"You're Movin' Up"

It's what every parent around here wants to hear.  Surgeries for heart repairs for these little kiddos are done Monday thru Friday, except emergencies.  Most kids stay in the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) for about two days.  Because of the lymph node issue with Taeya, she ended up in the CICU an additional day.

The CICU is great with it's one on one care, but the move up to the CPCU (Cardiac Progressive Care Unit) means things are looking good for your child. 

Today was our day.  After the chest tube came out, I heard the nurse on the phone giving an update on Taeya.  I asked what was going on when she was done and she said "You're movin' up.  Discharge orders are written and we'll be going shortly".  Honestly, I was a little scared.  Excited and relieved, but scared.

I had spent the whole day in Taeya's bay and had the pleasure of visiting for several hours with James, her RN for the day.  He was terrific.  He told me that families fly in to Denver from all over the US and they repair about 5 to 10 Ds kids a week.

There was a sweet little baby, just 4 days old, that had come out of surgery on Friday.  She only had one ventricular chamber.  (You need two).  The docs surgically made a second ventricle by dividing the one with a patch.  James has explained that sometimes things just go haywire cells don't divide the way they should.  He said that "God has made us so detailed and [the heart] is evidence of that".

Isn't that so true?  Our hearts, that we have no control over, are ordered to life by the God of Life.  Amazing.

When this little one was brought in, the whole team was there.  All the docs and nurses from OR, and all the receiving docs and nurses from the CICU.  I asked James if that was what it looked like when Taeya was brought in.  "Yes, it was.  All hands on deck."

An hour later it was very hushed.  The baby had been crying quite a bit.  The parents has come in and it was very quiet for some time.  I held Taeya's hand and sang You Are My Sunshine and we prayed for that sweet little 4 day old baby. 

You get to know the expressions faces wear around here pretty quickly.  Fear?  Been there.  Lost?  Know that one, too.  Overwhelm?  For sure.  Exhaustion?  Wear it like a badge of honor.  A little relief?  Thank God.  Frightened again?  Yep.  But the one I have not had to identify with is Loss. I prayed to hear those words, "You're movin' up".

But not everyone hears that around here.

As we prepared this morning to move up to our new room, that sweet little girl moved up to our Father's arms.

Thank You, Jesus, for giving life.  Thank You for sustaining us.  I confess I don't always understand You.  My flesh wants to argue for that mom who identifies with Loss. 

This is a path that is very hard to articulate and even harder to understand, whether or not your experience is first hand  I have never liked process, but that's what this is.  So we sit and we pray and we try to let it all go as God reconciles all this emotion to align with His will.

Thank you, Jesus, for moving up.