Surgery Update

Well, it was a long day for everyone. The great news though is that Benjamin is doing great. His vitals are great and though he looks sad, he's comfortable and feeling no pain. The picture to the left is him before the surgery...the blanket is holding his paci in place, it's not strangling him!

I know many of you are probably curious as to what exactly they did so I'll do my best to describe the surgery in common folk terms. They used his pulmonary artery to replace his aortic valve, and replaced his pulmonary artery with a cow vein. They did this because the artery is more on the outside of the heart so when it comes time to replace it in 1-2 years the surgery won't be as intricate. They also did it for other reasons, but they're more complicated so I won't try and type it out. They also repaired the interruption in his aortic arch. The last thing they did, which we weren't sure they would be able to do until they opened him up, was close the VSDs. This was great news to us that they were able to, because if they weren't able to do it, they would have placed a shunt in and he would have had to come back in 3-6 months and have another surgery to close it, allowing time for his heart and tissues to grow and get stronger, or something like that. Basically, now he'll have to have another surgery in 1-2 years to replace the vein instead of 3-6 months. What a blessing for him and for us!

Thanks for all the prayers today and make sure to keep them coming!

Surgery

Benjamin's surgery is scheduled for Friday at 8am. The surgery should take about 6-7 hours, but the actual act of surgery is only about 1-2 hours of that. The rest is prep and recovery. Crazy, isn't?! Darin and I will be at the hospital all day, as we have to be, and we will let you know what happens. Please keep him in your prayers!!

Benjamin has arrived!

Well, it finally happened! This morning, at 3:13am, Benjamin Edward Carr was born. He weighed 6 lbs., 12 oz., and was 19 inches long. We had to double check and make sure he was ours because we don't have babies that small! Both girls were 8 lbs., 6 oz.! It is true though that good things come in small packages because Benjamin is just adorable!

We thought we were going to have more time with him at the hospital before they transferred him to Children's Hospital but we were wrong. They took him to Children's at 6:30am, only a few hours after he was born. Thankfully, I got to see him and hold him for about 10 minutes before they took him away. It was time that I wish was longer, but I'm still thankful I got that.

We are so thankful that the delivery went well and that Benjamin didn't have any major complications after delivery. We can only wait and see now as to what will happen with his surgery and what not. We truly are thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers through all of this. Darin and I are overwhelmed with how much love and support we have received from our family and friends. We thank you all so much and hope that you continue to pray for Benjamin, as he has a long road ahead of him!

P.S. - His feet are really cute too, even though he's missing some toes :) I know some people are probably curious so here's a picture of his feet...when he moves his toes, they're like little crab claws, it's really cute!

Darin returns to work...sort of

It seems like it's been so long since Darin has worked...almost 3 months. It's weird not having him around all the time now. Even though he is only working part time, it's still more stressful for me. Although, to look at things on the bright side, maybe the added stress will put me into labor! The girls are always asking "where's daddy?!", or "when's daddy coming home?" I guess it's back to our old routine...which took so long to establish who knows if we'll ever get back.

The girls are keeping me busy, and it's helping to keep my mind off the impending birth of this kid. I am having some contractions but they're not consistent yet. Hopefully soon...there's only a week and a half left until his official due date!

Let's get this thing started!

This is it...the official page of the Carr family. I will do my absolute best to keep it updated with new news and pictures of our growing family. Benjamin's progress will be posted here as well. I hope it works. I'm new to the blogging thing so I'll take any feedback about it! Stay tuned for news...