjustment for us with the equipment than for Isaac. But just like every stage of this journey, we'll learn, adjust, & keep moving forward. Our little fighter continues to amaze & move towards home. Words fail to describe our joy in even having the road home nearly in sight now. Should all continue as planned, its only a few more weeks away.

When we learned last May that we'd be having a child, our minds immediately went to dreams & hopes for our little one. But as circumstances changed with Isaac's condition, that dream would change to fit reality. Those dreams today are far from where they were originally, but they are just as good - simply different. At times, this deviated "pill" feels hard to swallow with all the equipment & seemingly unnatural modes of living. In those moments, we find comfort & strength in remembering that God's purposes are always perfect & for our good. And with a prayer & one glimpse of our sweet boy, anxieties melt away, leaving us once again filled with peace & promise for the days ahead. Our new dreams are filled with hope & amazement with all God has done. We are most blessed!

Game Plan

Its amazing to think that "home" is even in the discussions for Isaac's care now. Hopefully, if everything continues the course & Isaac doesn't throw us for any more loops, we'll be heading home in about a month or so! God is so faithful!

Goals for this week are as follows: establish full feeds through the GJ tube, transition to the home vent, & avoid infection. Join us in praying for these things. So far, Isaac is halfway to his goal feeds, but has spit up bile several times throughout today. We're currently working to determine the cause of this gag & reflux pattern.

Our strong boy is making progress, one baby step at a time. We praise God for all He has done in our lives & all He has yet to do.

Baby Steps Forward...

Isaac has made tiny baby steps forward this week. With each wean of his sedation meds, he shows his sweet personality more with curious blue eyes darting around the room as if taking in the world for the first time again. We've held him for several hours each day since his trach change & love every moment that he's in our arms. (thus the lack in blogs recently) Our sweet little red head continues to amaze us! And while remain deeply grateful for the excellent care he continues to receive at UNC's PICU, we grow ever more eager to be gone from Chapel Hill & back home again.

Throughout last weekend, he had continued trouble keeping his feeds down & we determined that the pyloric valve between the stomach & small intestines had narrowed, making it difficult for feeds to pass through. So Isaac traveled back to VIR to change his G-tube to a GJ-tube. Now, he has access into both his stomach & his jejunum. He's slowly working up towards goal with feeds going directly into his intestines. He'll be on a feeding pump continuously for at least a few months until surgery can go in & fix the narrowed valve. Our home vent has also arrived, so we'll begin training on how to operate the machinery that will be going home with us. In the next couple of weeks, we'll also be meeting some of our in-home nurses (required for all children with a trach).

So Isaac's goals at this point are to successfully transition to the home vent, establish goal feeds, & transition off all intravenous meds. Hopefully, we'll only be here for another month & then home for a bit before his next heart surgery (between 4-8 months old). What a blessing to have UNC only an hour away rather than out of state! It's truly amazing - Isaac turns 12 weeks old tomorrow!!! Where has the time gone...

Happy Mother's Day

I want to give a huge Happy 1st Mother's Day to the most amazing woman in the world, my gorgeous wife, Patience! Isaac and I are forever grateful to God for giving us such an awesome woman. Patience, thank you for being an amazing wife and mother. Your life has and will continue to make an enormous impact, not only on our lives, but also on this world. From the bottom of our hearts, we love you!

Jordan & Isaac

11 Weeks Old!

It has been several days since our last post with good reason: instead of sitting at bedside writing blogs & reading stories, we've been holding our sweet boy!!! How wonderful to spend hours rocking Isaac in our arms, reading him stories & kissing his precious face. Isaac spends the time looking round his room from a new perspective & then drifts off into deep, peaceful sleep. However, he always becomes bright-eyed whenever he hears Jordan's voice. He certainly loves his Daddy!

Since Wednesday, Isaac has successfully weaned from both blood pressure meds (epinepherine & dopamine). We've been able to cut his vent support rate in half & begin feeding him from his G-tube slowly. So far, he's had difficulty with feeds, spitting up several times last night. So we'll start over slowly & see if he'll tolerate them better with time. The edema continues to come off slowly. So we're making some progress. Now, our focus is establishing nutrition through stomach feeds & weaning from the vent & sedation meds.

What a joy to still have our sweet boy here with us! As he's been more awake lately & in our arms, we fall more in love with him each day. More details to come later today or tomorrow. But for now, time to go back to holding Isaac!

To all those with a mother's heart, with or without children of their own: thank you for the love you bring to this world. Happy Mother's Day!

Where We Are Now

After another eventful day, here's where we are now with Isaac:

The I.J. line is working well & will hopefully last for a while. At this point, both subclavian & the left femoral access points are no longer options with the verdict still out on his right femoral. So we need for this line to stay patent. Isaac's blood pressure has held steady for the most part today & we've begun weaning one of the three b.p. meds he is on. So far, he's doing well in the process. His pH took a dip through the afternoon, but has come back up to 7.31 - almost to the normal range. After peeing like a champ yesterday, we've cut back his lasix dosage so as not to diurese him too quickly. Way to go, kidneys! He still has a fever of 37.7 C (roughly 100 degrees Fahrenheit), but at this point nothing has grown out in the cultures taken two nights ago. His right lung has sounded rather wet & junky today, so we've done PT on him to help keep the lung open. Hopefully it won't collapse. He gets his first trach change tomorrow. Once this has occurred & as long as he is stable enough, we should be able to hold him again!

So for now, Isaac is moving in the right direction. He has proven to be a moment-by-moment individual, but at this moment in time, he is fast asleep. Thank you all for your heartfelt encouragement & many prayers for us today. Even in the midst of this rollercoaster ride, we've been overwhelmingly grateful: for the phenomenal medical team here at UNC's PICU, the outpouring of prayer & support from so many around the world, & the never-ending faithfulness of our awesome God. What a gift. Thank You, Lord, for one day more with our sweet boy.

I.J. Line In Place

An IV has been established in Isaac's jugular vein & meds are successfully being administered through the site. Both subclavian access points are no longer patent, so we're running out of access options. However, the I.J. line is working for now. More to come soon on Isaac's overall status...

Isaac is still in VIR. They were unable to establish subclavian access as that vein is no longer patent (open), so they are now going for an jugular line. Not the best of news, but at least we still have a few options at this point.

Brief update w/more to come soon...

Isaac's central line began leaking this morning, causing him a significant drop in blood pressure. We've manipulated his leg for better flow & increased the epinepherine to compensate. He's about to go down to VIR to attempt successful placement of a subclavian line under fluoroscopy (where they use contrast to visualize the veins for placement & threading of the cathetar. This is crucial as he needs these meds to maintain blood pressure right now.

PLEASE PRAY for success in establishing this access point!!!! I'll let you know the results once he's back.

Morning News

Through the events of yesterday & last night, we were once again provided peace amidst the madness, knowing that the ultimate results of Isaac's health are out of our hands & resting in the palms of Almighty God. He is not ignorant of our cries nor Isaac's condition, but carries us all through the storm. And while we may not always understand His hand, we can always trust His heart. So we continue to pray & intercede on Isaac's behalf, knowing that in the end whatever answer comes is for a purpose from a God worthy of our trust.

Our sweet boy made it through the night. Once a third medication, dopamine, was added, Isaac's blood pressure stabilized in the 40 map range. He's been peeing like a racehorse, slowly pulling the edema from his body. However, around 5a, he spiked a fever of 102. Cultures have been sent from all points of access in his little body & until they results come back, we've added a broad spectrum anti-fungal medication to go along the the three antibiotics he's currently on. Right now, Isaac has a low grade fever & continues to hold steady with his blood pressure. We'll be watching his levels closely throughout the day. While a fever is not good, this at least give us more direction in trying to find the root cause of his sickness. Hopefully the cultures will give the answers we're looking for. Our prayer is for strength for Isaac to get through this bend in the road, overcome whatever infection may be brewing within, & to stabilize more on his own. Also, the medical team mentioned trying to gain new access in his left subclavian vein so that we can remove the femoral central line that has been in place for several weeks. This would also help with circulation in that leg as it has been poor since Friday.

In short, Isaac made it through the night. He now has a fever which points to some type of infection within. He's finally responding to the blood pressure meds & is peeing efficiently. Goals for today: possibly gain new access, determine type & site of infection, gain pH balance, continue to diurese without depleting hydration within his veins (basically pee off the right fluid). We'll post again later today with his progress.

Update

Isaac's pH is improving, moving towards safe levels. However, his blood pressure is much worse - map in the low 30's despite increased epinepherine & added milrinone.

Long Day

Sweet Isaac is having much difficulty today. He's retaining a TON of fluid & has had very low blood pressure all morning despite being on a large continual dose of epinepherine. His pH is still quite acidotic, though has slowly responded to the temporary relief of bicarbonate. Long story short - Isaac needs to get over this hump & soon. Please intercede on his behalf.

10 Weeks Old!

The sun is shining bright here in Chapel Hill, where our sweet boy turns 10 weeks old today! I find myself amazed in looking back on all we've gone through so far &, in spite of so many obstacles, how much Isaac has grown. His red hair has filled in nicely since his grand entrance with a mullet in February. As the sedation meds continue to slowly wean, his personality shows through a little bit more each day. Mr. Personality, he's quite a charmer. But there's no room for guesswork when he's upset or irritated - Isaac lets you know!

On the road to recovery, Isaac is experiencing some speed bumps today. His pH continues to be low & acidotic, causing fatigue & strain on his heart. Respiratory therapy has gone up significantly on his vent settings to compensate. His central line no longer draws back & has begun to leak, so we're hoping to thread a new cath over a wire. Once Isaac is successfully feeding through the G-tube & IV nutrition is no longer needed, he'll only need a peripheral IV instead of a central cath line. Hopefully we can last just a few more days on the line he has as the PICU team has been given the green light to start feeds through his G-tube today. However, Isaac continues to become more edemidous with minimal urine output over the past 24 hours. His liver is somewhat enlarged as well. Isaac's body temp has been low today, so blanket & a neo-natal warmer are being used to help. The concern, however, is that this may be the temperature drop before a fever spikes. Much to pray about.

Isaac has come a long way, but he still has quite a ways to go. Our goals/hopes for today is to rewire the central cath for adequate access & blood draws, establish slow feeds, bring his pH to normal levels, & get him to pee out a lot of excess fluid. Lots of area for prayer. We're so grateful to our awesome God for the time He's given us so far with our sweet boy & for bringing him through so much already. Five surgeries in only 10 weeks of life - that's a lot for anyone to go through, let alone a newborn. We have seen God work in miraculous ways in Isaac's life already & are asking Him to do it again.

Continue to pray for Isaac as he recovers from these latest two surgeries. We are currently watching his pH & potassium levels. He's been acidotic since coming out of surgery, which can be a usual responce. However, he's taking longer than anticipated to bounce back as his body is fatigued & thus making us compensate by going up on his vent settings. His blood pressure has also been on the low side. Isaac just needs to get over this hump in the recovery process.

Out of surgery! Now, a new phase in prayer...

Isaac is back from surgery & everything went well. He'll be kept still & sedated over the next few days to allow both the stoma (hole for the trach) & G-tube tract to mature & heal. As with most surgical procedures, the first 24 hours are most critical. The areas of concern following these two procedures are infection, stability of the airway, and stomach pulling away from suture site. So far, Isaac's holding steady & cute as can be without the tape on his face.

Dr. Rose just came back to report the tracheostomy was successful. Everything went smoothly. So we continue to wait as Isaac is now having a G-tube placed.

Off to the O.R.

The anesthesia team just wisked Isaac away to the O.R. for his latest round of surgery - a trach & a G-tube. We're grateful that he is able to have these procedures done today as it took much coordination between the two surgical teams. He should be gone for only a few hours. We'll post an update once he's back from surgery. For now, we wait & pray...

Surgery Postponed to Tomorrow, Possibly Monday

Due to complications in an earlier surgery case, Isaac was unable to go to the O.R. today. He has been added on to tomorrow's schedule at this point. If something arises tomorrow delaying the procedures, Isaac will get his trach & G-tube on Monday. So for now, he's resting sweetly. We'll keep you posted of any changes as they may come.

One O.R. Trip + Two Procedures = Progress

As you know, Isaac will return to the O.R. tomorrow for a tracheostomy. While under general anesthesia, he will also have a G-tube put in place to help with feeds. In light of his cleft palate, the pending trach, & having an ET tube in his mouth since birth, the medical team has wisely determined that a G-tube would most benefit Isaac at this point for feeds. Having never been fed orally combined with the risk of food aspiration, the G-tube will allow him to receive nutrition directly into his stomach & thus optimizing his nutrition. Once Isaac's palate is repaired, we'll be able to work on teaching him to swallow & feed by mouth. We're thrilled that Isaac will be able to undergo both procedures in one trip to the O.R., thanks to the efforts of his doctors in coordinating the two.

We are deeply grateful for the excellent medical team caring for our sweet boy. They continue to give not only phenomenal care & advice, but also heartfelt compassion & care for our family. Join us in prayer for Isaac's fifth round of surgeries - for smooth procedures & quick recovery. Both the trach & G-tube are steps forward towards home.

Tracheostomy set for Thursday

Well, today has been a day of clarification. The morning began with Isaac in optimal conditions for extubation - vitals, nutrition, vent settings, the works. We were thrilled to see our sweet boy's face when they removed the tape & pulled out the ET tube. To see his whole face without tape or tubes...what a blessing! We must have kissed those sweet cheeks a hundred times! Isaac sailed through the first half hour, sating in the high 80's & holding a steady, comfortable heartrate. However, he was unable to cough on his own &, with the build-up of secretions in his lungs, began to tire quickly. In spite of suctioning & albuterol treatments, Isaac simply had to work too hard to breathe & grew too fatigued to clear his lungs on his own. So after nearly two hours, our sweet boy was reintubated & allowed to rest once more.

We are so proud of how well Isaac did, especially considering that he's been intubated for 9 weeks & his many issues (diaphragm, vocal chord, pharynx). He's certainly a fighter, never giving up even when its hard. Now we know for certain that a trach is the best & necessary option in moving Isaac towards recovery. He will head back to the OR on Thursday morning for the tracheostomy. Though this route is different than we had expected, we're happy to move forward in getting Isaac well enough for home. God remains faithful & even when His answer differs from our hopes, we still trust Him, knowing that He heard us & has greater plans in store. We now look ahead to surgery #5.

Extubation attempt set for Tuesday

Isaac's extubation attempt has been moved to Tuesday morning. He's been doing really well but they just had a few more adjustments to make prior to extubation. If they are not successful with this attempt, they will give him a trach on Thursday.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Isaac!

Moving Forward

Isaac has been fairly stable since the last blog post. He has several infections in his blood from the IV lines, so all lines except the femoral line have been pulled & a new catheter put over a wire in the femoral site until a new access site an be established. He is also on three antibiotics for the infections. There have been no more seizures since being put on medication for it, and the spinal tap came back clean.

The main goal right now is to extubate him hopefully on Monday. If he is not successful with extubation, we will give him a trach soon after. Whether he's extubated or trached, we're eager to get the ET tube out of him and hopefully speed up the recovery process. At least we'll be one step closer to holding him again.

Please pray for a successful extubation. Thanks!

Scan Results & Next Steps

Isaac has made it through another night. Since receiving the seizure medication, he has not had any more clinical (visible) seizures. The CT scan revealed no bleeding nor clotting in the brain. There was increased fluid symmetrically surrounding his brain, but not to an alarming extent. An EEG has been ordered once more to monitor Isaac's brain activity over an extended period of time to determine whether he is experiencing non-clinical seizures still & where they are firing in the brain. Depending on the results of this monitoring, an MRI may be in order. However, Isaac needs to become far more stable to leave the floor for the long MRI scan. Also, his following resident is performing an LP (lumbar puncture/spinal tap) on him right now to determine whether there is an infection, such as meningitis, in his spinal fluid. Neurology has performed an assessment with results pending. In light of last night's seizure activity, discussion of removing the Broviak has returned to the table.

On a lighter note, his color has improved today & the edema has been reduced. Our sweet boy is back to sleeping soundly with his little hand brought up right under his chin, much like he did in utero (see January 18th blog entry for pics). His heart rate has returned to the 140's & his blood pressure has responded favorably to the epinephrine. And in true fashion, Isaac has thrown us for a loop once more with a lactate of 1.8 most recently.

So the journey continues. While we have no idea what lies just beyond the next bend, we know & trust the One who guides our way. Our hearts are deeply grateful for His faithfulness & for the loving support & friends of everyone around the world. Thank you for continuing to walk along side us as we press on in our journey. The marathon continues one day more.

Seizures & Other Such Dilemmas...

Well, Isaac is having quite a night. His lactate has remained around 5.7 throughout this evening, most recently coming down to 4.0. His heartrate has continued to climb to the mid-190's, with O2 sats falling towards to 60's range. His blood pressure has also fluxed, high for a while & then dropping quite low. He is now on epinepherine to compensate. Around 10p, Isaac had an uninterruptable seizure, lasting roughly two minutes. After two doses of intervention meds, he was still having episodes of seizing. He just came back from having a CAT scan & we'll receive the final read tomorrow. Anti-seizure meds have been started & our boy is sleeping deeply now.

As you can see, his is still in quite a critical state. Lord, we ask you intervene & bring healing to our boy's small body. Bring him through this night once more. Our eyes remain fixed on You as You alone are the Great Physician.

Update...

As of 5p, Isaac's blood sugars have continued to flux throughout the day & his lactate continually climb. He began the morning with a lactate of 2.1, moving to 3.6 by 1p. Between 1p & 3p, it has jumped to 5.7 for reasons unknown to us. His resting heartrate has also been elevated in the 170's. We are concerned as we still don't know why his lactate climbs to such high levels (remember, normal range is 0.0 to 1.2). Our prayer is for Isaac to not continue trending upwards. For now, all we can do is wait & see...

Wall of Lights

So our sweet boy has us guessing & chasing numbers once again. While he is indeed very sick, he has been relatively stable today. He has responded well to the wall of meds he is now on...we call it Isaac's wall of lights. Our main areas of concern/focus are his infection, lactate, & blood sugar levels. Lactate has jumped up & down throughout the day from high 5's to low 2's & back. As of 6p, it was 3.4. Isaac's glucose has been all over the place today, changing dramatically with minor adjustments in his meds. Our goal is to finally keep him steady within the normal level range. Isaac still shows signs of having an infection, though has yet to develop a fever. If infection persists at the Broviac site, it will need to be removed which creates a problem with access for meds. Much to be in prayer about.

Thank you all for continuing to come alongside our family in prayer as Isaac continues his fight. Thank You, Lord, for one day more with our sweet boy. Be it Your will, we ask for many, many more.

Latest gas: lactate of 3.4 & glucose of 101. Since 6p, glucose has gone from 427 down to 43 & now is at normal levels. The rollercoaster continues...

Thank you, Lord, for continuing to work in our sweet boy. We trust him in Your hands & ask for your wisdom to determine the root of these issues.

Climbing...

Isaac's nurse just came in with the latest blood gas...lactate now at 10.4. It is climbing fast & we think it is from infection. Please pray...

Confusing

Isaac's lactate was around 5 today & then dipped to 2.3 after a blood transfusion. It is now back up to 5.3. Also, Isaac had been on insulin for high blood sugars. After they had been low for a while, the insulin was discontinued & sugars checked every two hours. At 4p, his glucose levels were 60. At 6p, they were above 400! This points to increase in infection & the medical team has adjusted his meds to bring his sugars back down. While he is not septic yet, things are pointing more in that direction. So please join us in prayer for our sweet boy!

Eight Weeks Young

Where has the time gone? Isaac is eight weeks old today! What a journey this little one has already been on. While the past two months have been some of the most challenging in our lives, we wouldn't trade them for anything as we've fallen more in love with our son with each passing day.


At this point, our main areas of focus are his blood infection & edema. The staph infection in Isaac's blood is being treated aggressively by two antibiotics to hopefully eliminate the infection before he becomes very sick again (septic). In the past, he has become sick very quickly once an infection presented itself, so we're following this very closely in hopes of stopping severe problems before they begin. Also, Isaac has become quite puffy again over the past several days, so we're working to diurese him back to a normal fluid balance. He is no longer in withdrawl from weaning his sedation meds as the team has found his sweet spot. After a day of resting, we will slowly work to wean him further over the course of several days. Once these issues resolve, we can return our focus back to extubation.

So main areas needing prayer & attention:
::elimination of staph infection in his blood & protection from it spreading to the rest of his systems
::successful reduction of excess fluids in Isaac's body without causing stress to his kidneys
::further weaning from sedation meds in preparation for extubation
::successful extubation & strength in Isaac's lungs to hopefully remain off the vent

Extubation postponed

I type this as Patience gets a well deserved nap. Isaac was originally scheduled for extubation today, but that will be postponed due to a couple complications. Cultures taken a couple days ago confirmed that he does have a blood infection at his Broviak site so they have put him back on the antibiotics to kill the infection. Lactate was back up to 4.1 this morning. They've been trying to wean him off some of his pain meds, but yesterday and this morning he's been displaying signs of withdrawal. With him being stressed from these issues, the docs have decided to postpone the extubation and try to get him to a better state before trying extubation.

Some good news...the EEG results came back and Isaac has NOT been having seizures! Praise the Lord! We are so appreciative of everyone keeping up with our boy and continuing to pray for him. To God be all the glory for Isaac's progress thus far, and for what He has in store!

Extubation?

No news yet on the EEG results nor the cultures taken yesterday. We hope nothing grows in the cultures & our boy will be infection-free. Thankfully, Isaac has not had anymore behavioral quirks since Monday night. The EEG results will confirm whether it was in fact seizure activity or our boy simply throwing us for a loop once again.

Something major for us all to be praying about: if Isaac continues to thrive with the new vent settings, the medical team hopes to attempt extubation this Saturday! This would be a huge step for our son if successful. We're just thrilled to even be considering this. For this to successfully occur, Isaac's left vocal chord needs to be functioning again, his pharynx supporting itself (it was collapsed at the last attempt), & for his diaphragm to be able to pull in full breathes consistently on his own. Should this not be successful, two surgical options remain: placate the left side of his diaphragm or perform a tracheostomy.

Join us in praying for our sweet boy - that Saturday would hold a successful extubation & that he won't need to be re-intubated due to fatigue.

Curious Behavior

Yesterday afternoon, Isaac demonstrated some peculiar behavior. While he was awake, his eyes began fluttering in a choppy fashion - much like a ball bouncing within a box. He then brought both arms into his chest, similar to a chest press, & raised his eyebrows. Then relaxed. This rhythm repeated about 8 or 9 times, then he was back to himself & eventually, fell fast asleep. I mentioned it to his nurse & we decided just to keep an eye out for it occurring again. It wasn't until last night that this behavioral rhythm returned, occurring more frequently. They continued sporadically even after getting a second bolus of sedation meds.

We're concerned that this may be seizure activity. The rapid eye movement & repeated rhythmic behavior points towards this, however his vitals are unaffected by each episode. So one other possibility is that he is retching, which like dry-heaving. An EEG will be done on Isaac today, monitoring brain activities for a period of time to determine whether he is in fact having seizures & hopefully the cause of them. Seizures can result from a variety of causes: dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, bleeding in the brain. For now, its a waiting game to see what Isaac does & what the EEG shows.

Isaac's white cell count is up this morning as well, which indicates either infection or validates seizure activity. Culture results should be back within the next 48 hours to validate whether or not he has an infection. On a positive note, respiratory therapy has gone down again on his rate (amount of breaths given per minute by the machine) from 14 to 10 & so far, our boy has taken the change in stride. The next blood gas will tell us more of how he's handling the change. This may be one step closer to extubation.

So that's the news for now: possible seizures & infection, but progress on the vent. More to come later tonight...

A Fresh Perspective

Brilliant blue skies frame a radiant sun today in Chapel Hill. There's not a cloud in the sky & spring's flowers brighten the landscape with splashes of color. Even from within the halls of UNC's Intensive Care Unit, no one will argue that this is in fact a beautiful day.

Arriving at the hospital this morning, I learned of a delightful change in Isaac's care: he's been moved to a new room! Just a few doors down on the PICU, our sweet boy now has the corner room with two windows! Natural light floods his room & we can enjoy greater views of the blue skies outside. It may seem like a small change, but after seven weeks in the same room, we gladly welcome the change of scenery. Now Isaac has four new ceiling butterflies to make friends with. :)

Isaac remains stable & looks fabulous! As of this morning, he measures 50 cm & 4.3 kg! (19.7 in. & 9.5 lbs.) He's gained almost two whole pounds since birth! What a fighter! Our goals remain nutrition & weaning from the vent. At this point, we're waiting for his ND tube to get into his intestines as it is currently coiled in his stomach. Until then, Isaac is receiving IV nutrition & will begin receiving lipids today at 6p. Respiratory therapy has gone down again on his rate & so far, Isaac has responded fabulously! Since this change, his blood gas has actually improved - pH & CO2 levels ideal & his lactate is now 1.4!!! Only .2 to go until it's in normal range! Thank you, Lord! The incision from the diaphragm surgery continues to heal nicely & he's back to his old silly self now that the chest tube is out. Once he's been weaned from the vent, narcotics, & tolerates his feeds, we'll be able to address issues such as the hernia, cleft palate & test hearing in his left ear.

God continues to show Himself strong & faithful towards our family, strengthening our sweet boy & meeting our unspoken needs. Through Isaac's journey, He is changing so many lives - ourselves, those who care for Isaac here at UNC, & everyone who has shared in praying for our sweet boy. Only our great God is able to take something so dire & use it to show His love & glory! Amen & Amen!!!

How to Pray for Isaac::
::tolerance to feeds & adequate nutrition
::successful weaning off the vent w/o need for more surgery or a trach
::protection against new infections

Some shots of Isaac's new room:

Back in Action

We're back to blogging after several days with a broken laptop. But thanks to the AppleCare plan, a fabulous Genious at the Apple store at Southpoint, & two hours of reformating, we're back in action! The best part - no pictures were lost! Thank you for your patience during this hiatus & your continued prayers for our sweet boy. Here's the scoop on what's happened since Thursday:

No major complications have occurred since Isaac's diaphragm surgery on Thursday, though he has been quite uncomfortable with the chest tube in. This will thankfully be coming out today, so he should be far more comfortable. Respiratory therapy has been able to wean him some more from the vent, but has come to the point where he's just tiring out with any further adjustments. Our biggest goal at this point is to successfully establish feeds through his ND tube, which bypasses his stomach & goes directly into his intestines. His little body works harder than most with his heart condition, so he requires more nutrition than the average baby. He has been on a low amount of breastmilk for a few days, but has repeatedly spit up, keeping him from absorbing the nutrition. As he is still intubated, one concern with spitting up is the risk of aspiration which could cause pneumonia. Better nutrition will provide Isaac with the strength needed to hopefully wean off the vent as he won't tire out as quickly.

The new Broviac line has been working well & Dr. Harris was able to establish another central line in his right femoral artery. A concern in the back of our minds is access as it is becoming increasingly difficult to establish new lines when one fails. Please pray that no complications arrise with the lines currently in place for the duration of Isaac's time here in the hospital. We don't want to get to the place where he can't receive the necessary meds simply because he doesn't have a line of access to receive them.

So the two greatest hurdles at this point are nutrition & respiratory: Isaac needs to successfully establish tolerance to feeds & be weaned from the vent, hopefully without the need of a trach. In other fronts, his lactate has leveled out around the 2-2.4 range. Still higher than normal, but MUCH BETTER than it had been. The results of the octreotide scan are in: no masses found in his pancreas - no insulinoma! So it seems the hyperinsulinism may be a newborn thing. We'll just have to wait & see.

So our sweet boy has come a long way, though he still has a ways to go. We're so grateful that he is still here. As he turned 7 weeks old yesterday, we were keanly aware that it was 2 weeks more than we thought he'd have. Thank you, Lord, for each day with this precious little boy! We fall more in love with him each day & at times grow impatient to close this chapter & have him safe in our arms at home. And while every line & scar in him plays a vital role in moving him towards health, our hearts can still feel heavy, wishing he didn't require any of them. So we continue to pray for healing, health, & home. In the waiting, solace comes from the Word. Thank You, Lord, for never leaving our side. During the weeks that we can't hold our sweet boy, we give You thanks that he rests in Your everloving arms.

"The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them." ~ Psalm 145.14-19

Out of Surgery

Dr. Mill just came to update that Isaac has successfully made it through another surgery. A right subclavian Broviac line was established, so we still have access for meds for our sweet boy. Hopefully, this line will remain effective through the duration of Isaac's time here at UNC & will not develop any clots as he needs that access point to remain patent for future surgeries. Dr. Mill successfully placated the right side of Isaac's diaphragm. Time will tell whether the left side will require a placation as well. No problems with bleeding so far. Now we'll let our boy heal from the surgery & hopefully be able to wean him off the vent without need for a trach. As with all surgical procedures, the first 24 hours are the most critical as the body adapts to changes that have been made. Hopefully, this will be the last surgery our sweet boy needs for a while. More to come later...

In Surgery...

Isaac is currently in surgery for the diaphragm placation. While he's under anesthesia, they are also going to put in another Broviac line, since his Subclavian line stopped working. Please join us in praying that the surgery goes well, and that his recovery goes as desired.

Diaphragm Surgery Tomorrow

Isaac will undergo surgery tomorrow afternoon to placate his diaphragm. Basically, the surgeon will go in through Isaac's ribs & stitch down the eventrated (bowed) portion of his diaphragm to where it ought to be. This will allow the diaphragm as a whole to function more efficiently & thus be able to breathe deeply on his own. This will also enable the medical team to better determine whether or not a trach is necessary as it takes the diaphragm issue out of the equation.

So please be praying for our sweet boy tomorrow afternoon! Though this will not be nearly as severe as the open-heart procedure, all surgery carries risk & Isaac is still weak from being so sick. Our prayer is for Isaac to successfully make it through this surgery & then move towards extubation.

Also, Isaac has experienced some difficulties this afternoon. His lactate is now 6.7 & his oxygen saturations have been hanging in the 60's/low 70's. They've increased his oxygen levels slightly to bring up the O2 sats & have stopped his breastmilk feeds for now to see if the lactate will go back down. His nurse will draw another blood gas in a few hours to see how he has responded to these changes. So keep praying..

On a lighter note, today is Jordan's birthday!! My amazing husband is 24 today, so be sure to congratulate him on another awesome year. :)

Progress & Prayer Requests

Our sweet boy is quite a fighter! To look at him, you'd never know he was at death's door twice in the past two weeks. God remains faithful & with each day, we see more of our strong-willed boy's personality come out. :) He has come so far, but still has quite a distance to go.

Medically speaking, we still aren't quite sure what caused to get so sick & then to recover. Our own little enigma. In many ways, it feels like Isaac is picking up where he left off before getting sick two weeks ago. His heart continues to function well & his oxygen saturations have been in the ideal ranges. Our focus has returned to his respiratory & metabolic systems. We're still uncertain of how much Isaac's diaphragm eventration will affect his ability to breathe off the ventilator. The medical team is eager to get the ET tube out of Isaac, whether by extubation or a tracheostomy. He will either require surgery for his diaphragm or to place a trach. The issue of hyperinsulinism has been brought to the table again in trying to determine cause for the flux in glucose & lactate levels. (For the first time in many days, Isaac's lactate was in normal range on Monday! What a blessing to see that "1.7" on the blood gas report. Since then, his lactate has increased up to 4.2 yesterday & then back down to 3.4 This morning, the lactate was at 3.6, so he continues to keep us guessing. This may have resulted from efforts in adjusting vent levels or from starting to feed him breastmilk again through the ND tube.) The muscle biopsy performed several weeks ago revealed pockets of glucose being stored in the muscle tissue, which lends itself to a metabolic disorder - relating to how Isaac's body processes energy. He will have a round of octreotide scans done over the next few days to observe his pancreas & search for an insulin-sucreting mass.

So in short, Isaac is doing much better than a week ago, but still has a long road ahead. The areas of focus at this time are:
- his lactate levels: we need to determine the cause in their continued flux & stabilize the issue.
- his glucose levels: determine source for the hyperinsulinism & whether Isaac has a metabolic disorder. We need a successful round of octreotide scans for this.
- extubation: either successfully get Isaac off the vent & breathing on his own, or undergo a tracheostomy to aid in ventilation. Either way, the ET tube needs to be removed soon.

We're so grateful for all God has brought our boy through & for all He has in store for us in the days ahead. Though we don't know what each day will bring, we're deeply grateful for everyone we have with our sweet boy. Thank you all for your steadfast prayers. Let's keep bringing Isaac before the Lord & watch how He will answer!

Easter::Reflecting on God's Miracles

Another Sunday has come & gone. Sweet Isaac is now six weeks old!



I've found myself in a state of reflection on this, the crux of our faith. It's Easter, the celebration of Christ's resurrection! The past several weeks have taught me in a profound way the depth of God's love for us. As we've journeyed through this trying time, watching our sweet boy struggle more & more each day, we've found rest in God's loving arms. He also has watched His Son struggle & suffer. Through the pain & tears, we've heard His gentle whisper, "I know your pain. I've been there. I will see you through." Because of love, God sent His only Son on our behalf. Because of love, Jesus bore the cross & sin's consequence of death in our place. The perfect sacrifice, Christ rose from the grave, conquering sin & death. Because of this, we can be reconciled to God &, because of love, live our lives for Him. What an awesome & loving God we serve!

Easter rejoices in Christ's victory & celebrates new life. Watching Isaac this weekend, I've been overwhelmed by God's power & the new life He has brought to our sweet boy. By all medical accounts, he should not be alive. Last Sunday, we watched our little boy slip further & further away, unable to stop his decline. Empty-handed, we had nothing left to do but wait to say goodbye. And pray. Pray like we'd never prayed before: prayers of surrender & thanksgiving, prayers of longing & pain. Through it all, God did not leave our side. Because of the cross & Christ's victory, we could come directly to God with our requests, our burdens, & lay them at His feet. Because of "Easter", we could face death with the hope of new life shining through our tear-stained eyes. Holding our dying little boy, we could honestly sing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" & "It Is Well" because the truth contained in the lyrics did not pend on our ever-changing circumstances, but an ever-steadfast God.

In the quiet of our hospital room, Jordan & I now understand the depth of Easter unlike ever before. The love of a God who hears. The power of His Son's sacrifice & resurrection. And the sweet pleasure of watching our precious child, still alive & now recovering towards health. What a miracle! Isaac has been given new life. Though we still don't know the end of the story, we do know that God brought him back from the clutches of death & has touched his tiny body. Every doctor & nurse who cared for him last week has been awestruck & dumbfounded. "It's a miracle!" "He's a completely different baby!" "In my 20 years of this, never have I seen someone come back from where he was, let alone to be doing so well!" And to all of that, we give praise to our God, the Great Physician!

Thank You, Lord, for Your great love & for the hope we can find in You. Thank You for Your Son, for the new life we can have through Him. And while the road ahead is still long & unknown, thank You for one more day with our sweet boy. You are a God of miracles & for that, we give You praise!

Rockstar!

Sportin' the mohawk. Yup. It's official. Isaac Leino is a stud!

Quick Update

Today has been quite busy, so this update will be brief. Thank you all for lifting up our boy in prayer each day. God is faithful & continues to work in our sweet boy's life, even when the medical status seems confusing or contradictory. And while the roller coaster of this journey may be exhausting at times, we remain confident that He has a good purpose for all of this & goes with us through every step. Remember Isaiah 43.2: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you."

Isaac's left lung is open once again! With the combined efforts of his nurses & respiratory therapist, a large mucus plug was displaced & removed this afternoon. The bronchoscopy removed the remaining plugs, allowing his lung to fill with air once more. Thank you, Lord! What a blessing to hear some good news.

His Broviac line had to be removed today due to a leak. Early in the morning, it began leaking fluid & bleeding from the entrance site. Luckily, the doctors were able to place a subclavian line successfully without problems so the flow of meds did not experience long interruption. Isaac is also demonstrating some clotting difficulties, so the chest tube to drain fluid form the abdomen has been delayed. Lactate continues to flux between 4 & 8. Doctors are still trying to determine the cause for this.

That's all for now. Our sweet boy is resting peacefully now, with hopefully an uneventful night ahead.

CT Results & A Collapsed Lung

The results from the CT scan are in: Isaac's GI tract is looking great w/no signs of eschemia or necrosis. There is a large amount of fluid being third spaced to surround his gut, though we're not sure why. His spleen showed some signs of eschemia which we already knew of & does not pose any problems at this time. So good news that Isaac's gut is healthy, but no further answers as to what is causing his continued lactate flux cycle. While we're thrilled that his lactate is no longer in double digits, 7 is still very high as normal ranges between 0 & 1.2. So the search continues.

During Isaac's morning X-ray, they checked his lungs to discover that his left lung has collapsed. This may be the result of accumulated mucus plugs within the lung, though we're not certain. Some non-invasive therapy will be done through tomorrow in hopes of opening his lung back up. If not, they will do a bronchoscopy tomorrow to image what is closing his lung & remove the problem.

Another concern for tomorrow is IV access. Isaac's only access port right now is the Broviac line. Due to the meds needed at this time, he will need another IV port put in place. However, this may be difficult as several access points are no longer patent. So please pray that they are able to successfully find access within the next few days.

Another day down, many more to go. Rest well, sweet Isaac. You've got a big day tomorrow...

CT scan a go!

Isaac had another stable night, getting much needed, peaceful rest. This morning, the medical team thought him ready for another go at the oral contrast necessary for a CT scan. So far, Isaac has shown tolerance to both the oral & IV contrast. The plan is to give him large amounts of fluid so that he can pee off the contrast before it affects his kidneys too much. He has already come back from the scan & now we are waiting for the results from radiology. Hopefully, this will provide the answers we've been looking for. His lactate is up a bit this morning. Also, Isaac has been retaining fluid around his lungs. This afternoon, they will surgically put a drainage tube in place to relieve this fluid pressure.

Once we hear the results of the CT scan, we will let you know. Thank you all for your continued prayers & support for our sweet boy. Let's pray that we find some answers this afternoon!

Thank you all for joining us in prayer & fasting for our sweet boy yesterday. For the first time in a long while, no new problems arose yesterday! Still critically stable, Isaac was able to rest without too many interuptions & was very interactive during his awake moments. He loves to reach his left arm up & grasp the air with his precious hand. He has quite a strong grip! He slept well through the night with no complications & has been quite relaxed so far today. Several people who cared for him through the weekend's difficult events were back today, all thrilled & amazed to see Isaac still here. We've been so fortunate to not only have excellent medical care for our sweet boy here at UNC, but to have developed friendships with those who have cared for him. We remain deeply grateful for the care & compassion they have demonstrated towards our son.

At this point, our greatest concerns remain with Isaac's gut issues. After two sonograms, we're still unable to tell if eschemia or necrosis has occurred in the bowel. He continues to retain fluid around his belly for unknown reasons. Two options for figuring out what is truly happening in his gut are a CT scan or exploratory surgery. The CT scan is the prefered route. However, the medical team has concerns for Isaac's kidney tolerance for the oral & IV contrast necessary for the scan to be effective.

Isaac remains the enigma of the PICU. Our prayer is for the fluid surrounding his belly to go down & for a successful CT scan. We are so grateful for each day with our sweet boy. God has truly blessed us more than we could have fathomed through this journey. How faithful He is!

Day of Prayer & Fasting

Good morning from Chapel Hill! Our sweet boy has made it through another night & has been wide awake this morning, taking everything in through his beautiful blue eyes. Jordan & I both were able to hold him last night for several hours. What a joy to hold your child & in spite of his severe sickness, see him resting peacefully in your arms. For a moment, he can simply be a child without a care in the world. How we love this sweet boy!

Isaac held steady last night, lactate down to 5. But for unknown reasons, this began to climb again, rising to 13.1 in only 6 hours. However, his pH & CO2 levels have not experienced serious flux. Once again, a curve ball has come our way. The medical team will keep a close watch on his lactate today. They've ordered a repeat abdominal sonogram today in hopes of gaining a better understanding of what's going on with his gut. Also, Isaac's blood sugars continue to be elevated.

We would like to ask all who are able, to join us in praying and fasting on Isaac's behalf today. We so appreciate all the prayers being lifted up for him.

3:00p Update

We got the next blood gas report back and it revealed a couple things. His lactate went down from 12 to 6. The fact that it has come down can mean one of two things. It is either a positive result of taking him off the medication Dopamine, or it is a negative result of his bowels dying, thus not being able to produce as much lactate. We just got another test back that showed there was some blood in his stool, which causes us to lean toward the negative finding in the lactate.

His CO2 is up a little bit in his blood, causing it to be more acidic. This was the problem we were facing Wednesday, but not quite as severe as before. His pH was normal again.

It's never too late for God to do a miracle! We know that God has the power to do miraculous healings, and we also know He has a plan for Isaac. So if God chooses to heal Isaac physically, this will be an amazing story for the world to see, of His power and love. If God chooses to heal Isaac by taking him to heaven, this will be also be an amazing story for the world to see, of how He used a little baby to change the hearts of people around the world towards our Savior Jesus Christ!

Still Fighting

Well Isaac continues to baffle the minds of the doctors. For the second time this week, we did not expect him to live through the night, and yet again he is still here. Earlier this morning we got a blood gas report that gave us some better news. His lactate level went from 19 to 12, which is still extremely high (should be between 0-1.2), but it is an improvement. His pH is within the normal range and he is peeing off a lot of fluid, so he looks much better in appearance.

The doctors do not have any definitive answers as to what caused the issues yesterday or last night or his improvement this morning, but we do know he is still very sick and has a long fight in front of him if he is able to live through it all. At this point, we are waiting to get the next blood gas report back to see if we are still moving in the right direction or not.

Patience and I are just taking everything one step at a time. The emotional roller coaster we're on is exhausting, since we never really know what the next minute will bring. Not to mention the exhausting all-nighters we've been pulling this week.

We continue to praise God in the good reports and bad reports, trusting Him with the outcome.

3:45p Update

Lactate now 18. CT scan determined too risky so they are doing a sonogram on Isaac's abdomen right now. Extremities beginning to grow cold from poor circulation.

Jordan & I have the instrumental hymns album playing. Piano, cello, violin. Songs of our great God that we played at our wedding. We now play them to comfort our sweet boy & keep us grounded on the truth we know. It is well with our souls.

2:40p Update

Lactate is soaring, now at 15 & climbing. His oxygen sats are in the 90s, so his lungs are stealing his blood from other organs & extremities.

The only hope for our sweet boy is for a divine miraculous intervention from God.

5 weeks old

In many ways, I don't know what to say other than to ask for fervent prayer. Isaac has shown signs of decline through the night. His lactate levels are dangerously high & we can't figure out why. A CT scan has been ordered for his GI & bowel to see if they are dying. This morning's X-Ray showed lack of gas exchange through the bowel, but we'll have more specific answers w/the scan. However, this is difficult w/Isaac's dependance on a ventilator or bag to breathe, which also brings in concerns of balancing CO2 levels with oxygen saturation. He is also showing worse signs of modeling, patchy discoloration of the skin resulting from poor circulation & severe edema over several days. He's lost another IV access as the port in his foot stopped functioning this morning.

Our sweet boy is so very sick. Please pray for healing & wisdom, but above all, for God's will to be done & for comfort for Isaac. There's not much left to say at this point as all we can do now is pray & wait.

Still Critical

Isaac is definitely a fighter! He's doing slightly better than he was Wednesday night, but is still very sick & in critical condition. The fact that we don't know what caused this week's issues causes concern for the days that lay ahead. Even though his CO2 is down & his pH is looking good, his lactate is too high & his organs are working very hard right now. Every now & then, his heart rate will sporatically escalate for unknown reasons, & also has been having circulation problems in his arms & legs. The edema is beginning to improve though he still has a long way to go.

We are deeply grateful for the flood of prayers & encouragement we've received for our sweet boy. This journey has truly been a medical roller coaster for Isaac, & an emotional one for us. Even though it is extremely difficult, we continue to place our trust in God, knowing He's in control & has a purpose & plan for all of this.

Into the night...

So far tonight, Isaac's heartrate & CO2 levels have slowly been climbing, though not to the severe levels they were last night. Also, he has begun holding onto more fluid, increasing the severe edema again. Doctors are adjusting some meds to hopefully pull off some edema & provide greater stability to his heartrate. Isaac has shown great sensitivity to adjustments of levels, so they are making all necessary changes with great care & vigilance. The severity of Isaac's condition creates a very sensitive balancing act for his nurse & doctors as they proceed in moving him towards a better state. His night nurse spend several years working in cardiology, so she's extremely familiar with HLHS kids. This brings greater peace of mind to Jordan & I as we attempt to get some rest tonight in order to be ready for whenever we're needed.

How to pray tonight::
::for Isaac's heartrate, CO2 levels, & pH remain in safe ranges.
::that he would respond to meds, pulling fluid from the third space back into the vessels.
::for his kidneys - better levels & function in removing excess fluid from the body & thus removing the edema quickly so as not to become septic. Also, for protection from the negative side affects these meds can have.
::for wisdom for the nurses & doctors in caring for him & discovering what is causing these problems.

Thank you all for your steadfast, passionate prayers for our sweet boy & continued encouragement for Jordan & I. Doctors remain amazed that he's made it through thus far. To God be the glory! As one ofthem said earlier, "Miracles do still happen." We've seen God's hand at work today & are asking Him to continue in bringing our son through this valley. God is still in control! Let us pray!!!

6:30pm Update

Here's the latest on our sweet Isaac:

God has been working today in ways that the doctors can't explain. His CO2 levels have come back down to the relatively safe range (from the 120's+ to the 40's) & his pH is now in the normal range as well. His kidney levels have also begun to move in the right direction. Through the night, Isaac's heart rate fluxed between 90 & 200. He has been holding relatively steady for the past several hours in the safe range.

Isaac remains our medical enigma. Everyone continues to scratch their heads with how he has responded, both negative & positive aspects. Prayer is powerful!! Even the doctors have said, "miracles do happen" (this coming from those who didn't expect him to make it through the night). Praise God! So he is more stable than last night, but far from being out of the water yet. Things still causing the doctors to be concerned are his lactate & potassium levels have begun to escalate for unexplainable reasons and he is still retaining a lot of fluid in his tissues. They also remain uncertain as to the reasons causing last night's difficulties. Isaac continues to keep us all on our toes.

Thank you all for your passionate prayers for our family & overwhelming support. We are still taking this moment by moment, thanking God for each bit of progress & laying Isaac at His feet with each set back.

Waiting

Psalm 27:14, "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

Psalm 33:20, "We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield."

Well, we made it through the night, with some small improvements early this morning in his CO2 levels. He is still in the same dangerous place as last night, so we continue to wait and pray. It was a very difficult night to say the least, but that doesn't change the fact that God is in control and is holding our baby Isaac in His loving hands.

We ask for continued prayer for Isaac, and also for strength and comfort for Patience and I (and family) in the waiting.

Thank you for your continued prayer, support, and encouragement.

At death's door...

We just spoke with the doctor's and did not get the news we wanted to hear. In brief, they've "turned over every rock" they can think of and cannot figure out why he is not stabalizing. There are many things happening, as noted in the previous blog, but because his body is not releasing enough CO2, his blood is very acidic...to the point that he could pass away at any minute due to acid poisoning.

Psalm 23:4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

We ask that you pray... pray hard. Our desire is for Isaac to be healed, but above all, pray that God's will would be done and that He would be glorified in Isaac's life and through this situation. We know that God has a great plan for his life, however long or short it may be. Patience and I know God has used Isaac to impact many parts of the world. We are very proud Isaac and of his fight thus far.

Please pray.

CRITICAL! URGENT NEED FOR PRAYER!

Our nurse called us at 6:40a this morning to tell us to get to the hospital when we could - Isaac was now in critical condition.

Here's a snapshot of what is going on:
Through the night, Isaac's carbon dioxide output from his lungs continued to decline despite interventions from the ventilator. They had paralyzed him to allow full control with the vent, but he was still retaining a lot of CO2, making his blood pH levels increasingly acidotic. The more acid your blood, the more strain on your heart. Blood pressure medicines were also restarted to aid his heart. Isaac has now been put on a jet ventilator for greater control of his breathing & to hopefully get the CO2 surplus out of his system.

His kindey levels have continued to climb in the wrong direction, indicating that his vessels are dehydrated. However, he is third spacing every bit of fluid he's given. Basically, he's full of fluid in his tissues & completely lacking in his blood stream. Because of this kidney confusion, they are not sending fluid to the bladder to be released. He's continuing to become more edemedous & is more swollen than we've ever seen. If we cannot figure out why the kidneys are failing in this way, he'll soon run the risk of becoming toxic with the retained fluid. This swelling also is creating increased difficulty to the heart.

There are also signs pointing to a fungal infection in Isaac's system along with the lung staph infection. A skin biopsy has been ordered to go along w/the muscle biopsy performed last Thursday. Doctors performed a spinal tap for infection & fluid last night. Thankfully, preliminary results are positive. Isaac's blood sugars have also been fluxing & so hydrocortizone (steroid) has been administered in hopes of regulating his pancreas' insulin output.

Isaac is something of an enigma right now. Doctors are doing everything they can to figure out what is causing these problems so as to resolve them before he begins system failure. They have been excellent & forthright with us so far. As they have said, Isaac is VERY sick. You can see their great concern on their faces.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ISAAC!!!! His state is extremely critical right now! Doctors are focusing all their attention on figuring out what is causing these problems for Isaac's kidneys, lungs, pancreas & heart right now before its too late. Isaac's state has never been more critical. Join us in lifting him up before God, asking for wisdom & a healing miracle. God still remains in control...that has not changed for one second! As Jordan & I read Isaiah 40 this morning, we were so encouraged as it reminded us that God never tires nor grows weary; His understanding is beyond what we can fathom. He knows exactly what is going on & understands exactly what we're going through in the midst of this. We need to stand firm & in the gap for Isaac. Please pray!!!!!

Weary along the way...

Have you ever run a marathon? You start out strong, your outlook – optimistic. Steady strides & fixed focus move you forward towards your goal. You may even run for quite a while, but eventually, fatigue begins to set in. Often times, you just mentally regroup, perhaps even stopping for a water break. On again you run.
And then it hits. That point where you just don’t think you can go on any more. Muscles throbbing & breath escaping you, the road ahead somehow seems to grow longer & steeper before your very eyes. In your mind, you know that if you remain steadfast, pushing through the pain towards the finish line, that second wind will come & you’ll find the strength to make it through to the end. But you honestly don’t know if you have the strength to take another step, let alone another stride. Everything in you longs to give up as the strain of moving forward seems more than you can bear. Will this road ever end?

Such has been this past week. For whatever reason, this fourth week in Chapel Hill seemed to carry with it a heavy blow. Each day brought new concerns & setbacks to our boy’s progress in recovery, feeling much like one step forward & two steps back.

For several days, Isaac’s oxygen saturations fluxed to concerning lows. He also experienced increased volume & viscosity in his secretions. These conditions made breathing more difficult with Isaac often gagging on the mucus in his throat & lungs. Thus his ventilator settings needed to be adjusted to provide greater assistance to Isaac in breathing. This will most likely delay extubation further & possibly increase his need for the trach. This however is a catch-22 as future open-heart procedures could be affected by having the trach in place. So it’s now a matter of determining the lesser of two evils.

Increased fluid in his lungs, a low-grade fever yesterday, & the finding of bacteria from his ET tube culture indicate that Isaac has the early stages of pneumonia. Doctors have begun a 14-day treatment of Vancomycin & Zocin for this as cultures have confirmed the presence of staph in his lungs.

Following the Broviac operation, Isaac has not tolerated the breast milk feeds, causing him to go back on IV nutrition. He repeatedly spit up for a few days, a result of his stomach being unsettled & gagging on mucus that was caught between the ET tube & his throat. They have just turned his breast milk feeds back on tonight w/an ND tube now in place. This tube bypasses the stomach so that food can go directly into the digestive tract, thus avoiding the nausea spells. Once he shows consistent tolerance to the feeds, the tube will gradually be worked back towards the stomach. The tube may need to be reinserted by radiology under the assistance of fluoroscopy, as it seems to be coiling in his stomach & thus not passing into the bowel.

We discovered that Isaac has an ingeuinous hernia on Friday, which will most likely require a surgical repair. With more critical issues pressing right now, this will be put on the back burner until he nears discharge. So for now, we’ll just keep a vigilant watch to see if it worsens.

Over the past week, Isaac’s blood glucose levels have been unusually low. Several times, his TPM (IV nutrition) has been adjusted to compensate for this drop in sugars, but to no avail. The endocrinology team has closely followed this trend & are concerned that Issac may have hyperinsulinism, a condition where the pancreas exerts too much insulin. Diabetes is where the body has a surplus of glucose & not enough insulin. Hyperinsulinism is the inverse. Another possibility is the presence of insulinoma (an insulin-secreting mass) in Isaac’s pancreas. He will be taken down for an octreotide scan today to look for a mass.

Doctors are also concerned with Isaac’s kidneys as his BUN levels are elevated, indicating that his vessels are dehydrated. However, in spite of the administration of Lasix (a diuretic), Isaac is retaining an exorbitant amount of fluid in third space (tissues). So our boy is carrying a great deal of fluid & yet lacking what is needed in his vessels. Several of the medications he is currently on have renal effects, so doctors are working out a balancing act between them all to give Isaac what he needs right now to his heart & lungs without causing damage to his kidneys.

This road holds many twists & turns. Most recently, uphill in the pouring rain. We don’t know what lies just beyond the next bend. We don’t know how steep this hill may be nor the distance of our journey. But as our muscles strain for the next stride & breath seems just out of reach, we press on for love of our little boy & the knowledge that God has not forsaken us. Our hearts ache for home with sweet Isaac in our arms. God provides us strength for each day & we remain resolved to run on for our little boy as he continues to fight towards recovery. The occasional ray of light breaks through the clouds, reminding us of the glorious sun shining just beyond the grey. And so we continue on, waiting for the second wind to come.

One Month Old!!!

Four weeks ago today, at 3:40a to be exact, our lives were forever changed as our sweet baby boy entered the world. Since then, Isaac has been through more than most of us experience in a lifetime. Watching Isaac sleep this morning, I found myself amazed by all the Lord has brought us through so far & in the midst of the madness, feeling overwhelmingly blessed to have this precious little one in our lives.

I've seen several types of sleep in our sweet boy over the past four weeks. Drug-induced sleep, sleep from paralysis, sleep brought on from sheer fatigue. But today, refreshing & peace swept over me as I saw for the first time the peaceful sleep of a new baby. Amidst the machines & tubes, Isaac lay fast asleep. For a moment, the weight of last week's findings & events melted away as I stood beside my precious baby boy. His peaceful slumber seemed to whisper, "Everything's going to be alright."

Happy Birthday, Isaac! One month down, many more to go..

Back from the OR

Isaac's Broviac procedure was flawless. Dr. Valley, the anesthesiologist from his heart surgery, was present for this procedure as well. He reported that everything happened as planned & they were able to successfully establish a line in his right femoral artery. The external access point is halfway down his right thigh, allowing him to move comfotably & without risk of contamination from dirty diapers. Once all IV lines have been transfered to the Broviac port, Isaac's subclavian line will be removed.

Over the past few weeks, Isaac's lactate levels have experienced repeated waves of flux. Due to this consistent trend, our doctors opted to have a muscle biopsy done today while in the OR. They're looking for the presence of a range of rare mitochondrial disorders. Each cell in our bodies have mitochondria, which utilize oxygen to translate food into energy for the body. The continued lactate surges may be an indication that this part of Isaac's cells just aren't processing correctly. Doctors suspect that he does not have these disorders, but want to be certain to ensure proper treatment. Results will come back in a few weeks.

So that's the latest on our sweet boy. Even in the midst of all this, his personality is really beginning to show through as the sedation meds are weaned. He's quite a feisty little guy! An each time he opens his eyes to take in this huge new world, our hearts simply melt with adoration for our precious son. What a gift!

Broviac Operation

Hard to believe that Isaac is three & a half weeks old already! While some days can feel a bit long, overall the time has simply flown by! He's looking better than ever, waking up more often to take in this new world. He looks more & more like daddy every day!

Today, Isaac will undergo an operation to put in a Broviac catheter. As you know, doctors have had a difficult time keeping cath lines in w/his small size & tendency to develop microclots. The subclavian line has been successful so far, but doctors want to get it out as soon as possible so no problems develop. Once Isaac undergoes the Glenn surgery in a few months, blood from the upper part of his body passively flows back to his heart. Thus, doctors want to keep all upper torso access points as clear as possible to prevent any problems for our boy in the future.

The Broviac is a semi-permenant catheter that can stay in place any period of time from several weeks to even years. Isaac will undergo a cut-down in the OR for optimum sterile conditions. The external access to the catheter is some distance from the internal entrance to the main line, decreasing risk of infection. The Broviac will allow for clean access into Isaac's system without the need for repeated pricks & attempts at temporary lines.

The operation will occur around 2p today, so be praying for our sweet boy. Thank you all for keeping Isaac in your hearts & prayers!

Extubation or Tracheostomy?

(Our handsome son, tape free! Taken today during the tape change for his ventilator ET tube.)


We have received further detail into Isaac's condition regarding the extubation attempt for next week. As mentioned previously, his doctors want to give him a week to optimize his chances for extubation. Through breast milk feeds via the NG tube & gradual ventilator setting adjustments, they hope to strengthen both his lungs & entire body over the next seven days. During the course of the last extubation attempt, the brochoscopy revealed paralysis of Isaac's left vocal chord & collape of the pharynx. Often times, these conditions are relatively temporary & resolve on their own. However, the course of this recovery can run the length of several months or longer. This cannot be determined for certain until recovery actually occurs.

Isaac will have been intubated for a month at the time of reevaluating for extubation. The longer he has the ET tube in place, the greater his risk for induced pneumonia. So this results in two options for Isaac: successful extubation next week or the need for a tracheostomy. A tracheostomy is a surgical construction of an opening in the trachea, usually by making an incision in the front of the neck, for the insertion of a catheter or tube to facilitate breathing. This would allow Isaac to breathe while bypassing the mouth & vocal chords, allowing them time to heal. For full details on this procedure & life with a trach, visit www.tracheostomy.com.

To be quite candid, this news comes as a heavy surprise. Jordan & I desire to do whatever will be best for our sweet son. If the trach is what he needs, than we'll embrace this & learn all there is to know in order to give him the best possible care. As parents, we desire the best for our children. Sometimes, what is best is far from what was thought to be ideal. Our hearts desire that this step not be necessary & that he'll be able to breathe on his own. However, what is best for Isaac is what we will embrace. Even as we've been caught off guard, we remain confident that none of this is a surprise to our great God. He already knows all Isaac needs, all we will need to be the best parents possible for him, & how this all will resolve in the end. And as temptation lulls us into the land of what-ifs & worse case scenarios, we're stopped by the words of Christ - seek Him first & everything we need will be added to us. Don't borrow worry from tomorrow. (Matt. 6) Our God will supply all we need. He is good & His purposes for us are loving & right.

Join us in prayer over this next week for Isaac. Pray for mobility to return to his left vocal chord & strength to return to his pharynx. Pray for Isaac's diaphragm to be able to fully function on its own, pulling in deep breathes without need for assistance or surgery. For these issues to resolve so quickly would be on the side of miraculous, but we serve an awesome God capable of working in ways beyond our imagination. A week of concentrated prayer lays ahead.

A week of strengthening...

Another beautiful day in Chapel Hill & things are looking just as sunny in the PICU. Isaac had a steady night last night, with his pH & lactate levels slowly working their way towards ideal. They began slowly feeding him breast milk through the NG tube yesterday to test his tolerance for it. So far, it has been successful! The doctors have now increased the amount of milk he will receive. They have decided to wait another week before attempting to extubate again. This will give him time to get stronger as he's now receiving breast milk. Thanks to BAZI, the milk being produced has been rich in color & consistancy, indicating optimum nutrition for Isaac. Also, the respiratory therapists will closely monitor his ventilator settings over the next week, gradually teaching his lungs to function on their own.

We are so grateful for the care Isaac has received here at UNC. All of the doctors & nurses have given him such excellent care, concerned with what is best for our sweet boy rather than trying to hit a certain timeline. We're truly grateful for their care & expertise. As we've been here for three weeks already with several more still to come, friendships are developing with the staff of the PICU. What a blessing! Thank you, Lord, for surrounding our boy with such excellent care! So many people have to travel several hours from all parts of the state & nation to receive treatment here at UNC. We are truly fortunate to have this incredible hospital so close by.

This will be a week of resting & strengthening for our sweet son, giving him some much needed rest after three weeks of procedures & interventions. He looks stronger by the day. Lord, thank you for this beautiful boy! We're eager to see all He has in store for this precious life.

Daddy getting Isaac started off on the right foot. Go Gators!


Mommy giving Isaac a bath. Got to get those neck folds clean!

Next Hurdle: Extubation

Our next hurdle is to successfully extubate Isaac. This was not attempted today as the doctors want to give him a bit more time to recover, strengthen his lungs, & decrease the edema in his vocal chords & pharynx. They will reevaluate his stats & ventilator settings each day to determine when optimal time for extubation will be. Once this is achieved, the focus will turn to successful weaning of all narcotics (fentanyl was weaned today) & then feeding.

Isaac has been more active today, moving his arms & opening his eyes from time to time. What a sweet little boy! He's quite a looker :)

Line access achieved...

After several attempts & three hours of work, Dr. Joyner was able to successfully open a port in the subclavian vein (below the left clavical). So Isaac with be able to continue receiving the necessary meds through this new port. Thank you, Lord, for making a way! Our prayer now is for no new clots to develop & a successful extubation tomorrow. Continue also to pray for protection against infection. God is teaching us so much about strength in waiting. More to come on that soon...

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Each step brings us a bit closer to bringing home our sweet boy!

Three weeks old today...

Where has the time gone?! Isaac is three weeks old today & its amazing how much has happened since arriving in Chapel Hill on February 25th. His incisions from surgery continue to heal well & it looks as though the scar will be very thin & small. Dr. Mill & his incredible team certainly did a fantastic job!

Extubation was attempted yesterday. Praise the Lord - Isaac's diaphragm worked correctly during the process, pulling air in on his own! What an answer to prayer! During the procedure, a bronchoscopy was performed. A small camera was passed down his throat & windpipe to look at everything from his mouth down to his lungs. Most everything looked great - no scarring & minimal edema in his lungs. However, Isaac's left vocal chord did not function when breathing & his pharynx was collapsed & swollen. So the breathing tube was left in for now with a second attempt at extubation to be performed on Monday. Sometimes these two situations resolve themselves over time. Sometimes they do not. We just have to wait & see how things progress in the days ahead. Please pray for this as extubation pends on the function & correction of these two problems. Pray that his left vocal chord becomes active again & his pharynx elevates once more.

As you remember, Isaac had another central line put in on Monday as his other IV access lines had become inactive. He also had a line put in his right foot. He has been receiving all needed medications & blood draws through these lines. Last night, his central line began to leak. This morning, doctors attempted to thread a new line into this access port over a wire in hopes of remedying the situation. However, a clot has developed & thus the new line was not able to function. Also, the line in Isaac's foot has become inactive as well. Dr. Joyner & his team are currently trying to establish another point of access on Isaac so that he can continue to receive all necessary meds. One possible new site has already been attempted & failed. They are currently trying another option. Should this not work, Isaac will most likely need to undergo a surgical procedure to gain needed access.

Please pray that this attempt is successful. Being an infant, his veins & arteries are so small, making this process incredibly difficult. To be continued...

Isaac experienced some difficulties today. He had been holding steady through the morning. So steady in fact that our nurse allowed us to hold our boy! Its been two weeks since we'd held him in our arms, so we were beyond thrilled! However, he did not handle this transition well & his oxygen saturation levels dropped quickly to 40-50% within minutes. Our nurse gently moved him back to bed in hopes of stabilizing him. He kept us all on our toes as his sat levels continued to fluctuate. They were finally able to elevate his sat levels to the desired point by paralyzing him temporarily through medication & adjusting his ventilator settings. By paralyzing him for a short time, they were able to keep his body from fighting the ventilator & stabilize. For the most part, his levels have shown improvement over the past several hours, though they fluctuate from time to time. Extubation is now up in the air with these recent developments. Doctors will perform a bag test & echo on his diaphragm tomorrow morning at 9a to determine whether extubation is even an option at this point.

Our prayer through tonight is that Isaac's sat levels will improve & hold steady. Extubation is his greatest hurdle at this point, to be followed by weaning from certain medications & the successful establishment of feeding. Please pray:: for stability of Isaac's levels & strength as he learns to breathe on his own; for continued wisdom for the doctors in assessing & treating problems as they arise; for strength & peace for us as we meet each unexpected hurdle. God has been & continues to be faithful as we walk this journey. We've been so grateful for the care He has provided our son through the nurses & doctors here at UNC. We could not ask for more.

So 9a tomorrow, please be in prayer for our boy as he undergoes the bag test. Hopefully, we'll be able to proceed with extubation. We'll keep you posted! Now some pictures for you to enjoy :)




Isaac showing off his muscles. What a stud!

Status Update...

Today has been a great day for the most part. Isaac continues to hold steady as they've weaned him off the Dopamine (blood pressure medication) & have decreased his ventilator settings to strengthen his lungs. One glitch has occurred with his bowel as he's spit up several times today. They've taken X-rays to determine the cause for this. After extubation, the greatest hurdle towards discharge from the hospital is the ability to feed on his own, so please pray that this stomach issue resolves itself. They've halted feeding of breastmilk via the NG tube until the cause of these nausea spells can be determined. Other than that, Isaac's doing great! Hopefully, he'll be extubated tomorrow. So continue to pray for his diaphragm issue & now his stomach as well. Thanks!

As for pictures:: I'm experiencing some technical difficulties w/the server as far as uploading pics to the blog. I'll have plenty for you once I'm able to upload again. :)

Next Steps...

The sun is shining amidst a Carolina Blue sky here in Chapel Hill. Isaac & I have enjoyed a wonderful morning, listening to worship albums by Lincoln Brewster & Hillsong United. Bringing a bit of C3 to our room here at the PICU. :) The days are slow & steady as Isaac makes progress towards recovery. At times, I find myself impatient, wanting to hold him now & bring him home. But it is in those times of waiting & bringing my tears before the Lord that He provides just the strength needed to make it through. Its a day by day process. Psalm 16.8-10 reminded me of His promises this morning: "I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad & my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure because you will not abandon me to the grave." The Lord continues to remain faithful & true to His Word. Jordan continues to provide strength & peace for our family when fatigue & emotions wear me down. He has been amazing through this whole journey & I praise the Lord every day for blessing me with such a remarkable man for my husband & loving father to Isaac.

Here's where we are in Isaac's recovery::
At this point, they've been able to pull him off of the blood pressure medication as he's holding steady on his own. He is no longer third spacing his fluids & has been able to get rid of a good deal of fluid. He still needs to dry out a bit more so that his lungs aren't wet for extubation. They're in the process of weaning him from the ventilator, slowly decreasing the rate at which air is being pushed into the lungs to teach his diaphragm to pull it in on its own.

How to pray::
The most crucial areas at this point concern his diaphragm & ability to get off the ventilator. He's been intubated since birth, so his lungs have not yet needed to do the work fully on their own. As mentioned before, he has an eventration (doming) of his diaphragm, making it difficult for him to pull down full on his own to bring in deep breaths. The severity of this condition is still undetermined & will remain so while on the ventilator. The last echo done on his diaphragm did not show as severe an eventration as we thought, however this is inconclusive as air was still being pushed into the lungs by the ventilator. Some good news though - when they took him off the vent system briefly, he responded by moving his diaphragm a bit on his own.

So please continue to pray for healing of this eventration & strength for Isaac as he learns to breathe on his own. This is a major hurdle towards being able to bring him home. The goal at this point is to extubate within the next 48-72 hrs is everything remains steady. Once extubated, we'll be able to fully assess his diaphragms condition. Also, pray his blood pressure remains steady without assistance from the Dopamine. These are the major hurdles at this point. Thank you for your prayers!

Central line successful

The doctors were able to successfully put a central line in place for Isaac. They will now be able to administer necessary meds, draw blood, etc, more efficiently as well as remove the previous femoral line & reduce that risk of infection. Thank you for your prayers. Our boy is doing well & sleeping peacefully. What a blessing...

Last attempt before surgical procedure...

Right now, the PICU doctors are making one last attempt to get a femoral line into Isaac on the last remaining access point. Please pray this is successful!! They will need to do a "cut down" if this attempt does not work, where they surgically cut to gain visual access of a central line & then thread the catheter through that port. We hope that this is not deemed necessary, but all that depends on this final femoral line attempt. So please join us in prayer for Isaac. We'll know whether it was successful within the next hour or so.

Genetics Results & Prayer Requests

The reports have come in for Isaac's genetics labs, both the FISH test & full chromosomal work-up. It's official...everything came back NORMAL!!!!! No DiGeorge, no deletions, no duplications, no problems whatsoever! Hearing the news, we felt as though a huge burden had been lifted from our shoulders that we weren't even aware was there. God had given us peace through the waiting & now we can rejoice in the knowing that everything's fine. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. How true You are to Your Word, giving peace amidst the raging sea through the long night, waiting for the shoreline to appear. No matter how dark the storm, the sun's warmth will always shine through in the end. Praise be to our God for this good report!



Prayer Requests::
Isaac is in need of a new PIC line, a catheter port that goes to the heart through which meds & nutrition can be supplied. His first PIC line became infected just prior to surgery, so use of arterial lines & a femoral line in his hip have been used since surgery. His femoral line is now leaking, this being his second line at the site. His former arterial line needed to be removed due to the development of a leak/clot. They have made multiple attempts to put in new arterial lines & a PIC line, so that he can continue receiving the necessary meds & feeds. However, due to his size & fragility, all attempts thus far have not succeeded. A collection of pricks & bruises are all he has to show for these attempts so far.

Our sweet boy needs this PIC line severely - to have adequate access to administer meds, draw blood, give nutrition & to remove the exisitng femoral line which is failing & at high risk of infection due to the length of time which it has been in place. Please pray that the next attempt will be successful. Our next option should they fail again is to surgically create access for a PIC line, which would require more stitches. So please pray that God would open access for this line to be put in successfully.

Jehovah Jireh::The Lord will Provide

Since learning of Isaac's heart condition at 20 weeks of pregnancy, our minds have raced with a million questions. Our faith has been stretched & grown immensely as we've trusted so much in God's hands, waiting to see what He had in store. Isaac's HLHS requires three open-heart surgeries in order to survive with extensive stays in the ICU with each round. Needless to say, the medical bills for such care & procedures surpass anything we ever imagined we'd be asked to carry. Anxiety often looms at the door, seeking to cause worry & desperation as we had no idea how we would afford this large sum. Just as in the Genesis 22 account, we had no idea where the lamb for the offering would come from. We certainly did not have it! All we could do was place that burden in God's hands, remembering His name - Jehovah Jireh - the Lord will provide.

Last night, our church, Cleveland Community Church (C3), had its First Wednesday service. Held on the first Wednesday of every month, we have extended worship, baptisms, communion, & dynamic teaching from Pastor Matt Fry. The service is always one of the major highlights of each month. As Minister of Music & Communications, Jordan leads the worship band & serves as one of the worship leaders for our church. With Isaac's recovery going smoothly so far, he was able to play & lead in last night's service. The night was powerful with over 700 people in attendance & passion for Jesus filling the worship center. Neither of us had been at C3 since Isaac's birth, so the evening was incredibly refreshing for him. Towards the end of service, Pastor Matt & Martha called Jordan to the front of the stage. They gave an update on Isaac's status - the first surgery had gone well with two more to follow. What happened next caught us by complete surprise & will fill us with overwhelming emotion at it remembrance for the rest of our lives. Pastor Matt announced that they desired to take up a spontaneous love offering for us!!! Adequate words do not exist to express our sheer amazement & deep gratitude to our church for their generosity & to our great God for His provision. As Jordan recounted to me later, he was in total shock & completely overwhelmed with our church's love for us & our sweet son whom they've not even met yet!

After the service, several people gave Jordan cards containing financial gifts & Ken Stephenson, our Executive Pastor & dear friend, presented Jordan with the love offering check. This offering far surpassed anything we could have even imagined! God is truly amazing... In totaling the love offering with the other gifts we've received from the staff & other church members, we were brought to tears with what we found. Before Isaac was born, we were given a cost quote of what the surgeries would cost us after insurance and the number was quite great to say the least.

After the tithe, the total of these gifts will completely cover the quoted amount of Isaac's medical bills!!!!!

God is our Jehovah Jireh! He does provide! We had not told anyone what this cost for Isaac's surgeries would be other than the Lord & He worked through His church to provide for this huge need! All we could do was cry & praise God for His faithfulness & love. How can we ever thank Him & everyone involved in providing for our son?! Even now, we are moved to the point of tears in knowing how deeply Isaac is loved. Just as Abraham did not know where the offering would come from in Genesis 22, so we did not know where the provision of Isaac's surgeries would come from. God is the Alpha & Omega. He is the same yesterday, today, & forever. The same God who spared Abraham's son by providing the ram is also the God who spared our son by providing the means for these necessary surgeries! Lord, You are good & Your mercy endures forever!

Thank you, C3, for your faithfulness to the Lord & your obedience to His call. He has used you to help save the life of a sweet little boy & to minister in deep ways to his parents. We are so honored to be part of this great journey with you & to serve our Lord together! For those of you who are not familiar with this life-giving church, please check it out! www.c3church.org.

C3, we love you all & can't imagine being anywhere else than beside you serving our great God! And again, with the deepest sincerity, thank you. Your faithfulness & compassion has touched our family forever!

Closure went well...

Dr. Mill just came to Jordan & I to report the chest closure went as well as expected! They're cleaning up our sweet boy now & then we'll be able to see him again. He was awake this morning before surgery, so we had a great time watching his eyes explore the room. So praise be to our God for the continued good reports thus far! He truly as been gracious to us & each day, we find ourselves thanking Him over & again for the amazing blessing of this little boy. What a gift to have another day with this precious child of His!

The next 24 hours are most critical as his heart adjusts to the change in pressure from having his ribcage closed around it once again. The plan from there is to continue administering diuretics to reduce remaining edema & then work on getting him off the ventilator, at which point the diaphragm issue takes center stage of attention.

So let's praise our great God for His love & faithfulness to Isaac! Praise Him for all He has done, for the success of this surgery & his steady recovery thus far. Please pray against infection, that his body would adapt to these new changes well, & for healing of his diaphragm so he can breathe on his own. Thank you again for your many prayers! It truly is awe inspiring to see the Body of Christ coming together to support this precious child & go to battle on his behalf. Thank you! Jordan & I are forever humbled & grateful for you all.

Chest closure set for 8 am tomorrow!

It's official: Isaac's chest will be closed up tomorrow morning at 8a! Everyone has commented on how well he is recovering from the Norwood, with one nurse saying he is the perfect Norwood case. God certainly has His hand on our boy! Even the doctors & nurses are taking note of it. To God be the glory for the great things He has done & continues to do!!! If everything continues to go smoothly & no further complications arise, we may be able to bring our boy home in the next 2-3 weeks! What a joy that would be!

Dr. Mill is thrilled with Isaac's progress. The O.R. was slammed with multiple surgeries today & would not have been able to see Isaac until 5 or 6 tonight. Wanting to have his "A" Team fully rested & present, he has decided to schedule the closure for first thing tomorrow morning. The procedure will occur in Isaac's PICU room & will take approximately 2.5 hours. We have been truly touched by Dr. Mill's genuine compassion & care for our son, wanting the very best for him. What a blessing! We praise God for bringing Dr. Mill into our lives & care for Isaac. We could not hope for more in the surgeon for our son.

I'm so grateful for the Lord's peace through this process. While watching his ventilator tape getting refreshed, I was overwhelmed with the desire to hold Isaac & be able to take him home. This certainly is a race of perseverance. How true God's Word is - that He will go with us through the fire & never give us more than we can bear. His Holy Spirit remains faithful to bring truth from Scripture to our minds when we need it most. What a friend we have in Jesus. In this world, we will have trouble. But we need not fear! He has overcome the world! (John 16.33)

Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf, for your reminders of the truth of Scripture, & for your friendship. Our family has truly been blessed by you all!

8 days old

It's a beautiful morning here in Chapel Hill & our sweet boy is more handsome than ever! He had several moments of moving his precious arms around & opening his eyes for a bit. With each passing day, we see more of the sweet baby side of him. He was so swollen after surgery from all the necessary medications, bless his heart. Our own little cream puff! He has responded well to the Lasix & has gone from resembling the Michelin Man to looking like our baby boy again. Last night, Dr. Carboneta came by to check on Isaac, reporting that he is progressing in recovery better than they anticipated. Early this morning, Dr. Mill's nurse, Carla, did a squeeze test on Isaac to help determine when he'll be ready for closure of the chest cavity. This test involves squeezing the ribcage back together & watching his levels for fluctuation, such as blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturations, etc. She said he did very well! Dr. Mill will be by later today to assess Isaac himself & determine when they will perform the closing surgery. At this point, they're anticipating tomorrow morning! Our prayer is that Isaac continues to hold steady & Dr. Mill is able to close him up in the morning. A lot can occur between now & then, so please pray!

We still have not heard back from genetics, but did receive some promising news this afternoon. The major concern at birth was the presence of DiGeorge syndrome due to the combination of heart defect, excess neck skin, cleft palate, lower ears (& one malformed). One element consistent with DiGeorge is the underdevelopment or complete lack of the thymus, a organ crucial in immune system fuction & development. During the course of his surgery, Dr. Mill would have needed to move this organ had it been in place to get to Isaac's heart. Carla reported to us this morning that a fully developed thymus was in place during time of surgery! This information is very promising! Praise God! Continue to pray as we wait for the genetics labs to come back, but thank the Lord for this bright ray of hope regarding DiGeorge! With each passing day, our sweet boy looks healthier & more resilient. God is working in our Isaac!

So at this point, the major concerns remain his chest closure, diaphragm, genetics results, & hearing. His left ear appears to have no opening to the canal. Once Isaac is excubated, they can test his hearing. So please pray our boy has the ability to hear!

Jordan & I are doing well. Since Isaac made it through the first 48 hours post-op successfully, we finally had the peace of mind to sleep at the Ronald McDonald House last night instead of staying through the night at the hospital. Rest certainly does the body good! Though this has been a trying week, we've grown closer in friendship & as husband & wife. What a sweet time together it has been.

So overall, things are looking up! Other than losing my new camera, the three Leinos are doing incredibly well. We don't know how to adequately express all our gratitude for all of you, for your prayers & encouragement through this part of the journey. We look forward to one day showing our sweet boy the hundreds of prayers, cards, & notes that were sent on his behalf. What does God have in store for this precious child of His?!



Prayer Requests:
1::Chest closing - no complications, good blood pressure, minimal swelling, lung strength
2::Diaphragm - healing of eventration, ability to breathe on his own
3::Genetics - a clear, good report with no defects or abnormalities
4::Hearing - ability to hear

32 hours & holding steady...

It has been 32 hours since Isaac came out of surgery & so far, he's holding steady. With each lab, his levels are showing to be coming down to their desired ranges nicely. His lactate has gone from 7.6 to 2.68 since yesterday which is awesome! His blood pressure has had some elevations from time to time, but the nurses have been able to successfully level it each time. Dr. Mill has called several times today on his day off to check on our boy & is pleased with his status at this point.

Thank you all for your prayers! It is evident that God's hand is on our sweet boy as he slowly progresses towards recovery. Yesterday, Dr. Valley said it was the smoothest Norwood/Sano Procedure he'd ever been a part of. Praise be to our God! We've been humbled by the overwhelming amount of prayer & encouragement we've received from so many across the globe - some whom we've never met, but in Christ we are family. How awesome it is to see the Body of Christ at work!

Closing Isaac's chest is the next big hurdle. Due to swelling from surgery, his ribcage is still open at this point & the heart exposed. Beginning Monday, Dr. Mill will start assessing when to close the chest, though there is no telling when this will actually be done due to swelling & blood pressure. Once his chest is closed & his levels stable, we can begin assessing his diaphragm. So several hurdles lay ahead.

Please pray for our boy, that his body continues to embrace the surgery. Pray for protection from infections & clotting. Pray for supernatural healing on his diaphragm. Pray for a clear report from genetics, indicating no defects or abnormalities. And pray for Jordan & I as we're here at UNC - that we would be a light to all who care for our son & who also stay at the Ronald McDonald house. Already, there are a few doctors & nurses who stop by our room in the PICU just to check up on Isaac & visit with us. God is using this situation to share hope with others...to Him be the glory! Let's continue to go before our Maker through this journey. He has great things in store. What a privledge to be a part of His plan!


Here are some pictures from the past week. Enjoy!

Out of surgery! Now, a new phase in prayer...

Isaac has made it through the surgery! Dr. Mill just came back to tell us that everything went as expected & the operation was a success. There were no surprises in the O.R. & as Dr. Valley (the anesthesiologist) said, considering the severity of this operation, Isaac tolerated it extremely well. PRAISE GOD FOR HIS STRENGTH & FAITHFULNESS!!

The next 24 hours are extremely critical as anything can happen! We're out of the O.R., but we're not in the clear yet. Please continue to pray as this next phase is just as risky as being on the table. Pray for healing. Pray for protection against infection. Pray that all of Isaac's levels remain steady & strong. Pray for wisdom with the nurses caring for him. Pray for supernatural comfort for Isaac as his body begins to heal. Pray for a miracle with his diaphragm. Pray the genetics labs come back clear. Pray for our sweet boy!

2:18p & still waiting...

Thank you all for praying for our sweet Isaac today. God has provided tremendous peace for us this morning. Even in the n nerves of wondering when he'll come out & how the surgery is going, God has set a hedge of protection around us from fear, anxiety & despair. He is FAITHFUL!! The hymns "Great is Thy Faithfulness" & "I Surrender All" were our anthems this morning during our last moments with our sweet boy before going into surgery. He's still in the O.R. at this point. Here are some pics from this morning. What a blessing - he opened his eyes for us for the first time & looked right at Jordan & I before he went in!!!

Open-heart surgery is tomorrow - Friday, March 2...PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

This is our sweet boy, Isaac! You can see how precious he is & how much is needed to keep him alive right now.


Here is his room at the PICU of UNC Childrens Hospital.


Much has occurred since our last post. Jordan & I met with Dr. Mill & part of his team yesterday to discuss the full details of tomorrow's surgery, as well as clarify the diaphragm condition. Isaac has an eventration (raising & thinning) of the central tendon of his diaphragm. This means he's not able to pull down deep breaths on his own. There is a test that can be done to measure the severity of this, but with his weak condition & impending surgery, they've decided to wait until recovery to address the diaphragm issue. Two possible treatment options should he need it are to placate the diaphragm, which means to stitch it down so that the whole functions more properly - this is done on small eventrations. The other is to put in a tracheotomy for an unclarified amount of time. All that said, his diaphragm condition does not jeopardize surgery. It does however decrease the overall success rate from 70-75% to 50-60%. So please pray! God can do miracles & we're asking him to correct the eventration of Isaac's diaphragm.

Today has held many bumps in the road. Isaac has had several episodes of hypoglycemia, as well as surges in lactic acid (indicating his body is working overtime to function) & random, severe drops in his oxygen saturations. Labs have been drawn throughout the day to try & clarify what is going on, but so far it remains unknown. Doctors are trying to determine this cause - whether infection or change in the heart or something else. Please pray as proceeding with surgery tomorrow pends on what is causing these influctions. It has been scary at times, not knowing the root of these changes. Jordan & I keep reminding ourselves that nothing is a mystery to God & when we walk through the fire, He IS THERE with us!

Isaac goes in to surgery at 7am. The operation will take 5-6 hours if there are no complications. Once he is under anesthesia, all necessary additional lines put in, he will be opened & put on full heart & lung bypass. Once his body temp has cooled to the designated temperature, Dr. Mill will proceed with the Norwood Procedure (see previous blogs for details). At the end of the operation, he will decide whether to close Isaac's chest then or wait a few days for swelling to go down. If the ribcage is closed prematurely, pressure from the swelling will compress the heart, causing failure. Finally, he'll be cleaned up & sent to recovery. The first 48 hours is the most critical, allowing only for parental visitation during this time.

This is a huge surgery! Please be in prayer for our sweet boy! It seems today as though he is under attack, with so many random things coming against him & trying to compromise this life-saving surgery. But we rest in the knowing that all of Isaac's days were ordained for him before there was yet one! (Psalm 139) He is fearfully & WONDERFULLY made! GOD knit him together in my womb & His plans for Isaac are good, for a hope & a future, filled with blessings & not cursings. (Jeremiah 29.11) Who can know the mind of God & who can understand His thoughts? For His ways are HIGHER than our ways & His thoughts HIGHER than our thoughts! (Isaiah 55) In You, O Lord, do we lift up our souls & in You do we trust - our selves & our sweet boy in your Hands. No one whose hope is in You will EVER be put to shame. ALL the ways of the Lord are loving & faithful for those who keep His covenants. (Psalm 25) The Lord is our light & our salvation; whom shall we fear? The Lord is the stronghold of our lives; of whom should we be afraid? We are confident in this - that we will see the GOODNESS of the Lord in the land of the living! (Psalm 27) For we are convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will EVER be able to separate us from the love of Christ! (Romans 8)

No matter what tomorrow brings, God is in control! He has ordained Isaac's days & holds him in perfect keeping the mighty palm of His hand. We will lift our eyes to the hills for there our help comes; it comes from the Lord who made heaven & earth. God, You are in control! While fear & death loom around the corner, our eyes remain fixed on You. You have created Isaac with a purpose & just as Abraham laid his son at Your feet, we lay our son before You - trusting that You will provide!

PRAY!!!!!!

Isaac has arrived!

Where to begin... So much has happened since Friday with even more left to occur. We don't have the words to adequately express our gratitude to you all for your countless prayers for our family. We've been overwhelmed by everyone's love for us & our son through this journey. God certainly has great plans in store for our sweet boy. Thank you all for continuing to lift him up in prayer as each new circumstance arises. Thank you also for your patience with us in getting the blog updated. Between tests & meetings w/doctors & attempting to recover from the whole birthing experience, we've not had two minutes to rub together. I was discharged from the hospital today & we are now residing at the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill, so hopefully we'll be able to get a bit more rest & have a chance to catch up on things. For the sake of time & sanity, I'll just summarize all that has happened to this point.

Birth:
I was awake all through Friday night with lower back pain that continued through the day on Saturday with increasing severity. Around 4:30p, we packed the last of our bags & headed out to Chapel Hill, curious if this was the real thing. We were admitted by 6p & at 3:40a Sunday morning, February 25, Isaac Jordan Leino was born! 7 lb. 10 oz. & almost 19 inches long (48 cm). After a few minutes, they got him breathing & I was able to hold him for a few seconds for a quick picture. Then the NICU team rushed him off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to stabalize his breathing & get all the necessary lines in him for meds, monitoring & oxygen.

Unexpected News:
About an hour after birth, a NICU nurse, Laurel, came to our room to give us an update on Isaac. After much effort, they were able to get all needed lines in to him, stabalize his levels, & do a full evaluation of his health & status. He was now incubated as he was needing to put so much effort into breathing on his own, though breathing room air with low oxygen assistance. Sonogram confirmed the presence of HLHS, so he was now receiving prostyglandin through an IV to keep the ductus arteriosis open in his heart. Laurel told us that several other defects/abnormalities were also discovered, now giving cause for more testing to be done. Isaac has a cleft palate. His left ear is malformed, giving concern to his ability to hear out of that ear. Excess skin folds on the back of the neck were present, which often is indicative of other problems. He also has a spot on his lower back that was discolored & dimpled in, which could mean spinal development problems. Due to the combination of these defects, the doctors decided to do a genetic evaluation, retesting his chromosomes for abnormalities, particularly DiGeorge syndrome. These all had been tested during pregnancy coming back as normal, but it is possible that they may have missed something in the original test. It is also possible to have these defects with no genetic syndrome present, so we will continue to pray that the tests come back confirming that there are no genetic problems.

Some Good News:
On a good note, Patience was able to hold Isaac for the first time since delivery on Monday at 5pm for about 1.5 hrs. This was quite an endeavor since he's hooked up to all the machines, but was a very sweet time of bonding for the three of us. Later Monday night at 11pm, I (Jordan) was able to hold him for the first time. Words can't express the emotions Patience and I felt while being able to hold him close. He's so beautiful and strong through all of this. Even the nurses and doctors have commented on his high tolerance and strength thus far. On Monday morning, they did some sonograms of his brain, spine, and kidneys. This morning (Tuesday), they let us know that his brain, spine, and kidneys look great, with the exception of a small cist on the back of his head and another small cist on his back. The doctor said that they would continue to watch these cists, but have no reason to think they will be a problem. We praise God for these good reports!

Some Bad News:
At 2:30pm on Monday afternoon, they did an x-ray of Isaac's diaphram. They found that his diaphram had not developed completely, resulting in the inability to take deep breaths. This is probably why he was having such a hard time breathing when he was born, which was the reason for needing the ventilator. We spoke with one of the cardiologists, Dr. Buck, today about this finding. He and Dr. Mill (the heart surgeon) had met for a while today discussing the surgery and the effects this finding about the diaphram will have on the surgery. He also spoke of the possibility of doing a tracheotomy to assist his breathing. We don't know all the details about the diaphram and surgery quite yet. We are scheduled to meet with Dr. Mill (the surgeon) Wednesday morning after he's done with a morning surgery to discuss the details of Isaac's condition and surgery.

NICU to PICU:
Just a little while ago, Isaac was moved from the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). In the PICU, the nurses will be able to get to know Isaac, his condition, and care needs prior to the surgery, so that they'll be able provide the best care for him after the operation.

Surgery:
As of right now, the heart surgery is scheduled to take place early Friday morning. Over the next couple days, leading up to the surgery, they will be carefully reviewing his condition and test results to be sure they have all the necessary information needed to be as successful as possible in the operation.

(P.S. We'll post pictures soon.)

We're in labor!

Hey everyone, Jordan here with some exciting news! We're in labor at UNC hospital! The baby will be here shortly. As of midnight Patience is at 6cm and is drugged up on the epidural. We'll give all the details later but we just ask that you be in prayer for Isaac. They're a little concerned about his heart rate right now so they're watching it closely. We greatly appreciate all of your prayers. Thanks!

3 more days!!!

Only three more days til our induction! We'll be going in to UNC at 8am on Monday to get this party started! Jordan & I have been putting the finishing touches on Isaac's room in anticipation of his arrival. Every tme we're in the nursery, we get caught up in imagining his sweet little self fast asleep in his crib. Isaac, we can't wait to meet you!!!

38.5 weeks and counting...

Here's the latest: We had our final visit w/Dr. Strauss today before Isaac's grand entrance to the world. I'm still 1 cm & 100% effaced, having more contractions each day...and night. In light of Isaac's heart condition & all the doctors needed in the delivery room at the time of birth, we've set the induction date: Monday, February 26th. However, in the words of Dr. Strauss, he will be quite surprised if we actually make it to that date. Isaac's very low already & these loverly Braxton Hicks contractions continue to transition into the real deal.

So within the next 7 days, Isaac Jordan Leino will be here!!! Thank you all for your prayers & encouragement through this journey. We're still trusting God, asking for a miracle healing of his heart - whatever form that may take. We'll keep you posted over the next week of our progress. Hopefully we'll be back to UNC sooner than later! :)

Coming Soon...Isaac Jordan Leino...February 25, 2007!!!

Jordan & I ventured back out to Chapel Hill this morning for our 37 week check-up. Dr. Strauss happily reported that our sweet Isaac is growing well, head down & ready to go. 1 cm & 100% effaced, things continue to progress towards his arrival. In light of his heart condition & the hour drive to the hospital, we've nailed down a date for induction. We will induce on Sunday, February 25th, if I've not yet gone into spontaneous labor. So if nothing else, our Isaac will be here around the 25th!!!! 2 weeks and counting, we're still praying for a healing miracle...that the doctors will be amazed as he comes out with a whole & healthy heart. Only God can get the glory for that! And should nothing change in his condition, God will get all the glory as He works through the surgeons hands!

Another great visit to UNC...

Its a beautiful, crisp Friday in North Carolina. Perfect for a trip out to Chapel Hill. Jordan & I met with Dr. Strauss again today for our 35 week prenatal visit. The more we know him, the more we enjoy him & are thankful to be under his care. All the usual vitals came back normal - blood pressure, weight, fundus length. We talked a bit more about delivery & how the baby will need to be monitored during labor. He reassured us that HLHS babies do just as well through the delivery process as any other baby - the difference is once he's out of the womb & dependent upon his lungs for oxygen. We'll head to the hospital once contractions come about 5 minutes apart.
I'd been having great discomfort in my abdomen over the past few days & was quite relieved to hear my experiences to be normal for women at this stage in pregnancy - strong tightening on one side of the uterus, sharp stinging pains on the upper right of my abdomen, lower back pain. He attributed these to Braxton Hicks contractions & my body stretching to accommodate Isaac's rapid growth of late. Finally, our visit w/Dr. Strauss concluded w/a cervix check. Normally, he begins doing these on patients at 37 weeks, but with the symptoms described over the past few days, he thought it best to check it out. "With this being your first pregnancy, I'm sure you'll be at zero &...oh wait...huh...you're already 1-2 cm dilated & 80% effaced. Looks like you'll most likely have a quicker labor than you expected!" Jordan & I were quite surprised, though it made sense with all the aches I'd been experiencing lately. So we'll just keep a vigilant eye on my progress & depending on how quickly I dilate & efface, Dr. Strauss said we'll probably induce sooner than originally anticipated rather than send us home an hour away to progress slightly & then return.
So it seems our Isaac may make his grand entrance in February! Exciting days lay just around the corner!

And his name shall be called...

One of the most amazing & challenging parts of this journey towards parenthood is deciding the name of your child. Much like choosing your spouse, this is a decision that will affect the whole of one's life. In biblical times, names were chosen to portray a characteristic or path for that individual. Sometimes, children were named based on what their parents had learned through the pregnancy.

Both Jordan & I have been privledged with names that carry significant weight in our families. Jordan is in honor of his maternal grandparents, Marston & Virginia Jordan. His name honors both families from which he came - the Jordan family & the Leino family. My name tells the story of my parents journey towards having a child. I am the firstborn child to my parents - after 8 long years of wanting a child; after years of loss, heartache, & trial. Through the long journey to my birth, my parents learned the valuable lesson that God's timing is perfect & even when we don't understand it, we must have patience for His plan. Thus, I have the name Patience as a reminder of all God taught them through those long years.

When we found out that we were pregnant, we wanted to give him more than a cool-sounding name, but one that told a story. Little did we know at the time the journey that lay just ahead of us. Since discovering his complicated heart condition at 18 weeks, we have learned in a profound way new levels of faith & trust in our mighty God. Constantly, we've had to lay our boy on the altar & trust him in God's hands - not knowing what the outcome would be. Through the course of this pregnancy, we've been encouraged & inspired by the story of Abraham in Genesis 22. Abraham had the choice to follow God & lay his precious son, Isaac, on the altar before God. He had to choose & live out faith in God over his son who was most precious to him. And when it seemed there was no other way, God stepped in to save Isaac's life in a miraculous way.

We've gone back to this story countless times through the course of this pregnancy. Often, people hearing our story have told us that they're reminded of Abraham learning to trust God completely with his child. It is a story & lesson close to our hearts, one that parallels in many ways our journey with our son. And so we have decided on his name! Its been on our hearts for many months now, resting to be sure it was right. It is a name that tells his story. Our little boy will be called:

Isaac Jordan Leino

Baby Leino at 34 Weeks

Today, I'm 34 weeks pregnant. Time has simply flown by! Only 6ish more weeks and our little man will be here!

As you know, he has HLHS, a congenital heart defect. He also has a two-cord umbilical cord (normally, this is a three-cord). Due to these two conditions, our Care Coordinator at UNC scheduled a follow-up sonogram to check all the body & size measurements. Dr. Tony Swartz did the sonogram. He actually worked on research w/Dr. Trevett, the man who initially diagnosed our boy's heart condition. Dr. Swartz was delightful, talking me through the entire exam. No wonder my ribs have been aching - his feet are stretched out right under them! Everything is measuring perfectly on our boy, right on track in his size & weight with normal babies! What a blessing! He started out undersized, due to my own nutrition problems & his heart condition. Now he's completely on track! 4 lbs 13 oz! To God be the Glory!! Towards the end of the exam, Tony offered to take some 3D pictures. Luckily, he only had one hand up by his face this time instead of both hands & a foot. So here's our little boy! His chin is tucked down into his chest as he was all balled up. Enjoy!

Our day at UNC...

Thank you all for your prayers & encouraging words! Our day at UNC on Friday was full to say the least. But overall, it went very well.

We began our day in Chapel Hill with Dr. Robert Strauss, one of the high-risk obstetricians. Very comfortable, he explained the basics of the delivery procedure with heart condition babies. In our son's case, the delivery will be treated as normal until he's actually here...other than having ten doctors in the room when I actually deliver instead of the usual 2 or 3. We'll monitor his progress carefully over the remaining 7 weeks. Unless a delivery dilemma arises, there will be no need to induce or go to C-section due to our little boy's condition. As with most first time moms, I'll most likely go past my due date. If I've not begun labor within a week past March 1, they'll induce labor. Dr. Strauss is very committed to not acting preemptively so as to avoid unnecessary C-sections. I'll be having all remaining prenatal visits at UNC from here on out. Both Jordan & I were very comfortable w/Dr. Strauss. So our day started off very well.

Once we had finished w/Dr. Strauss, our care coordinator, Lisa Welborn, took us over to the Children's Hospital for our follow-up echocardiogram with Dr. John Cotton. Along the way, she familiarized us further on the hospital's layout as well as some possible financial programs to help with the cost of his surgeries. Lots of paperwork to go through. Lisa has arranged all our visits at UNC thus far & has been tremendously helpful. We were also updated of a follow-up sonogram for this Thursday at REX hospital. Since our son has a two-cord umbilical cord (normally, babies have a three-cord), doctors recommend a follow-up sonogram closer to delivery to measure the body, checking for any developmental hiccups or signs of problems. So we'll be seeing our boy again on Thursday! What a blessing to see him so often. This element has been one of the silver linings through this trying time as most mothers only have 1-2 sonograms their entire pregnancy. Thankfully, insurance has covered all 9 of ours!

The fetal echocardiogram went very smoothly. The baby was positioned far more favorably this time, so Dr. Cotton was able to get a good view of his heart & how it has developed over the past 13 weeks. He confirmed the HLHS to still be there w/the atretic mitral valve & fibroelastosis of the left ventricle. However, no new complications have presented themselves either! So at this point, everything is on track for his first surgery during the week of his birth. The Norwood Procedure is the first of three open-heart reconstructive surgeries. In this procedure, the large main pulmonary artery & small aorta are fashioned together to make a new, larger aorta. There is a small tube (shunt) put in to connect the lung artery to the aorta. This shunt gives blood flow to the lungs. The wall that separates the top two heart chambers is then removed (atrial septectomy) to allow blood flow between the two atrium. The narrowing of the aorta is then opened & the connecting blood vessel removed. This procedure works to bypass the underdeveloped left ventricle & supply more adequate oxygenated blood to the body. Dr. Cotton reassured us again that though this procedure comes with the usual risks (70% success rate), he saw no indication from the echo that there is anything further going on that would jeopardize our boy's chances at this point.


Upon returning from a quick lunch on Franklin Street, Lisa took Jordan & me to tour the NICU. What a challenging place to be in. Most of the babies here are born prematurely & need constant high-risk care. Many of them were so small, even ranging to those born at 26 weeks! Lisa moved us through the hall fairly quickly so we would not have to dwell on all the tubes & machines connected to the tiny bodies that lay in the cribs. There is one attending physician for every 1-2 babies, keeping care constant & focused. Only 2 visitors are allowed in the room with the baby at a time due to space (as there are six infant stations to a pod), so it will be a juggling act for everyone to see our boy once he's here. The same visiting limit is true for the PICU as well. The babies receive 24-hour care here. Our son will go from the delivery room to the NICU for the days up until his first surgery. Following his surgery, he'll receive care in the PICU (more to come on that later).

After our tour of the NICU, we met with neo-natalogist, Dr. Marty McCaffery. What a delightful man. He talked us through the days between our baby's birth & going into surgery. He'll be one of the four neo-natal physicians in the delivery room with us when our boy arrives on the scene. Our time with Dr. McCaffery was very helpful as he gave us more insight on what our boy's time in the NICU may look life. Babies with HLHS are put on the medication prostaglandin to keep the ductus arteriosis open, thus allowing oxygenated blood to get to the body. There is often a balancing act involved with babies on prostaglandin as they need to get adequate oxygen (often through ventilator) though not so much as to overwhelm the lungs. Sometimes, the neo-natalogists will need to give these babies nitrogen to keep oxygen levels in the lungs around 70-80% SAT. Once the baby has successful transitioned over from newborn circulation, he'll undergo the first open-heart surgery. These babies also receive IVs through their umbilical cord to ensure adequate nutrition & medication as needed. Every baby is different, so the staff of the NICU provides 24 hour care for tailored care to each infant. We were so pleased w/Dr. McCaffery. He spoke directly with us about what care may be necessary during our boy's stay in the NICU while educating us along the way. He was also quite compassionate & by the end of the meeting, we not only had another doctor on our side, but a friend.

Our day came to a close with tours of both the Labor & Delivery floor and the PICU. Lisa was very helpful in getting us acquainted with the Labor & Delivery floor, showing us delivery, triage, & waiting rooms. This wing is just down the hall from the NICU, making our boy's trip from one place to the next quick & efficient. Being a high-risk patient, I'll be strapped up to multiple monitors & equipment during my time at L&D. The room will be quite crowded by the time of delivery, with up to ten different doctors & attendees in the room. This is to ensure the quickest response for our boy should he come out in a traumatized state. However, if he comes out pink & doing well, we'll be able to hold him for a few minutes before they take him to the NICU.

Finally, we toured the PICU. This proved to be the most difficult portion of our day. Every child in PICU has their own room, in part because of the size of all equipment needed. About 30-40% of the children in the PICU at any given time are surgery patients from Dr. Mills, so they are well acquainted with open heart & transplant patients. While the patients here were not nearly as small as those in the NICU, it was more difficult to take as you could see them more clearly in their rooms (the NICU babies could barely be seen over the cribs & equipment). So many of the children were either sleeping or looked worn out, plugged in to several monitors & tubes. A grandmother was rocking a little baby in one room...he looked so small & tired. It is amazing how much some of these children go through so early on in life. Lisa moved us through this portion of the day fairly quickly so as not to dwell too long on the condition of these children. What a blessing to have facilities like this for children who need such delicate & attentive care! Our boy will stay in the PICU when recovering from surgery & then will be moved to the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit), where everyone is fully acquainted with heart patients & surgeries.

So our day at UNC was a success. Jordan & I are now more acquainted with the specifics of our boy's care once he's here, as well as how to get to everything in the hospital. He was definitely my strength during the difficult moments of the day, taking my hand & giving reassuring hugs & kisses just when I needed them most. He has been absolutely amazing through this whole journey, constantly reminding me in my weak moments that our great God is in control & that everything will be fine, no matter what that means. Some days, he'll just hold me close & whisper, "I'm here. We're going to get through this together. God is in control." What an amazing man!

Thank you all again for your many prayers on our behalf. Its shocking to realize that March 1st is just 6.5 weeks away! Keep checking back as updates will be coming more quickly now. This sweet boy of ours is growing big & strong...some days, I wonder how I'll be able to keep up as it seems I'm stretched to the limit already. Pregnancy certainly is a fascinating experience. Here's wishing you all a delightful day! And again, many thanks!

Friday is a big day...

Tomorrow we spend the whole day at UNC. Its going to be a big step in preparing for our little boy's arrival & the days following his birth as his due date is now only 7 weeks away.

We'll begin by meeting with Dr. Robert Strauss, a specialist in high-risk obstetrics. He'll be talking us through the delivery process in light of our boy's high-risk status. Then, at 11a, we have a follow-up fetal echocardiogram with Dr. John Cotton, the phenomenal doctor who diagnosed baby Leino's heart condition & helped us wrap our minds around his situation. The last time his heart was analyzed so closely was 12 weeks ago & as he's much bigger now, we'll be able to see far more specific details about his state. This will allow us to have a better idea of when & what his first surgery will entail - in case there are other problems needing to be addressed as well. Later that afternoon, we'll tour both the NICU & the PICU, getting familiar with the two places our boy will pre & post surgery. Finally, a meeting with neo-natologist, Dr. McCaffery, to go over our boy's care post-birth.

This is a big day. Please be praying for Jordan & I as we'll be having to take in a lot of information & surroundings. We're still praying that a miracle occurs as God is more that able to heal his heart. However, even if nothing changes in our boy's heart, we still trust & love Him, knowing His plan is perfect & He has this situation in complete control. So please pray. Pray for the doctors, for wisdom in everything that will occur tomorrow. Pray for our boy, that he continues to grow strong & healthy. And pray for Jordan & I, for the ears to hear whatever may need to be discussed tomorrow & the faith to fully trust our God in the face of all of it as we learn more of the specifics.

God's plan for our boy & us is great. We know He loves us so much! Our eyes are fixed on Him.

you must have been a beautiful baby...

Happy New Year, everyone! 2007 is here in full swing & our little boy's arrival is now within the two month window. Time is simply flying by! Jordan & I spent time in Annapolis over Christmas with the Roddy fam. We had such a wonderful time! Its always a blessing to spend time with family - especially Ian whom we hadn't seen since last Christmas - & to deviate for a while from the usual routine of life. Mom & Corinne also threw us a surprise baby shower while we were there...so sweet! The women overwhelmed us with their love, generosity & prayers for our little boy. Lots of baby clothes & adorable stuffed animals. Thank you!

While we were in Annapolis, a dear family friend gave us a 3D Sonogram session! Nancy works for the Severna Park Pregnancy Clinic (www.pregnancyclinic.org). An amazing facility, it used to be the largest abortion clinic in Maryland. Now, it provides hope & the option of life to pregnant women! Some times, women will come in expecting to get an abortion done, not knowing that the previous clinic had moved. But praise the Lord! They are met by loving women who educate them, show them sonogram images of the child inside of them, & equip them to choose life for their child! Its a wonderful place!

Well, Nancy generously offered to provide us with a 3D Sonogram of our boy! She spent an hour working to get some good view of his face. Mr. Personality had both arms & at times, a leg in front of his face for most of the session :) But thankfully, she was able to capture some sweet shots of his precious face. He's adorable! And so far, we all think he resembles Jordan. So enjoy these new pics of our baby boy!

registry remedied...

For those who have been asking, our registries are with Target & Babies-R-Us. However, we came to discover that they both were set up incorrectly. But thankfully, the technical problems have been remedied & both can be viewed online now. Just search for either Jordan or Patience Leino. If a password is requested, enter "babyleino". Sorry for the confusion...

third trimester...

Time just seems to be flying by! So much has happened in the past month & its hard to believe that in just 12ish weeks, our little boy will be here! He's grown quite a bit over the past four weeks & the baby bump is large & in charge now! As of December 1st, he's grown to 2 lbs 2 oz, putting him in the 44th percentile at this point in the pregnancy. Babies with HLHS usually are on the small end of the growth scale, so he's doing great!
Jordan & I have been busy getting things ready for his arrival. We've cleaned & organized every room in our house & are ready to begin transitioning the office into his nursery. While we were in Tampa over Thanksgiving, some friends Jordan had grown up with threw us a delightful baby shower, so we now have some baby clothes hanging in his closet. So precious! Currently, we're finalizing our registries at Target & Babies-R-Us. Who knew babies needed so much stuff! We're hoping to nail down a room design theme & bedroom set today, while we've knocked out most of the other big items, such as a stroller, car seat, etc. ConsumerReports.org has been tremendously helpful to us new parents in knowing what's tried & true.
More excitingly, we've narrowed the baby names list quite a bit & are beginning to really feel some direction for what his name will be. Growing up with an unusual name that tells part of my story, I would love to pass that on to our son. So that whenever someone asks him, "hey, why did your parents name you __________?", he can share the testimony of the great things God has done in his life, carrying him through the HLHS to victory! So something meaning "overcomer, warrior, God is my strength"...along those lines. We'll keep you posted on our progress with the name :)
On December 1st, we had a sonogram at UNC to give them their own view & records of our growing boy. Boy, was he feisty & proud that day! Shortly after getting him on screen, he did "The Worm" move for a while...he's got rhythm already! :) It had been about a month since the last sonogram & Jordan & I were amazed with how much he has grown! You can clearly see where the cartiledge is becoming bone & muscles are strengthening around his long legs. That day, he had decided it would be fun to see how far down in mommy's hip he could bury his little head. No wonder my leg had been cramping all morning! We weren't able to see his little face well w/the position he was quite content in, but the back of his head was looking just fine. With his growth, we were able to have a better view of his heart. Nothing has changed in that arena. The HLHS is still very present, w/the missing mitral valve & fibroelastosis surrounding the left ventricle far more visible now. The good news is that no additional problems have presented themselves. So other than his heart, he's growing perfectly! His kicks get stronger every day. What a blessing to feel his life moving about within throughout the day. There are many nights that Jordan & I just watch my belly move about as he plays inside. We can't wait to meet our little boy & kiss his precious face!!
As many of you know, we've been in the process of determining whether to have the Norwood Procedure done at UNC of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where the procedure was developed & HLHS babies are operated on every week. Our care coordinator at UNC was kind enough to set up a meeting w/Dr. Michael Mills, Chief of Cardiothorasic Surgery at UNC. We spent an hour & a half with him, asking questions about his background & experience w/HLHS & Norwood Procedures, to determine our comfort level w/having our boy operated on at UNC. Dr. Mills was simply delightful! Brought to UNC in '88 to develop the heart & lung transplant program, he has been performing the Norwood on infants since '91. His success rates are equivalent to the national standards put out by Children's in Boston, Philly, & Ann Arbor, which is 70-75%...awesome! Granted, with the mitral arteriosis & fibroelastosis of the left ventricle, our boy is towards the 70% range of that rate, but luckily Dr. Mills is familiar w/this form of complication & had much success before. He works with a very close-knit team in the O.R. & while UNC is a teaching hospital, Mills will be the principle surgeon on our son. No one's learning on our little boy...we're only having experienced hands in his chest.
The meeting was truly such a blessing to us both! We left feeling tremendously encouraged & more hopefully in the face of these surgeries. He explained why they wait 3-7 days to do the first operation: this allows the infant time to adapt to living outside of the womb, strengthening the lungs & digestive system, & ensuring that he does not go into surgery with any illness. Babies who undergo the Norwood Procedure between 3-7 days after delivery do much better than those that go under the knife just hours after birth, both in surgery & in recovery. The entire procedure will take only 3.5 -4 hours. Most of the babies Mills has operated on w/o complications have been able to go home around 2 weeks after surgery, which is shorter than we expected. We will be able to hold our son from delivery till surgery. After about 2 days post-op, we'll be able to hold him again. The greatest determinant to the amount of contact we can have with him is his need for a ventilator, as that would only allow us contact through touch rather than holding his whole body. On any given day, 30%-40% of the infants in the PICU are those Mills has operated on, so they are very familiar with infants who have undergone open-heart. God has put our worries to rest once again by bringing us to the perfect people to help our son. What a loving God He is! He has everything under control!
So that's all for now. Updates will come more frequently now as the doctors visits increase in regularity & the countdown to his arrival comes to a close. This has certainly been a time of testing & faith, but praise be to our awesome God who carries us through every fire & flood. As our friend Tami Poland stated so eloquently last weekend in service: no matter how grey the sky appears, nor how loud & long the thunder rolls, behind those clouds God is ever-shining. Even when we can't see its light nor feel its warmth, we can have hope & joy knowing He is there in complete control & shining His love & light over the whole earth even still.
While we don't know the outcome of this situation yet, we have confidence in our God & that He is in complete control. When fears, doubts, impending medical bills, & dire diagnoses try to cloud our minds & hearts, His rays of light & truth prevail. For He is the First, the Last, the Great Physician, the Everlasting One. From Him & through Him & to Him are all things! To Him be the glory, now & forever more. Amen!

thank goodness for nutrition!

As most of you know, I've been quite sick through out this entire pregnancy. 24-7 morning sickness, migraines, muscle cramps, etc. Needless to say, it has not been the joyous, glowing pregnancy we'd thought I'd have. However, thanks to our incredible families, Jordan & I were able to travel up to DC in mid-November to have some nutritional testing done. Dr. George Mitchell, a phenomenal internist & old family friend, collected & shipped blood & urine work to the MetaMetrix Laboratory in GA to have an ION (Individual Optimal Nutrition) Profile done on it. MetaMetrix is the world's leading functional laboratory, performing services for medical & research groups globally. The ION Profile is a sophisticated testing process that analyzes the individual's nutrients on a molecular level, determining on an individual basis what the body is getting too much of or lacking & how best to supplement it for optimal cellular health & function. This Profile performed tests on the amino acids in blood plasma, homocysteine in blood serum, mineral (element) analysis in the red blood cells, fat-soluble vitamins & lipid peroxides in blood serum, & organic acids in the urine. If it sounds complex & confusing, that's because it is! For more information on the ION Profile & all the specifics therein, visit http://www.metametrix.com/TestServ/default.asp?PageID=1.
Three weeks after the blood & urine work was collected, we received the full 16-page Profile report. No wonder I had been feeling so sick throughout this pregnancy & even weak before conceiving...I'm a nutritional mess! The results allowed us to determine that I've had a chronic yeast infection in my digestive system for quite some time now, explaining the multiple symptoms I constantly was experiencing as well as the depletion of my nutrients even though I'm a healthy eater. So between the chronic infection & this little baby, I was nutritionally depleted in many areas. The ION results were then compiled to create a customized formulation to restore & balance my entire nutritional spectrum, down to the amino acid level - which of the 10, I was alarmingly low in 8 of them. Dr. Mitchell also put me on a strict yeast-free diet to eliminate the chronic infection through nutrition, as I can't take any medication currently due to pregnancy. No sugar, white flour, lactose, or eggs. While it has been difficult & at times creative adapting to this new eating plan, words cannot describe how much healthier I feel! Between the diet & 25 supplements I'm taking daily (no worries...all natural, custom-formulated, & pregnancy friendly), I'm feeling more like myself than I have in a long, long time. People seriously underestimate the difference good nutrition can make! The migraines have gone, no IBS problems, edema has not recurred, muscle aches don't haunt me throughout the day, I can't remember the last time I had a bought of morning sickness since beginning this regimen. And to top it all off, our baby is now getting the full nutrition he needs to grow healthy & strong! Dr. Mitchell has formulated my supplements to specifically strengthen the development of cardiac tissue, so as to give our son the best chance possible while still developing. Isn't God good?!?!?!!!!
Jordan & I are truly humbled & grateful to have had this opportunity. Thank you to the Leino parents for providing the means for us to get to DC to have all this testing done. Thanks to the Roddy parents for both arranging & supplying the testing & necessary supplements. This is all something we could never have had the opportunity to do on our own. Thank you, thank you, thank you to our families!!! Once again, God has provided what we needed most & has brought us closer together through the process. Its wonderful feeling healthy again, able to enjoy time with Jordan before the baby is here & simply experience more of life once again rather than being bound by physical ailments.
Praise be to our loving God & thanks again to our amazing families! We love you all so very much!

more details on what lies ahead...

Its hard to believe that we're already 5 months into this pregnancy! Baby Leino has been moving a lot over the past several days, to the point that you can see it happen. Jordan was able to feel him for the first time recently, making this journey even more real for the both of us. He's growing quite a bit. Every morning, I wake up feeling a bit bigger (pictures soon to come). It certainly is an exciting time!

We've been fortunate to qualify for the Perinatal Care Coordinator program at UNC. Based out of the Center for Maternal & Infant Health (www.mombaby.org), our coordinator takes point on arranging all of our appointments, procedures, etc. She will meet with everyone involved in the full care of our baby each month to keep everyone on the same page & moving forward. Accessible to us at any time, she either knows the answer or can obtain the answer to any question we may have as his arrival approaches. What a blessing this is! We no longer have to worry about keeping everyone up-to-date. She'll also arrange tours & meetings for us of all the locations our baby will be treated & everyone who will be working with him before D-day. Once again, God has provided us the best possible care within this difficult situation. He is so good!

Our pediatric cardiologist, Dr. John Cotton, has also been tremendously helpful. Taking the time to personally answer our questions, giving us a better grasp on what our baby's arrival & days following will look like. At this point, we'll have a normal, spontaneous delivery. He'll undergo the Norwood Procedure 3 to 7 days after birth. Following this first open-heart surgery, he'll spend approximately 1 month in the hospital, going first to the NICU, & then the CICU (Cardiac Intermediate Care Center) once he's not in critical condition to continue his recovery. The CICU is a step-down unit for all children who have undergone heart surgery. Once he is taking all medication & food orally, he should be able to go home.

Initially, he'll be fed through an NG tube (naso-gastric) while recovering from surgery to supplement his nutrition intake for better recovery from surgery. He should be able to come home after 4 weeks or so assuming no other complications arise. If for some reason he still needs the NG at the time of release from the hospital, UNC will send someone to our home ahead of time to set it all up for us & teach us how to operate the equipment. Other than this, he will not require additional equipment for life at home post-surgery.

So that's all we know at this point. We're still praying for a miracle by God's healing touch. But even if nothing changes, we know that He'll provide everything we need to make good decisions & care for our little boy, however long he may be here - be it a few days or a lifetime. He is in control & we give Him all the praise for the great things He has done. With every kick from within, I'm reminded that God is crafting his little body & nothing is a surprise to Him. We are so excited for all He has in store for the three of us!

its a beautiful day!

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!

Jordan & I received a phone call late yesterday afternoon that the full amnio report had come in & we could call the doctor first thing in the morning to discuss the results. Well, after a long, sleepless, prayer-filled night, we made the call this morning.

The entire amnio report came back NORMAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, Lord!!! Now we know for sure that other than his heart, our little boy is perfect & healthy! An who knows, there may be more miracles to report in the days ahead! This news honestly came as quite a shock to our family & doctor, as his case of HLHS is so severe. What a blessing! Now we can move forward with surgery plans without the worry of other possible complications.

Thank you for your continued prayers & words of encouragement. Though this journey has not looked anything like we thought it would, God is showing His mighty hand & great love for us every step of the way!

Give thanks to the Lord, our great God & King. His love endures FOREVER!!!

A ray of light amidst the storm...

God is so good!

The preliminary results of the amniocentesis fish test have come in. This test is for the presence of extra chromosomal 21, 18, 13, & the gender chromosome. This included severe syndromes such as Downs & Edwards.

Well, praise the Lord, the test came back as NORMAL!!! What a blessing & truly an unexpected one with the severity of his heart condition. Any one of these extra chromosomes would have compromised his eligibility to have the necessary surgeries once he's born. We will have the full report by the end of this week, which screens the full spectrum of chromosome abnormalities. But what a step in the right direction!!! After several weeks of hearing bad & worse news with every doctor's visit, this certainly is a blessing!

Thank you again for your many prayers & support. To God be all the glory & praise!

The miracle of life...

Thank you so much for visiting our site! Jordan & I are now 22 weeks pregnant w/our first child - a son! We're so very excited that God would bless us with a child! We did not plan to become parents so soon, but have once again learned that God's timing is absolutely perfect! We couldn't imagine any other route at this point...How exciting! While this is a wonderful time, there is much need for prayer.

We've known for about a month that he has a heart defect, but could not determine at the first two ultrasounds what it was due to the baby's position, contractions, etc. Thankfully, UNC Chapel Hill Hospital is nearby & we were able to get answers two weeks ago. Our little boy has an irreversible heart condition called HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome). This syndrome is comprised of several heart defects, most notably a severely underdeveloped left ventricle & aorta. Right now, he's fine while in the womb since the whole heart is working together to distribute healthy blood to the entire body & the placenta is providing the oxygen needed to his blood. However, distribution of oxygenated blood to the body is entirely dependent on the left ventricle & aorta after birth, & thus presents a huge problem as his heart will not be able to do this on its own with this condition. Survival after birth is dependent on one or both of two options. This first is a process of 3 open heart surgeries, the first occurring during the first week of his life & the last at two years to fully reconstruct the structure & flow of the heart. The other option is a full heart transplant in order to survive once he's born. Both options are equally viable & risky. Simply put, he cannot survive w/the heart he currently has. There is no specific known cause for this condition, simply something that can develop in some babies. Thankfully we were able to find out about this now, so that plans & surgeries can be put into place once he's here. Otherwise, he would not last one week after birth if left untreated. The form of HLHS which he has is an extreme case, with other defects such as a missing mitral valve & endocardial fibroelastosis, which means the left ventricle is completely made up of scar tissue at this point, preventing it from both developing & functioning. We learned last week that these added complication prevents him from being a candidate for an in utero procedure at Boston Children's Hospital, but at least we know we've tried all we can in that arena. To learn more on this condition, visit www.mayoclinic.com & search "HLHS".

Hard news to take, but this is God's baby & His ways are higher than ours! We're praying for healing & that all will be amazed at what God does, whether that is the supernatural healing of his heart or the success of these surgeries. No matter what, we know God is in control & He will provide everything we need to walk through this.

So please keep our family in your prayers. It is difficult at times, finding the balance between healthy grieving over the situation & making the plans that now seem necessary once he's here, and maintaining faith & trust in God...because there is NOTHING He can't do! What a roller coaster :) We appreciate your prayers for wisdom during this time as we go through more tests to learn more of what's going on with the baby & to make plans for once he's here in light of his medical situation. God has provided some of the very best medical facilities & options available just a few cities away from us - what a blessing! He is in control & our eyes are on Him.

That's the scoop on our little boy. Keep checking this site for updates on his status as we learn more about his condition & make plans for the necessary surgeries once he's here. God is in control!!

Diagram of a Normal Heart


Diagram of a Heart with HLHS