Evin's Heart - Part 2

In the days following Evin's admission to Cook's, she pretty much remained the same.  The cardiologists and doctors determined that Evin had a heart defect that closely resembled Tetralogy of Fallot.  Her actual diagnosis was that she has "Double Outlet Right Ventricle with Pulmonary Stenosis."  They continued with the medications necessary to keep her heart and blood pressure under control, and she continued to breath with help from the ventilator.  She had visitors every day who were her personal cheerleaders!

3/23/13 - 3 days old

She was a little bit puffy and swollen due to the meeds.

Kyle drove in from Austin to meet Evin for the first time.  He was unable to come for her birth since it was the middle of the week, but was glad to come see her that weekend.

Kori and Mitch were emotionally drained, but stayed by Evin's side the entire time.  They would get so excited to help with diaper changes, weight checks, and baths because they were unable to hold her.  :(  Any physical interaction with her made their day!

 

Changing her diaper--Teamwork!

3/24/13 - 4 days old

After a weekend of waiting, the team of doctors met as a group on Monday, March 25, 2013, and decided that Evin would need immediate open heart surgery to place a Blalock-Taussig shunt.  This would be a temporary fix until she was older and strong enough to perform the full repair.  The doctors predicted that she would have the major repair surgery around 6 months of age.  They determined that she would need the 2 surgeries within the next year, and then will have to have the repair surgery every 10-15 years of her life as "maintenance."  They scheduled the shunt surgery for the next day...Tuesday, March 26, 2013.

Evin's Heart

On Friday, March 22, I got an early morning call from my mom saying that Evin had been taken to the NICU at Methodist Mansfield for some testing.  At that point I knew no details, but immediately got worried and upset.  Kori and Mitch were supposed to be discharged from the hospital that day--what was happening?!?  

As the day went on, the doctors determined that Evin most likely had a congenital heart defect and would need to be transported to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth.  I met the rest of the family at the hospital to see Kori and Mitch, who were understandably shaken and upset.  

Evin was transported by ambulance to Cook's that afternoon.  She was hooked up to all kinds of tubes and monitors and traveled inside the big blue portable incubator on the stretcher.  Kori and Mitch weren't able to ride with them, which made it much harder for them.  We all followed behind waiting for some more information and answers once we got there. 

We were finally able to see her and it was just heartbreaking.  Kori and Mitch were glad to be able to room in with Evin and had to settle into their temporary home while trying to grasp what was about to happen to their baby girl.  The sight when I first walked in to see Evin took my breath away.  Monitors and tubes everywhere, and a tiny little baby hooked up to all of them.

For the next month, this would be Evin's temporary home.  Sweet Heart Street at Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth.  On the day she was supposed to go to her own house, to see her new nursery, and meet her pets Mia and Beckham, she had to be admitted here.  It was so sad and hard to understand, but we were all so thankful that the nurses and doctors caught this defect so early.

Gorgeous Girl

I was happy to take some pictures of the new little bundle at the hospital after she got all cleaned up and had a full night's rest.  She was eating like a champ by day 2 and had been pretty content!  Kori and Mitch were (and are) so in love with their baby girl!

Evin Kate Armstrong

On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, I got the call from my sister that she was on her way to the hospital to have her baby girl!  I hurried to pack some bags, rushed to pick up Lane from school, and headed to Mansfield from Austin.  I was so worried she would have her before I got there!  I ended up getting there around 3:00 pm or so, and made it in plenty of time!  Whew!  

So excited to meet my new niece!

New parents...waiting...

 

We waited and waited out in the family lounge and finally, around 8:30pm, a proud daddy came out to give us the details!  

 

Evin Kate Armstrong was born at 8:06 pm weighing 6lbs 14 oz and was 20 1/4 in long!

Mitch and his baby girl.

Kori and Evin

 

I got to take some pictures of her getting all cleaned up!  They scrubbed her up for her first bath!

Cute baby legs!

 

All clean!

 

We all finally got to hold her!  Mums and her 2nd grandchild.

Aunt Kyla and Evin

Mitch's dad, Speedy.  AKA Paw Paw

And Mitch's mom, Linette--AKA GiGi

Happy Birthday, Evin!  We LOVE you!!

An Exciting Day at the Rodeo

We got back to Austin from our long stay in Mansfield on a Monday.  The Austin Rodeo was in town and I knew Tuesday (3-19-13) would be the best day to go since Lane had school the rest of the week.  Even though I had lots to do at home after being gone for a while, I knew Lane and I would enjoy it, so we went.  It was a nice day and not too crowded since it was mid week/mid day.  

When we got there Lane made a bee line to the tractors.  They were set up as a display, but he wanted to ride EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.   

 

Farmer Lane--in his element

 

After some tractor riding, we headed to the arena for a dog show.  The sign said "trick" dogs and it ended up being those dogs that do crazy frisbee tricks.  It was pretty neat.  All of the dogs were rescue dogs and you could tell their trainers cared so much about them.  They would introduce each dog, tell a cute story about them, and then do some tricks with some silly humorous stuff mixed in.  As you can tell from the pics below....there wasn't much of a crowd there!  The stands filled up a little just as the show began, though!

I took some pics of my little wrangler while we waited for the show to start.

 

We took a quick bathroom break.  In a port-a-potty.  Gross!  And said hi to "Bevo" before heading into "Kids Town."

 

Kids Town had pony rides, picture opportunities, and a petting zoo.  I seriously had to beg force Lane to ride a pony.  He will probably never be the type of kid that is fearless and will try new things.  (He takes after his mommy in that sense.)  But I agreed to walk beside him while he rode and he finally obliged.  And doesn't it look like he enjoyed himself?!?  Such a stinker!

 A little uncertain.  I stepped away from him to snap a quick pic!

"Is this over yet?" 

 

By the time the thrilling pony ride was over, this cowboy was tired and grouchy, and cared nothing about the petting zoo.

I can just see him giving me this face when he's a teenager and I force him to take a picture.

He mustered up a smile with the promise of a lemonade to go, and we headed to the car.

It was getting warmer, so I changed Lane into some shorts and a t-shirt, took his boots off, started the remote start to my car, buckled him into his car seat--knowing for certain he would fall asleep within minutes, and LOCKED MY KEYS IN THE CAR with him inside!  :-(  I knew I did it the minute my hand left the door, before it even closed.  

I then started to panic because my phone was in there too!  I flagged down a couple walking to their car, borrowed their cell phone and called On-Star. The situation went from bad to worse when they said my membership had expired.  Great!  The On-Star lady suggested I call 911 since Lane was inside and it was a warm day.  I called right away and they said they would send a firetruck out immediately.  

Meanwhile, I got Lane to unbuckle the chest straps of his car seat, but he couldn't get the buckle between his legs undone.  When the firemen got there he started to panic and basically freaked out.  I think it scared him to death that strangers were talking to him through the window and sticking a long wire down through the door trying to get it open.

Luckily they were able to get the door open with a wedge and the wire.  Poor Lane was a sobbing, sweaty mess when I got him out.  I am so, so glad I changed him out of his jeans and long sleeves and that it wasn't any hotter than it was.  And I am so glad I let him get a lemonade before we left!  He sucked it down, hugged me for a long time, and cooled off in the AC before getting back in his car seat and heading home.  He fell asleep right away and took a 3 1/2 hour nap that day.  You can vote for me for Mom of the Year, I guess!  

Despite that fiasco, we had an awesome day at the rodeo.  Lane said his favorite part was riding the tractors.  I felt for sure it would be the pony rides. ;-) haha