The Results

Happy little girl before the Echo

Her smile is PRICELESS!

So Sleepy after her Echo

Chewing on the pacifier that the nurse gave her

On the way home from Michigan

As we pulled up to U of M I began to feel anxious. All of the past memories were coming over me and I felt a little overwhelmed. We were driving by and Jake said, " There is our little walkway we walked everyday to and from the Ronald McDonald house, and there is the garage we walked through to get into the hospital everyday", and it almost seemed surreal. We had arrived. A part of me was excited to see nurses and doctors that we had seen before and to hear what they had to say about Paislyn. We got the the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic and signed Paislyn in and shortly after were escorted to her room. My beautiful baby girl weighed in at 17 lbs. 11 oz! Let me remind you that Paislyn had not eaten anything since 6 a.m. and for all of you that know her she takes her food pretty seriously. I was so nervous she would be so upset the entire drive up to Michigan and before her echo, but let me tell you she did not fuss, cry, or wimper one time. God had given her such a peace! I was so happy. The sedation room was dark and they had music playing in the background. They gave Paislyn an oral medicine called Chloral Hydrate and she fell fast asleep in her daddy's arms. They told us the echo would take about 40 min and to come back to the room then. When we got back in the room the nurse started to laugh. She said in the middle of the echo Paislyn decided to do her little "sit ups" and she opened her eyes real big and looked at Bryan ( The cardiologist), and gave him a big smile. She then decided it would be a great time to suck on her toes. They just laughed and laughed at her. The nurse went and got Paislyn's pacifier and finally got her back to sleep. We got back to the recovery room and she woke up great! As smiley and happy as ever! She was just talking away and inhaled 2 full bottles! All we heard all day was how beautiful Paislyn was. They told us how "pink" she was which is great to hear for a heart baby, and how big she had gotten! We waited for Dr. Armstrong to review Paislyn's echo while other "fellows" came to look at her. She loves to grab the stethoscopes, they are like a toy just for her. Finally Dr. Armstrong came in to tell us about her results. You know that feeling when you just know it didn't turn out the way you expected....... I saw it on her face. She began to tell us that Paislyn's ventricle had not grown like they thought it might. They thought she could potentially have a ventricle and a half, but instead they are now going the single ventricle repair route. She told us that Paislyn would need to have a heart cath and the  Hemi Fontan (2nd stage surgery) in the near future. I didn't know just how "near" she meant. She came back in and said that we would be coming back up there on March 31st for her heart cath and surgery the net day on April 1st. I was taken back to say the least. I said ok, put my head down and tried with all of my might not to cry. I knew this day would come.... just wasn't ready. Dr. Armstrong ordered a chest x-ray before we left. As we were walking down the long hallway to radiology I lost it. I couldn't hold it in anymore and I cried and cried. I was officially a mess. They called Paislyn's name for her chest x-ray and I was still crying. For all of you that have never got the pleasure of watching a chest x-ray...... it's horrible! They strap the baby on a tall table thing hanging in the air. They strap each arm up in the air and put a strap under their head forcing it to look up, while their legs are hanging down. I turned my head so I didn't have to see Paislyn like that and I noticed she wasn't crying, I looked up at her with her head all strapped back and she gave me the cutest little smile. It forced me to laugh out loud. She knew that was exactly what I needed at that moment. We got her all dressed and headed for home. Jake and I cried together almost the whole way home. We got our emotions out and then we knew it was time to deal. We needed to be strong for our daughter. I had a rough night sleep just thinking of the previous surgery and all it entails, but I know that God will watch over my precious Paislyn and protect her. I have faith and trust in the most awesome God that he will never leave her or forsake her. He will continue to touch Paislyn just as he has for the last 7 months. I will continue to "Be still and know he is in control" ( Fee) I ask for your prayers. Please pray peace and strength over Paislyn. I ask that you begin to pray for wisdom for Dr. Hirsch ( Paislyn's surgeon). Also I ask for prayer for Jake and I. Please pray for peace over us and that we will give God total control over our little girl. Thank you all so much! We love and appreciate all of you so much! More than you will ever know!