Haven had an eventful day yesterday.  First of all, she was one sleepy baby.  She was asleep when we arrived in the morning.  She slept right through her morning shot, diaper changes, and even her physical therapy session!  So as we became more curious as to why this little baby was so tired, we began to notice that her heart rate seemed sort of stuck in one spot.  “Uh oh,” we thought, “we’ve seen this before.”  Well, we waited it out awhile, then her blood pressure dropped a little too low.  Then we new something was the matter.  The cardiologist came in, and thankfully since we’ve all seen this behavior before, we knew exactly what the problem was and what needed to be done.  Haven’s heart was stuck in an Atrial Flutter again.  So, after a little diagnostic test to be certain that was the issue (and it was), Haven had to be cardioverted (zapped) for the third time.  It seemed to work for yesterday, but she has continued to have some low blood pressure issues and a high, somewhat immovable heart rate since last night.  So, I’m sure we’ll all be watching that very closely over the next few days.  If Atrial Flutter is going to continue being an issue, then we may have to delve further into what’s causing it and what long term treatment options may be. 

Another reason that could account for her extreme sleepiness is that her white blood cell count is very high again.  It was slightly raised yesterday morning and they sent off some tests to see if she has any bacteria or infections, but this morning it jumped up a very large amount.  So her body is trying to fight something.  The Infectious Disease team will be stopping by today, and we predict they will want to start her on antibiotics.  As you may know, it’s not a good thing for a baby to get sick, but it becomes even more serious when a baby with HLHS gets sick (especially early on when she still has more surgeries on her heart ahead of her).  While in the hospital, we can manage it and keep it somewhat under control, but this is definitely giving us a taste of how life outside the hospital will need to be in order to keep her from getting sick.

On a more positive note, Haven’s chest drainage has decreased tremendously over the past 24 hours.  We are a little cautious to not get too excited.  One of her chest tubes started to come out yesterday afternoon, so we are waiting to hear from the doctors today regarding her chest x-ray and if there is any fluid accumulating and not being drained.  We’re hoping the drainage is drying up, but we’ll want to leave the tubes in for just a while longer to be sure the lack of fluid isn’t because of tube malfunction.

Amidst all this, we want to take this opportunity to praise God for the salvation He has freely given to us.  Jesus Christ died for our sins and our faith only in that gives us eternal life with Him.  That hope helps us remember that God’s will for us as saved souls here on this earth is to “have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).  The only way to be saved is by putting your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  It’s what He did, not us.  We’re reminded that going through seemingly tough times on this earth allow us to glorify God:  The grace He has given us is sufficient in all things, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).  We stand fast in our faith knowing our destiny for eternity is with the God of the universe and the Saviour of our souls.  It is our prayer that you have put your faith completely in Jesus Christ and have that same assurance.