2 Months Old!

Josiah turned two months old on Wednesday!  He also received his immunizations the same day and thankfully he did not react to them.  At his visit to McMaster on Tuesday his weight was recorded as 12 pounds and his cardiologist was very pleased with how he's doing.  The doctor's main concern is the leakage in Josiah's primary heart valve.  We won't know if the leakage has increased until his next echocardiogram near the end of July.  He said it's possible that the BPCS surgery (explained in a previous post) would reduce the load on the heart and that the leakage would decrease without needing to do anything to the valve.

Isaac also had an important day this week - he is now a year and a half.  He certainly makes us laugh but he also keeps us on our toes as he tests the limits.  Does disciplining your child get easier over time?!

The attempts at bottle feeding haven't gone well yet.  The main advantage to being able to bottle feed is that the doctors could easily increase his caloric intake in hospital if necessary after surgery.  Of course, if he didn't need surgery until he could use a sippy cup, that would work too (this would involve one or two miracles!)

Josiah has had very fussy feeds of late.  We'll talk to the paediatrician about this on Monday.  We're having him sleep on a slight incline and that has improved the nights to some degree though he's still on Elizabeth a lot.

It was nice to visit Listowel Pentecostal Church a couple of weeks ago (where Graham's parents attend).  We appreciate all the people there praying for our family.

Apart from visits to the paediatrician, Josiah's next heart visit is at McMaster on July 12th so there may not be much news until then as we're praying that all continues to go well.

Prayer Requests:

• That the leakage in Josiah's heart valve would stop
• Wisdom as we discipline
• That Josiah would learn to take a bottle and that he would feed well
• That Josiah would consistently sleep in his crib

Thanks for your prayers and support!  We are blessed beyond measure.  God is good.  We are thankful for the last eight years of marriage that we celebrated on June 12th.  Where does the time go?

Blessings,

Elizabeth and Graham


P.S. We're looking forward to Josiah's dedication to the Lord on July 15th.  All of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins will be there, including those from Ottawa and British Columbia!!!

P.P.S. In honour of our anniversary last week, we thought you might enjoy this song by JJ Heller. 

Great Expectations

Josiah at one month

Sorry for the long delay.  We are in need of more sleep.  We are ever hopeful that Isaac will return to sleeping until a reasonable time in the morning (now that he has recovered from his throat infection and fevers of last week). We are also praying that Josiah will find peace in his crib and not just on his Mommy during the night.

Last Thursday we had another surprise trip to McMaster due to Josiah's high heart rate and low oxygen saturation levels.  The results of his ECG and echocardiogram were positive except that the leakage in Josiah's main heart valve (between his atria and one large ventricle) has increased.  Josiah was taken off his diuretic medication. 

This past Tuesday we were at SickKids, and his cardiologist was very optimistic.  He doesn't expect his pulmonary stenosis to increase and he said that the leakage in his heart valve is mild to moderate but not something that needs intervention now.  Josiah's heart rate and oxygen saturation levels were both good.  The holter monitor report showed that Josiah has a mildly rapid average heart rate with brief episodes of a very fast heart rate.  These are irregular and the heart slows down afterwards.  They'll keep an eye on this but the doctor wasn't concerned.  He asked us to come back to SickKids in two months time and to go to McMaster in one month.  In the meantime, we'll visit the local paediatrician once a week (instead of twice weekly) and continue to monitor his health while praying for his healing.

Isaac at 17 months

When Josiah is three months old, the cardiologist will start presenting him to the surgical team at SickKids to discuss options.  If Josiah needs surgery before he is four months old, it would probably be due to his pulmonary stenosis.  Thus he would need a shunt to keep his pulmonary artery open wide enough.  If he doesn't need surgery until after four months old, he will have the BPCS (Bi-directional Cavo-Pulmonary Shunt) which channels the blood from his two superior vena cava to the pulmonary arteries.  During either of these surgeries, the collector veins that travel from his lungs through his liver would also be redirected to go directly into the heart.  The cardiologist noted that the BPCS would be ideal around 6 months of age but the surgical team may want to do this earlier due to the issue with the pulmonary veins going through the liver.

We are very thankful for this great report and we are looking forward to this upcoming season of fewer visits to hospitals.  This weekend we are going solo without any grandparents around so we are praying it all goes smoothly.  We have certainly been spoiled with all the extra help in addition to the meals, gifts, cards and encouraging words from family, friends and coworkers.  It's great to know we're not in this alone!

Some prayer requests:

• That Josiah remains "balanced" and that his pulmonary veins do not become obstructed.
• That Josiah would sleep in the crib during the night.
• That Isaac's sleep schedule would improve.
• That we would have wisdom in making decisions regarding Josiah's health, and that we would be alerted to any negative changes in his condition.

Thanks again for your prayers.  Happy Victoria Day long weekend!

Blessings,

Graham and Elizabeth

Great Health Care!

Hi Everyone,

This morning Josiah's paediatrician noticed that his heartbeat was still quite high (as it was on Monday morning).  We let SickKids know and they arranged for us to go to McMaster Hospital today.  The nurse practitioner there thought Josiah was breathing faster and working harder at breathing.  She also thought Josiah was retaining some fluid so he has been put on a low dose of medicine to help with the fluid issue which should also decrease his heart rate and breathing rate.

Josiah was planning to meet his family doctor this afternoon so that appointment has been rescheduled for next week (we currently have 4 appointments next week but three of them are local).  On Monday he will have a VCUG at SickKids to check that his kidneys and bladder are working as they should.  We were told that having a catheter may be uncomfortable for Josiah so we're praying it all goes well. 

Josiah did not want to go in his bassinet last night (we're not supposed to let him cry very much) so it made for a long night.  We're hoping for more sleep tonight!  Our $7 purchase of a bouncy/vibrating chair off Kijiji has proved to be a good investment.

We are doing well.  Graham worked three days last week and is back full time this week.  Josiah rarely fights when starting to nurse so that is a very positive change (especially because he seems to nurse all the time).  He has now nursed in several waiting rooms so he's made a lot of progress.  Isaac is wonderful and makes us laugh all the time.

Blessings,

Graham and Elizabeth;

Two Weeks Old

Dear family and friends,

Josiah has been home from the hospital for a week.  He is feeding better and growing.  We actually ended up taking him to the local Emergency Department at 3:30 AM on our second night home as his breathing and colour had changed but thankfully he turned out to be fine. All of the doctors and nurses were wonderful and very understanding. 

We met his paediatrician on Wednesday morning and we'll see him twice a week for now to ensure he continues to grow.  We were asked at SickKids if we knew of a local paediatrician for Josiah and were told that it can be hard to get one outside of Toronto.  Elizabeth remembered that her nieces had gone to one and suggested his name.  It turns out that he trained at SickKids years ago and specialized in neonatology and was specifically interested in isomerisms (Josiah has right atrial isomerism).  He said that many paediatricians wouldn't be familiar with isomerisms (as less than one percent of babies with congenital heart defects have an isomerism).  Once again, God has provided the perfect doctor.

We were at McMaster on Thursday for another echocardiogram, ECG and general checkup.  His oxygen saturation levels remain at an acceptable level, and there is no obstruction in the veins, which is very good news.  The cardiologist was very pleased with Josiah's status.

Isaac is a good big brother, but he does not always understand why he can't have Mommy to himself.

The next few weeks are full of appointments with the paediatrician, our family doctor, and cardiologists at SickKids and McMaster, as well as other departments at SickKids.

Some prayer requests if we come to mind:

• That Josiah's nursing would continue to improve, and that he would continue to put on weight.
• Safety during all the travel to and from appointments.  We always have to be mindful of where we can stop as we are not supposed to let Josiah cry too much, and sometimes the car seat bothers him.
• That Isaac would adjust to being a big brother.
• That Mommy and Daddy would get some sleep. =)
• That God would continue to give us wisdom in making decisions.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support.

Blessings,

Graham and Elizabeth