Last Update Before Devin is Born!

     Time is flying, and baby Devin will be here before we know it!  So much has happened over these past months as we are waiting for his arrival.

     One huge answer to prayer was the Lord opening many doors for us to be able to purchase and move into a new home before Devin arrives.  We have been renting since we moved to Texas 4 years ago.  When we found out about Devin’s heart condition, we didn’t think we’d be able to move prior to him being born.  The housing market here is like playing musical chairs with 10 people, and 1 chair, and then at the end you have to be willing to give your first born child to guarantee you have the house.  However, we “stumbled” upon a home in a neighborhood we adored, and was for sale by owners who had just flipped the house.  It was the perfect layout for our growing family, with a big back yard for 4 boys.  The owners have put so much love into the house, and have now become very dear to us.  We are so, so grateful to have a home for Devin to come to whenever he is out of the hospital!  Since we will be home bound for quite a while after he’s released, this will be in sense a haven for us.  It is a good gift we still cannot believe is ours!

     Thus; we’ve been a tad crazy moving and haven’t updated the blog.  Since our last update we have met with Devin’s open heart surgeon and another surgeon who will be doing his heart catheter procedure.  Both of these men brought so much comfort to us not only in their amazing skills & gifts, but also as men who care about their patients, and want to do whatever they can to save this little baby’s life.

     In our last update, we asked for prayer regarding the tiny pin-hole in Devin’s heart.  We were praying it would open to help supply more blood flow, but we just learned this past Thursday that hole is most likely completely closed now.  This was devastating as we know this makes his condition more serious. However, another small miracle that is working in his favor is a pop-off vein “created itself” to help take pressure off of his heart, which is essentially acting as a bypass for blood flow around the area that is blocked. This does not always happen, but may help relieve some of the pressure so he is not as blue when he’s born.

     As of now, we are scheduled for an induction on April 7^th.  The hope is to have all the teams in place for his birth so we there are no surprises.  He already weighs 7 ½ lbs, which is extremely uncomfortable for me, but is awesome because his heart is a bit bigger giving the surgeon a larger target when burning the hole for the blood to flow.  Please pray with us that Devin would wait until the 7^th to come.  And if not, that it would not be at a time when is hard to get through Dallas traffic, or late at night when it’s harder for the teams to be prepared.

     Right after Devin is born, they will show him to Dan & I, then he will be immediately rushed for his first procedure to open his septum in the cath lab.  While Children’s Dallas treats many babies with HLHS, it is more uncommon to have the intact septum that Devin has.  Our Doctor was very straight with us, and said this will be the first he’s done this since the hospital was redone, and they have a further distance to get him to surgery.  He said that pop-off vein could be our saving grace in getting him there before more damage is done to his little body.

     If all goes well with his heart cath, he will have pulmonary artery banding (an open chest surgery) done within the next 2 days to help regulate blood flow.  If that also goes well, we hope Devin can have his first open heart surgery (the Norwood) done within 2 weeks.  It’s obvious there are a million things that could go wrong between all these procedures, and a wide range of complications. So we would just covet your prayers, that the Lord’s hand would be all over this, and guiding these doctors and their teams through each step.

     Please also be in prayer for Dan & I.  This birth will be quite different than the other boy’s births, and it will be hard not to hold him for possibly weeks after he’s born.  Pray for our boys, this has been hard especially for Gabriel & Christian to wrap their minds around.  Christian really just wants to see and hold Devin, and at this point we do not have a time frame of when that will be possible, and won’t until he’s actually here and through the first procedures.  Pray for our family and friends who will be helping out with our other 3 boys while we are gone so much.  These next coming months are going to be such a trip, so please just pray for peace amidst the storm for all our hearts.

    We are so grateful for each of you who take the time to read this, and remember us in your prayers.  We serve a great God, who has a great plan for little Devin’s life, no matter what that looks like.  We are blessed to be his parents, and to see how the Lord will use this little man to mold us and shape us, and help conform us to the image of Christ.  We know that this will not be a fun or easy road, but a road the Lord himself has walked down, and can empathize with us.  We know His heart breaks more than ours, and that He is sovereign, loving, and kind.  We do not weep as those who have no hope!

     This will probably be the last update until Devin is here, but we will be sure to keep you posted, and get some pictures as soon as we possibly can!!

Love & Blessings,

From Devin’s family