10 Days!

This morning we met with Ivy's surgeon. Word when we arrived was that there was a Homograft!! We were overjoyed. But, turns out the nurses were so taken aback by Ivy's color and numbers that they were jumping to conclusions before the doctor made any decisions. Ivy was less than thrilled to see the nurses that are so darn sweet with her and always come running to visit with the little miracle girl. She would point to them and grunt as if to say get out of here! She clung to me as we waited for Doctor Nigro to make his entrance. Finally he did and he spent lots of time with us, sharing how he felt about the current situation. They have a homograft, it is being reserved for Ivy, BUT it is too big. The ideal size for our peanut is 16mm. A 12-18mm homograft would suffice. 19mm would require some tailoring that could lead to leaks and other complications. But if its all he has... ? So Ivy's saturation was 52 on 2liters of oxygen and stayed at 52 when they dropped her to 1liter. They all agreed that she is going down hill but she is not at the bottom of the hill because she is very alert, very busy even if just able to be busy in one spot because she is too out of breath to be mobile, she is eating... and eating and eating, and she is not sleeping a ton. (We all know this is because the child is so covered in prayer and God has heard and answered every one of them!) So they made a plan and the plan is ~ 10 ~ DAYS ~. In 10 days, on March 26th Ivy will undergo open heart surgery to correct all the defects of her little heart. If a homograft in the range of 12-18mm comes available before this day, then they will use that one. If one does not come available, then they will use the 19mm one that is reserved and just do their best to tailor it for Ivy. If the smaller one we are hoping for comes in within the next few days then they will change her surgery date to an earlier time. The 10 day window is what they feel the maximum time Ivy's body can continue to wait without doing more damage than good. Ivy is asleep right now. She continues to cough often and she is very very fussy!!! I could add a few more very's but I will leave it at 2. She is frustrated, she wants to go go go, do do do but her little body wont let her. This makes her very grumpy! She weighed in at exactly 18 pounds today fully dressed so if she had 1 pound of clothes on (pretty likely) then she is 17 pounds at 22 months. I can see it in her face. She was fuller in the face at 2 weeks together. She is getting a little longer and should be gaining weight. She is so very thin! I need to measure her legs, they are the shortest little legs I have ever seen. Her torso however is really long, at least in proportion to those baby legs! Oops, I got off the subject.... 

Now we will continue to pray that Ivy grows, Is out of pain, and hangs on for 10 More Days!! 

 The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. (Psalm 27:1,3-5)