Long Day

They were planning to close her sternum this morning, but she had a few bumps last night. She had a little air in her chest between her chest and lungs which affects her lung capacity. So they decided not to close her today but to potentially do a partial closure (not close it all the way but move the opening a little closer together). Then the IV in her neck was spilling back onto her neck a little, and the medication is hard on her skin and tissue. This morning the anesthesiologist came and removed that IV and moved it near her groin area so the spot on her neck can heal. It's a pretty nasty spot. Then they also did an ultrasound on her head and kidneys. Her kidney function was doing good but has declined a little and she's not putting out much urine.
This afternoon her doctor decided to still do the partial closure, and they just finished. As far as we can tell that went well. They are going to see how she does and are hoping to do the complete closure on Thursday.
She had her eyes open a little bit today but can't really focus on anything. We just keep holding her hands and feet and touching her face/head to let her know we're there. She got the hiccups a lot in the womb and is still getting them at times. They just shake her little body with all the tubes and IV's and it's hard to watch cause she just looks uncomfortable.
So overall, this has been a longer day. We like boring much better. Please keep praying for her - specifically for no more "bumps in the road" and for no infection.
Again, thank you so much for your prayers. It continues to be an encouragement to me to know how many people are praying for her. We're so grateful. We'll continue to update as we know more.

Also, Aaron wanted to include a couple links that give some information about the heart defects that Payton had repaired for those of you who are curious.

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/heart-encyclopedia/anomalies/iaa.htm.
-click on "graphic summary" above the picture of the heart
-this does a great job of showing you what they did to repair one of Payton's defects, the interrupted aortic arch

http://www.ned.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm

These two sites talk about interrupted aortic arch (her aorta ran to her head, but didn't connect to the other half of the aorta that runs to the rest of her body)and ventricular septal defect (a hole between her right and left ventricles). Payton had both of these as well as a atrial septal defect (a hole between her right and left atriums) and coarctation of the aorta (a narrowing of the aorta).

You can see pictures of all of these on the second site if you click on the links of the names of these defects.
On the second site, the first page shows a picture of the interrupted aortic arch (the number "4" shows the patent ductus arteriosus, this is the duct that blood flows through until birth or shortly after birth, but then closes within a couple days after birth, Payton's remained wide open after birth, but they also closed this off during the surgery). If you look at the first paragraph you'll see links to four other defects. Click on "aoritc stenosis" (Payton doesn't didn't have this, but it will get you to the other defects she did have). Once you are on the aortic stenosis page you can click on the names of the other defects. They are listed in the first paragraph. "Coarctation of the aorta", "ventrical septal defect", and "atrial septal defect".

Hopefully that all makes sense. It's probably way too much detail for most of you, but at least there's pictures! Thanks for interceeding.