Hey everyone,
My sister has a new roommate named Laura who is an INCREDIBLE photographer! She took some wonderful pictures of the kids this week while I went to have an ultrasound. I'll include a link to the photo album of the kids and then I'll add her blog info so all of you can contact her to do your photos. She does incredible photos of weddings, kids, musicians, still life's, you name it. Just moved to Nashville from Chicago and is making a splash in town.
Thanks for looking,
Beth
http://dartphotographie.smugmug.com/ (just click on Max, Zoe and Tia and you can look through all the photos)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Muddy day
Hey everyone,
This is a picture of Max and Zoe playing in the rain and mud. Looks like fun huh? They had so much fun and it lasted about 1 hour or so. It was worth all the laundry and baths following. I know my parent's let us play in the rain and mud and I loved it! So we're passing that fun on to our kids....
have a fun one,
Beth
Monday, June 8, 2009
The 3 year old feeding the 1 year old
These are great pictures of Max feeding Tia. I just love how cute and happy they both look. Now the reality of these pictures is that the feeding lasted about 1 minute for the milk and food. Max lost interest really fast but I was faster and got a couple of cool shots.
lots of love,
Beth
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Eli update #4
Hey everyone,
Here is an awesome update that my husband Todd put together explaining everything from last Wednesday.
We both left there feeling encouraged by the news and with the relief that we at least finally know what is going on. Here's the skinny.
Eli has Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This condition starts as Critical Aortic Stenosis and turns into the former.
This means that his left ventricle is small and not functioning well. There is some flow and the aorta is small, but not extremely small (a good thing).
When Eli is born he wil be stabilized immediately and then will have his first surgery within 10 days of birth. The number of days will be determined by the severety of the condition when he is born. A secondary option if the situation is too complicated would be heart transplant.
The first surgery is called the Norwood Procedure. In this procedure a shunt (B.T. Shunt) is inserted to create a new pathway to bypass the left side of the heart. Afterwards, his recovery in the hospital will be one month mimum. This surgery has an 85% survival to operation rate. There is a 5-10% mortality rate between this first surgery and the second one.
The second surgery is called a Bi-directional Glenn. This is where the shunt is removed. It will occur at about 3 months of age. This surgery has a 95% survival rate and the recovery hospitalization is about 2 weeks. The mortality rate afterwards is less than 5%. After this surgery Eli will have quarterly visits to his cardiologist there at Vandy.
The third procedure will not happen until he is 2 or 3 years old. I'm sorry I don't know what this entails.
Overall we are encouraged and hopeful. It's such a relief to know there is a plan in place and that this will all happen in such a quality hospital. We felt well taken care of.
Also, Vandy Children's Hospital is awesome! It's super kid-friendly with the decorations and even includes a play area for the siblings of patients!
We go back again in three weeks to have a tour of the facility. Also Dr. Parra will monitor the progress of Eli's Mitral valve and Atrial septum. Lastly we will get to meet with the surgeon who will be performing the surgeries.
We know this whole process will be long and exhausting. We know that Eli's survial is not guaranteed. However we also know we serve an AWESOME God who loves us and will never leave us. He has also promised to never give us something we cannot handle.
Please pray for Eli. Jesus is the Great (pediatric cardiology) Physician and can heal his heart completely in the blink of an eye. ;)
Also please pray for Beth, the kids, myself and the rest of our family as we endure this ordeal. I can tell you I am strengthened at times when I know I should be in dispair. This tells me that God is present and is in many ways already answering our prayers and the prayers of many friends and family.
I look forward to sending out additional information as we learn more. I'll keep everyone posted as best I can but don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.
Below is a link to Vandy Children's hospital and specifically, Dr. Parra. He will most likely be Eli's cardiologist for years to come. If you can, check out the rest of the site. Vandy Children's Hospital is a cool place!
http://www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/interior.php?mid=43§ion=43&did=3150&mode=search&ln=parra&fn=david&spec=&cnty=&orgid=&show=&ftype=ft
God bless,
Todd Robinson
615-397-3288
toddbdub@yahoo.com
Here is an awesome update that my husband Todd put together explaining everything from last Wednesday.
We both left there feeling encouraged by the news and with the relief that we at least finally know what is going on. Here's the skinny.
Eli has Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This condition starts as Critical Aortic Stenosis and turns into the former.
This means that his left ventricle is small and not functioning well. There is some flow and the aorta is small, but not extremely small (a good thing).
When Eli is born he wil be stabilized immediately and then will have his first surgery within 10 days of birth. The number of days will be determined by the severety of the condition when he is born. A secondary option if the situation is too complicated would be heart transplant.
The first surgery is called the Norwood Procedure. In this procedure a shunt (B.T. Shunt) is inserted to create a new pathway to bypass the left side of the heart. Afterwards, his recovery in the hospital will be one month mimum. This surgery has an 85% survival to operation rate. There is a 5-10% mortality rate between this first surgery and the second one.
The second surgery is called a Bi-directional Glenn. This is where the shunt is removed. It will occur at about 3 months of age. This surgery has a 95% survival rate and the recovery hospitalization is about 2 weeks. The mortality rate afterwards is less than 5%. After this surgery Eli will have quarterly visits to his cardiologist there at Vandy.
The third procedure will not happen until he is 2 or 3 years old. I'm sorry I don't know what this entails.
Overall we are encouraged and hopeful. It's such a relief to know there is a plan in place and that this will all happen in such a quality hospital. We felt well taken care of.
Also, Vandy Children's Hospital is awesome! It's super kid-friendly with the decorations and even includes a play area for the siblings of patients!
We go back again in three weeks to have a tour of the facility. Also Dr. Parra will monitor the progress of Eli's Mitral valve and Atrial septum. Lastly we will get to meet with the surgeon who will be performing the surgeries.
We know this whole process will be long and exhausting. We know that Eli's survial is not guaranteed. However we also know we serve an AWESOME God who loves us and will never leave us. He has also promised to never give us something we cannot handle.
Please pray for Eli. Jesus is the Great (pediatric cardiology) Physician and can heal his heart completely in the blink of an eye. ;)
Also please pray for Beth, the kids, myself and the rest of our family as we endure this ordeal. I can tell you I am strengthened at times when I know I should be in dispair. This tells me that God is present and is in many ways already answering our prayers and the prayers of many friends and family.
I look forward to sending out additional information as we learn more. I'll keep everyone posted as best I can but don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.
Below is a link to Vandy Children's hospital and specifically, Dr. Parra. He will most likely be Eli's cardiologist for years to come. If you can, check out the rest of the site. Vandy Children's Hospital is a cool place!
http://www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/interior.php?mid=43§ion=43&did=3150&mode=search&ln=parra&fn=david&spec=&cnty=&orgid=&show=&ftype=ft
God bless,
Todd Robinson
615-397-3288
toddbdub@yahoo.com
Monday, June 1, 2009
Eli update #3
Hey all,
Well we are officially in the Vanderbilt system and set up with our new OB practice. Todd and I went today and I had my 5th ultrasound and my first OB consult appointment.
The ultrasound was pretty routine and nothing has changed much with his heart "anomaly". That's what the midwife/nurse has called Eli's heart problem. No specific medical term just yet but we'll be seeing another specialist this week to talk about what kind of surgery can be done. I can't even remember the name for kind of specialist we're going to be seeing but it starts with a P.
Todd and I were very pleased with all the nurses and feel very hopeful. The midwife explained more to us about the delivery and what could happen. It looks like once Eli is born there will be several docs in the delivery room and that's when the real detailed assessments can be made on how to fix his heart.
We are going to be getting ultrasounds every two weeks for now to watch his growth and monitor that. I guess with babies with heart conditions there is sometimes problems with development. BUT Eli looks, according the the ultrasound tech, to be completely normal weight and everything else for his age. So praise the Lord for that!
Also we were able to get some 3D picts of Eli that are just soooo sweet. I'll try to scan them in and post soon.
So thanks to all for the continued prayer and support! We need it and Eli needs it...
lots of love,
Beth
Well we are officially in the Vanderbilt system and set up with our new OB practice. Todd and I went today and I had my 5th ultrasound and my first OB consult appointment.
The ultrasound was pretty routine and nothing has changed much with his heart "anomaly". That's what the midwife/nurse has called Eli's heart problem. No specific medical term just yet but we'll be seeing another specialist this week to talk about what kind of surgery can be done. I can't even remember the name for kind of specialist we're going to be seeing but it starts with a P.
Todd and I were very pleased with all the nurses and feel very hopeful. The midwife explained more to us about the delivery and what could happen. It looks like once Eli is born there will be several docs in the delivery room and that's when the real detailed assessments can be made on how to fix his heart.
We are going to be getting ultrasounds every two weeks for now to watch his growth and monitor that. I guess with babies with heart conditions there is sometimes problems with development. BUT Eli looks, according the the ultrasound tech, to be completely normal weight and everything else for his age. So praise the Lord for that!
Also we were able to get some 3D picts of Eli that are just soooo sweet. I'll try to scan them in and post soon.
So thanks to all for the continued prayer and support! We need it and Eli needs it...
lots of love,
Beth
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