Home and Healthy!

We are home and healthy for now! Thank you all for your prayers even during the unknown times. I know I say this a lot but whenever we have such a traumatic thing happen, we go into survival mode, and honestly into a fog. First of all, we didn't have a computer at the hospital this time. My Mom wanted to bring mine to me, but she also had my kids and the hospital was urging us to not let the kids visit with all the germs, flu, H1N1 going around. So, it was just me and my phone and the slowest computer in the world in the waiting room.

Excuse that I haven't updated #2: We got home and dropped everything. Including ourselves. I kid you not, I don't even remember getting home. We were there for 3 nights, in the same clothes, sleeping on chairs. I don't think WE even realized we were there.

But enough excuses! I'm writing now and that's all that matters, right? Just agree with me in front of my face k? You can yell at me under your breath when we're done here. ;)

So, V decided that she wanted to cooperate with every.single.test.done. Her Echo, EKG, Chest Xray, AND Cath procedure all looked great! They DID, however, have to go in and balloon that artery that was obstructed again. So, they would have had to do the cath soon anyway. Dr. Divikar, who is the cath Dr, said though, that he doesn't recommenced anymore caths. That next time V is in distress, we move right along to surgery. Be it the Glenn or putting her on a list, it's just time. I have a feeling that they may try the Glenn again before going for the transplant. They strongly believe in keeping the heart you have for as long as you can. For me, though, with the way things went with the last Glenn, I'm almost more open to a transplant! The Glenn almost killed Veiyah in February if you remember. Read HERE and on for a glimpse at why I worry about the "G" word.

Dr. Divikar said that her pulmonary arteries have grown quite significantly since February tho, and that her pressures are good. His opinion is definitely pointing toward the Glenn.

Veiyah went in on Friday around noon for the Cath. She recovered pretty good, but they did end up giving her a one time dose of morphine to keep her comfortable. She's so big now and she needs to lie flat for 6 hours after the cath. That girl was awake and ready for her Karate class that we haven't even signed her up for within the 2nd hour! So the morphine kicked in and she was happy...




Only for a little while though, since the nurses decided it was time for the H1N1 shot and the flu shot! :O! It's not her (the nurse's) fault, though. We had THAT moment only to give that shot. Getting the H1N1 Vaccine is as hard as it is to get my kids to do their school work everyday! Wait...HARDER! Yah, so the nurse had to bring someone up from the pharmacy to give the shot. The nurse couldn't even TOUCH the syringe!! WHAT? Okay, that better be a hospital rule and not a government run system.....hmmmm.

We ended up staying one more night to watch her with no oxygen to make sure that we weren't missing anything. She did so well that night so we were able to go home Saturday afternoon.

V's Awesome Night! (Sorry I get carried away on Picnik Photo Editor)





Whew! What a whirlwind! I mean, who just rushes to the hospital on a Wednesday evening in an ambulance going 90mph only to have every test come out "fine"?

Oh yeah...

Veiyah.

"V".

And maybe I'm not (once again) giving God enough credit here. Did we WANT something to be wrong? Of course we always want answers. When there are none, it feels like a waste of time, energy, and even prayers!

No prayer is wasted my friends.

Every prayer you put up for V last week (or has it been 2...wow) did not go unheard or unanswered. If anything, it's the complete OPPOSITE! If you think anything like I do, I want to hear, "this" is what's going on. She is sick and we need to do "such and such". So I ask for prayer and then "what's going on" gets MIRACULOUSLY healed?!

So who's to say that didn't happen on the ambulance ride down? Is that not a miracle? Who's to say it's not?

I truly with my whole heart believe that if we are asking God to do something in His will and in His time, He wants us to SEE his grace and mercy. Do we always notice it? Maybe not.

Take time to notice the miracles you are asking for that just might be happening all around you...you might be surprised at what a "miracle" really is! Then remember to give God the glory for it, for it came from no other~



(should i copy write that last paragraph?) ;) sooo deep~


Ahhhh, how I love V's Dirty Knees. Thank you so much for being so faithful to my family as prayer warriors, friends, and awesome support. I think I will tag this blog, make a label for it that says NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS. ;) Then you guys will just know that we are doing GREAT (Veiyah wise ;)) and that I'll update when my mind slows down a little bit. :) Sound good? Good. (not asking for permission)

V FIX! (And Hay-Day with Picnik!)

We are again inpatient....and impatient for that matter!

Ahhh, Dry Humor...U know you love it! (Title) (I have to love it in these times, it's the only way I get by sometimes.)


Veiyah has been very fussy for the last week. I, Ani, took her in to check for an ear infection and Dr. Rick found nothing but maybe sore gums from teething. On Tuesday night, V had quite the fit, ended up throwing up, and I hooked her up to the monitor and got her heart rate at 170 (Very high for V's heart) and her blood oxygen saturations at 67. V also turned blue during this time. She settled down and I knew she had a well check up the next day anyway, so left it alone. We got to our local pediatricians office to do some immunizations and V had another episode of turning blue, high heart rate and low o2 sats. V made Dr nervous so he called the University. So, no immunizations that day. They ordered her an EKG later that day at St Lukes w Heart specialist Dr Zittergruen, whom actually diagnosed V while in Utero. Then known as baby A. :) (Fun fact for the day) We arrived at St Lukes and Veiyah was fine. We went back to the room and V started coughing, crying, turning blue and then threw up. Her HR went up and her o2 sats dropped to 54. Dr. Called the U w/out even doing the EKG and U requested her be life flighted to Iowa City ASAP. No helicopters were available fast enough so they rushed her by Ambulance while on oxygen. I was able to ride along while Jer followed. V calmed down on the way there thx to the oxygen, and they were able to perform several tests including the EKG, Echo, and chest Xray in the ER. We were admitted while they watched V over night. She desatted 3 or 4 times in the night, but at 5am she had a full on episode. Drs now want to perform yet another (3rd in 1.5 months) cath procedure which will show her shunts much better than the echo can do. Tomorrow morning (Friday October 23, she will once again be put under general anesthesia and intubated first thing in the morning. Thought process is, is that this could be the early signs of outgrowing her shunts since she has now doubled in size since they were placed last February. If that is the case we have a few options that will be discussed. We will keep you updated as we are updated.

Thank you for your prayers as we continue to face these scary times with our baby girl. She is quite amazing and the Dr that first saw her when she was first born, Dr. Edens, made it clear of just that. As optimistic as he may be, he had lost hope for V long ago. It amazes him each time he sees her. Truth is, as cute and amazing as V is, she isn't the one amazing Dr Edens! Jesus is showing Himself through our daughter everyday she has breath.

All our love~

The Kargs

PS. I don't have my laptop here as I didn't intend on coming here. It is way out at my Mom's house which is even further than my own. So I have no pictures to show you as I am on the hospital computer and they won't let me save pictures to the computer to upload.

I HAVE to apologize for not getting out V's 1st year pics yet and also birthday party and Aderah's balloon ceremony video. It's been so hectic and honestly, just emotional. I promise to get things going here again soon. Just get me out of here, and I swear I'll get right on it!! ;)

Veiyah's Miracle

Over this past weekend we celebrated Veiyah’s 1st birthday. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the reason that we were able to do so.

Veiyah was born on September 25th and was immediately taken to bay 1 of the NICU, which is for babies who are in critical condition. Early in the morning on September 26th, Ani and I were woken by a nurse. We were both staying in the delivery recovery room at the time. We were told that Veiyah was having issues in the NICU and that the doctors wanted to see us. As we were walking to Veiyah’s room in the NICU, we turned a corner and saw her room from a distance. There were doctors and nurses filling the room and in the hallway around her room. As we approached the room, a doctor looked at us with tears in her eyes and told us that they were losing Veiyah. On the wall above Veiyah’s bed there were numerous monitors that were tracking her vitals. These monitors have upper and lower limits for each vital sign, and if those limits are breached an alarm will sound. When we walked into Veiyah’s room multiple alarms were sounding. The doctor explained that they had tried giving Veiyah several medications to make her heart beat stronger, but that none of them were working. Her vitals were falling, and the doctors did not have anything else they could do for her.

This point in the story is critical, because I want to make it clear the severity of the situation that we found ourselves. We were in the room with arguably the best doctors in the state. Trained and experienced to save babies lives. In a University hospital that was on the cutting edge of medicine and treatment options. And these doctors were telling us that Veiyah was dying. They asked us if we wanted to hold her while she passed away, and in a place of shock and disbelief we said yes. Ani sat down in a rocking chair and I sat in a chair next to her. A pillow was placed on Ani’s lap and the nurses and doctors prepared to un-hook Veiyah from all of the monitoring cords, so that we could hold her without having to deal with those. The doctors and nurses at this hospital don’t give up, so when I witnessed these events I knew that in their minds there was no hope for Veiyah. They had exercised all of their wisdom, skill, and treatment options to save her, and nothing had worked.

I want to remind everyone of Veiyah’s middle name. It is Jaielle, which is a unique way to spell the name Jael. In most translations this name means “mountain goat”, which at first glance would seem like a strange middle name for a little girl. But we also found translations where this name means “God’s Power”, and that is the reason we chose it. So Ani and I are sitting in the NICU waiting for our daughter to be handed to us so she could pass away in our arms. At this time her vitals were still dropping and the monitors were still screaming. Ani started to pray out loud, she spoke out the name Jaielle, and stated that we believed in God’s Power. In that very moment the monitors stopped screaming, Veiyahs vitals began to rise, and every person in the room stopped in their tracks and stared at the monitors. Doctors and nurses alike had wide eyes and mouths wide open. We quickly told them to stop unhooking Veiyah. Everyone quietly stared at the monitors in disbelief, waiting to see what would happen next. Veiyah’s vitals continued to rise into an acceptable range, and remained stable. Ani and I stayed in her room until the doctors were satisfied that she was stable. They could offer us no explanation as to why Veiyah had recovered from the brink of death, and why things had turned around so suddenly.

I can’t remember what I was thinking or feeling at this time. I think I was in shock and the full gravity of what had just happened did not hit me until later. In the last year I have thought often of the events of that night. Some may argue that Veiyah’s recovery was due to something other than the prayer that was cried out. I can find no other explanation other then at the exact time Ani prayed out loud, the healing hand of God reached down and sustained and restored Veiyah’s life. The best doctors in the best hospital could not save her life, but the healing power of the Lord could.

Over the last year I have also questioned many times why God would answer our prayer for Veiyah, but did not answer our prayers to save Aderah. I honestly do not have the answer to that, and while I am on this earth I may never understand. But that does not take anything away from the miracle that is Veiyah’s life. In the last year she has undergone 9 medical procedures – 4 open heart surgeries, a stomach surgery, a G tube surgery, an exploratory catheter procedure, and 2 corrective catheter procedures. She has received amazing medical care, but I also see God’s amazing hand upon her life. He saved her life that night a year ago, and all the glory goes to Him for that. I believe that Veiyah’s life already has, and will continue to be, an amazing testimony of God’s power, love, and grace. One year ago in a little hospital room in Iowa, the power of God fell on Veiyah and restored her life. She is just a small girl, but I believe that this was a miracle of Biblical proportions, and demonstrates unequivocally the existence, power, love, grace, and saving power of an almightily God. I will always be thankful for that miracle, for the opportunity to spend time with my daughter here on earth. The events of that night one year ago have changed my life. I can no longer question His existence, or the power and depth of his love, forgiveness, and grace. I hope that this story will have a similar impact on people who hear it. Thanks for reading.

On a lighter note, Veiyah’s middle name turned out to fit her better then we thought. She has very strong legs, and loves to kick, just like a mountain goat!

The blood is Flowing!

Yesterday they focused on getting through those veins that are occluded (or blocked). This was a very focused procedure. They ended up burning through what they found as old blood, not scar tissue. This made it quite a bit easier than they had predicted. They then ballooned the veins, and it went GREAT! They didn't have to put ANY stints in! Instead of what was predicted to be a 6-8 hr procedure, Veiyah was in the cath lab for a total of 3 hours!!! That included putting her to sleep (slightly) to put in an IV, putting her on general anesthetics and inserting her lines, and then completing the ballooning and getting the blood flowing. She went up to recovery and we sat for about a half hour to an hour. She woke up really fast this time, went down to her room and we were gone by 7pm. Praise God!! The Dr said that the blood is flowing GREAT now and that we can wait to do any major things until her sats start to slowly go down. We will go back in 4 weeks to make sure they are still ballooned pretty well, and then HOPEFULLY have the rest of this year off! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Dr. Divikar is a fantastic Dr. and we trusted that he would really know what he was doing. Above all, though, we trust God and knew that HE really knew what HE was doing. ;)

Tomorrow is V's and Aderah's Birthday! It's Jeremy's birthday too! Selah's is on Saturday and well, yes, my weekend is booked. Can't wait to post the big V's Birthday post with her 1 year pictures! My friend Heidi took them and they are absolutely incredible. SO excited to show you!


This is the day before at her pre-screen~

Notice her shirt..."Delight yourself in the Lord"...V needs to pick out her outfits to go with her mood, yes? ;)







Here are some procedure pics...What do you know, she comes out of another procedure and is holding her own bottle and drinking the whole thing! We are seeing more and more milestones everyday! :)


















xoxo

More V's! Where are YOU seeing V's that make you think of Veiyah? Carolyn was about to eat an onion ring!! Hope it was yummy! :) Thank you so much Carolyn in New Jersey!!



The girls saw these cookies at the bank and yelled MOM it's a V!!! ;)



I just today, received an email from one of V's Knees, Tara. She came across an article and even though it is supposed to be in shape of a heart, she saw it as a V! I see all hearts as V's. :) Thank you Tara in Missouri!!