A heavy heart...

First of all this is a prayer request for Sharon's family. Here is the story so far...

my great friend sharon that works at the nsy with me has a niece--Bridget. well this summer she found out that she was going to be having a baby in march...we were so excited...just one more to add to the list of ppl we knew were going to be delivering this spring!! and of course sharon was goin to be at the delivery!! it seems every year for the past 3 years or so someone in one of our families or one of our really close friends would be delievering so naturally we (we being me and sharon) were totally excited for bridget and her family. everything was going great until december...that's when it started...when bridget was 27 weeks to be exact...she started trying to go into labor. she had to be on procardia and bedrest...made it to 31wks where they told her "you wont make it another 2 weeks" and again by the grace of God and good self control (bed rest) she did...started trying again at 34wks to go into labor and again was warded off. she finally made it to 37 where she was able to come off the med and bedrest and then wouldnt ya know the little stinker had to be induced last week at 39!!! sharon and i were thrilled though b/c she had defied her odds and kept that baby in 12 weeks longer!!! so sharon was at the delivery...baby bryce didnt like the pit so they had to turn it off, bridget was already a 5 when she came in and that little bit of pitocin just threw her into labor...yea!!! then baby bryce didnt like pushing so the poor little guy had to have help out with forceps....geez!!! but when he got here we were soooo happy ... last thurs i finally got to meet bridget and tony and this side of sharon's family i had heard about for so long and i was soooo excited to be helping them through the night and weekend!! they are truly wonderful ppl and were sooo very excited about their new and first little boy together!!! it was a tough few days breastfeeding as he was very sleepy but we were working through it....i left sun morning after my last shift for the weekend and i told them both "ok im not back till thurs so yall better be home and lovin on this little guy by then" i remember them both agreeing with me and smiling and bridget thanking me for all of my help...it was truly my pleasure!! the best part of my job!!!

.......sharon calls me mon afternoon in tears "they are shipping bryce to san antonio--he has a hole in his heart." i was like "WHAT!!!!!!!" first im thinkin what did i miss? what happened in the 24+ hrs since i had seen them?!?!?!?! thats all she really knew and was headed to shannon so i told her to let me know more when she could. sure enough she got there and they already had the team coming from Methodist Children's in San Antonio....i just couldnt believe it. to make an extreamly long story a little shorter the did another sono on tues morning at SA and things have just gone from bad to worse....apparently the name for everything he has going wrong with him is Shone's Couplex (not misspelled) He has a Coarchtation of the Aorta, a very large VSD (hence the hole in heart) a PDA (another hole) a hypoplastic left ventricle and two of the valves (one being the mitral valve) are messed up. lets just say one of the opitions they were given was a heart transplant!! and one of the surgeries they cant do until he is like 15-16yrs cause they have to use sm adult valves!!! he has a 70% chance of making it until he is 20 and that is with at least 5 more surgeries after the open heart surgery he is gonna have on friday

....the cardiac specialists in SA said it was a Great find by dr wehner--that had it not been found bryce would have died at 1 month. they will have to be in SA for at least a month. I just feel soooo increadibly sorry for this family and sharon. poor bridget fought so hard to not go into preterm labor b/c she wanted to be able to take her baby home with her from the hospital when she went and he has never gotten to go home. it has gone from a week ago thinking you're goin into have your baby, spend a couple of days in the hospital and coming home to --not knowing what you're next move is and that your baby as of this point has a 70% of living till he's 20!!! i cant even begin to comprehend what they are all going through. i couldnt imagine having my 8 day old under go open heart surgery. they said bryce is strong...that typically they are alot sicker then he is....i guess that would be a sm light in their extremly dark tunnel.

Then i look at my children and i THANK GOD!!!!!! i dont know how many times since monday i have just stopped and said "thank you Lord!!" it totally puts a whole different perspective on things....Please please please keep this baby and family in your prayers. they have an extremly long road ahead of them with many twists and turns im sure....this would have to be the part of my job that i hate and have a hard time understanding. i know the Lord will never give you more than you can handle but sometimes i know i wonder....