It's Beginning to Look alot like Christmas 12/27/09

Well, we decided to get some zzzz's in our own bed after we got home from the hosptial and wake up the next morning and do Christmas instead of the night we got home!


Mommy got a scarf with my initials, Daisy perfume, a clutch purse for on the go diaper bag, My Sister's Keeper and a flag for the yard

(to take away from all the dead plants I returned to from the cold front).

Daddy got a giftcard to Cavenadrs fro a new pair of boots, 3 pairs of jeans,

and a Need to Breathe CD from Lifeway!

Hank got a Learnign Puppy Dog, a Thomas DVD, a Fire Truck for his Ornament Collection (like daddy had when he was growing up), a reindeer, and a Busy Ball Choo Choo!

Hank was pretty unamuzed as we expected haha!

It was so sweet to have our little family finally home for Christmas!

There's no place like home for the holidays.... Day 18 12/26/09

Derric holding hank with NO MORE IV'S!


So I have been slacking on my blog due to all the snuggling with my sweet baby boy! We were able to go home with Hank the day after Christmas. We were so tickled to walk out of that hopsital. It was the BEST feeling in the world. Dr. Douglas came in and took out his final IV in his groin, unhooked his leads that gave us all of his numbers for his heartbeat, blood pressure, etc! When all of the cords where pulled away from him, we could finally snuggle up soooooo close!

It felt like a house was lifted off our shoulders. Hank had to have a final EKG before we left to make sure everything in his heart looked good before we left! We ran to Cathy and Chris' where we had been satying since the Condo was vandalised while we where there not sure I ever mentioned that! Yes, you heard me, while we were staying at the condo someone kicked a window in by the front door! Scary huh? So we moved that same day to Cathy and Chris Esteps house (about 10 mins from med center), which at this point we were just keeping our stuff there and needing a place to shower and change clothes, because Hank was able to breastfeed again so we were sleeping in his room with him.

Hank loved riding in the car!

Finally at home http://www.putastorkinit.blogspot.com/ our other little business!



Hank alsoloved his swing and looking at the Christmas lights!

When we got home Derric tour Hank on a grand tour, he showed him every room and talked to him about what to do in each room. In this office Derric took Hank to his Texas A&M diploma and told him if he studied really hard and did all of his homework, he might get to go there someday like daddy did! Gig Em'

We are going to do Christmas presents in the morning, Santa Claus is coming!

Merry Christmas to All... the best gift ever! Day 17 12/25/09

This was our precious Christmas card, my friend Dee Howell from Dee Howell Photography took a few pictures of Hank before surgery for his birth announcement/family Christmas Card.

We absolutely love it, I found this card on http://www.etsy.com/ one of my favorite sites, and Aunt Trista went and printed them for me! Love Aunt Trista, she's a lifesaver!

Grandpa and Grandma Harughty came to see Hank last night and hold him for the first time
Grumps held Hank this morning for the first time!


We also got some SUPER news today! Dr. Douglas came by and took Hank's chest tube out, and his pace maker wires... and he told us we are going to be discharged tomorrow if he does well from the removal of those two things!

We are so blessed to be home soon.


Santa Claus even found Hank at the hosptial....

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men!

Merry Christmas Ya'll

Splish Splash I was taking a Bath! Day 16 12/24/09

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Wearing Christmas PJ's for Santa!

Getting ready for bed

The Harughty Clan

Mommy Daddy and Hank

Prayer Chain for Hank (we made it by all the visitors the day of surgery)

Surrounding that baby boy with scripture!

So we got a call last night at 11:30 and it was Hank's Nurse Jaqauna. I always have my stomach drop when the hospital calls. But it was actually great news! Since Hank is doing so well.... they had a room available in the Blue Moon Pod which is the Intermediate ICU Unit for heart patients. We are now breastfeeding so I am staying with Hank through the night and we are actually now doing Care By Parent with Hank. We feed, change his diapers, check his vital signs, etc. He also got his oxygen tube removed because he is breathing so well on his own!

We also got to give him his first bath. He screamed his head off, haha! Poor baby, we will give you a great bath later baby boy!

We had lots of first holdings today!

This picture was from the night before last but I love the way he holds
his lovey I couldn't help but post it!

Day 15 12/23/09

Well, today Magda the occupational therapist called me and told me that she was in Hank's room and she was wondering if I was coming to see him today? It was about 9ish so since we had been staying at the condo down the street we get there between 9-9:30... We were actually getting off the elevator when she called and I was thinking "are we coming"?? How sad that she would even have to ask but most of the parents here don't come everyday, some have multiple children, some have to work, some just don't care. Well, I told her we would be in his room in two minutes and she said she had a suprise for me....

We had been working on his pacifier for the past two days, like I mentioned the other day, babies who have been intubated (breathing tube) associate thing put in their mouth as being a bad feeling. So for the first 2 days, he hated the pacifier, we worked with him constantly reintroducing this as pleasurable.

So, the Occupational Therapist said he was doing so good with pacifier that instead of bottle feeding him which they originally had planned on they decided to try breastfeeding. He latched on immediately and ate for 45 minutes! It was so great that he remembered, they said that it could take the longest part of recovery just teaching him how to eat again. Well..... he didn't need any help with that!

He still has a chest tube in that is draining pretty good still, that will have to go down before they are able to remove it.... and he is still on a little oxygen tube up his nose. We are just a few steps away from home now. We do not want to come back so we will stay as long as we need too!

Gramms and Grumps came by today (they come everyday just for moral support, they have been our rock as well as Lee and Jennifer) so she got a chance to hold Hank for the very first time. Grumps was a little afraid to hold him right now with his tube in and all... he will wait a little bit longer.

Now, that I am breastfeeding again I will have to spend the night at the hospital again so Hank can eat whenever he is hungry! Derric is going to try to stay with me too on the little one seater they call a couch haha! This is going to be interesting!!!

Happy 2 Week Birthday Hank 12/22/09

Well we didn't bust out with the party this week, but we did have a good day.

Hank got a mobile above his crib and we just found out that we are being moved to STEP DOWN!!! That is the room which we will go home from! Hank has made great progress, he is down to 3 IV's and he just has a chest tube (which should come out tomorrow), a little oxygen line under his nose, and a nasal drip that feeds him his mommy's milk.

The doctor mentioned there is a CHANCE we could go home by Christmas if all goes well with his feedings. Babies associate the breathing tube as a bad thing in their mouth and it is very common for them to have no interest in things entering their mouth after the breathing tube is removed so..... he wasn't having his pacifier yesterday but we got him to like it today. Occupational Therpay will come by tomorrow and try to introduce the bottle again so..... we are praying it goes smoothly so we can go home as soon as he is eating again.

We were anticipating to be here for 4-6 weeks after surgery so this is truly a miracle, but we aren't getting our hopes up! Just taking it one day at a time!

We are so blessed to have such a strong little boy! We are so excited to be home really soon!

Breathing Tube Out

Hank got his breathing tube out this afternoon and we got to finally hold him again. It was so nice to have him look into our eyes and hold our fingers again. They plan to take out his final chest tube tomorrow.... then we are going to try to give him a bottle! I have lots of milk stored for him! Since he had the tube in his mouth he has associated things in his mouth to be "unpleasurable" so we tried to intorduce the pacifier back tonight and he wasn't having it... so we will just keep trying each day. They say this can be the longest process while in the hospital trying to reintroduce feeding. So, please pray that Hank remembers how to eat and that he loves to have milk! We won't get to try to breastfeed for a few days, they first have to measure how much milk he is taking in before trying to breastfeed since there is no way to keep track of the breastfed milk? Make since huh?

Praise God Hank is doing so well. Dr. Douglas came in his room to take out a few lines and told us how great Hank is doing and shared with us how fortunate he is to work with parents like us because most of the time the kids here don't have any support and the parents don't want to deal with this at all. That broke my heart, you would have to put me in a police car in handcuffs to keep me away from this hospital. We love being here with him and watching him have such great progress!

Glory be to God!

Our Little Family

Day 13 12/21/09

This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24

Hank has made incredible progress. Today they are going to start one by one taking out several different lines, then the last chest tube, then the breathing machine (ventilator). They mentioned if each thing goes well and they are able to take him off all the anticipate today we may even be able to hold him tonight.

Hank's little lovey covers him as a blanket it is sooooo cute! He is on this really warm blowing bed, he is gonna hate his bed at home! I always said he would never come to bed with us...... well...... it's gonna be hard! We will just have to have lots of snuggling and see where we end of for bed, haha!

Dr. Strobel just came in and said hes doing swimmingly???? He meant "very well", but I had never heard word that used in a positive sentence but maybe he just had a brain fart!

We got the sweetest gift today from Molly with How To Pray Cards! I had registered for some prayer cards for Hank for my shower through etsy.com! They are so sweet. It was such great timing since yesterday I started writing scripture all over his room!

These were the sweetest gift thanks Molly!

We have had several requests for our address at the hospital so here it is:

Samantha, Derric, and Hank Harughty
Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital
9th Floor PICU #13
6411 Fannin
Houston, TX 77030

I praise you beause I am fearfully and wonderfully made!
Psalm 139:14

So I never really got the whole fearfully part but boy do I ever get it now! God is so good.

-Hank's Mommy

Amazing Scripture

This is Derric and Me with Dr. Douglas (Hank's Surgeon) and his amazing Nurse Beth

Here is some amazing scripture, I am writing them on strips of paper and putting them around Hank's hospital room as we speak!

Keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times. I will say it again: Keep on rejoicing! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near: Never worry about anything, but in every situation let your petitions be made known to God in prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 4:4-7

It is God who gives me strength and makes my way perfect......He enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle... YOU give me your shield of victory, you stoop down to make me great... I pursued my enemies and crushed them, I did not turn back till they were destroyed. I crushed them completely and they could not rise, they fell beneath my feet. You armed me with STRENGTH for battle!!!
2 Samuel 22: 33-40

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
James 1:2

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family, in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21

This has been my favorite song for a few weeks.... but I hadn't listened to it since Hank was born. As I sit and listen to every word I can't help but feel this is God's songe for me right now, it is sooooooo perfect for what my heart feels! I am totally amazed everyday at how God has been laying everything right out in front of me. He is so cool.

To listen to the song click HERE

Your Hands
By:JJ Heller

have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away
That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crookedly lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth
You healed the broken, lost, and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yea, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

Your hands
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave You when...

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave...
I never leave Your hands

Day 12 12/20/09

8:30 a.m.

Hank has had a busy morning, a good busy morning. He did have 3 drainage tubes from his chest, but now he has only 1. They took all the dressing off of his chest to let his incision air out. They also took him off of all his diuretic drips, and took out his catheter. They inserted a feeding tube in his nose, and will start feeding him breast milk soon. He still has a good heart beat, and the next thing is to ween him off of the oxygen tube.

12:00 p.m.

They have started feeding Hank breast milk. They will feed him 3 cc's per hour, which is not very much. 60 cc's is one ounce. If he does good after a few hours they will increase that amount and decrease his IV fluids.

7:30 p.m.

He got taken off one of his blood pressure medications and we were told that he might even get to get off his breathing tube as soon as tomorrow (we were told earlier today maybe Tuesday).... so we are keeping our fingers crossed!



Hank's big cousin Reid got to visit him today! She hasn't gotten to see him since the day he was born due to the age limit down in the Neonatal unit, but now that Hank is in the Pediatric ICU Unit (the age limit is only 14) so she got to visit him since his chest was sewn back together.
We also had Gramms, Grumps, Aunt Stevi, Noni, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Lee visit today. Much smaller group than normal, but it was nice. We are really starting to enjoy time in Hank's room now that he is more stable and we can just be together as a family the three of us. We don't expect too many visitors tomorrow.

Another blessing we received this week was a phone call from a dear and golden friend Jan Skrehot, my childhood bestfriends mother... she called and told us that she had a connection with St. Thomas University which is literally down the street about 10 mins with traffic and that there was a three bedroom condo waiting for us that she had gotten reserved for us for until January 10th. We have been staying at the Ronald McDonald House since we have been here but you have to take your belongings out twice a day then watch it while it is out, and get your name on a list then wait to see if you are priority enough to stay. We hate that we aren't going to be down the hall from Hank, but we were almost dealing with the check in and out more than we are getting to visit with Hank so we decided to try the condo out tonight for the first time. Everyone says it will be good for us to be out of the hospital a little bit! Boy we are going to miss him tonight!

But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us "If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the boys father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Mark 9:22-24

Sweet Letter from an Old Friend-

Hey Sam!!

It's been a long time! We haven't really talked much but I've been keeping track of your facebook since before Hank was born! My wife and I have 3 kiddos now. I can't imagine what you and Derric have been going through with your little man Hank. One thing is for sure, your blogs show just how strong your faith in God is! That alone is a great testimony! I have so much respect for y'all and how you seem to be handling this speed bump. I described whats going on with Hank to my kids the other night. Then my 5 year old son ,Jakob, and 3 year old daughter, Gracie, decided to pray aloud for baby Hank all by themselves! That brought tears to my eyes because it showed me how strong God's love is. The power of prayer is so GREAT!! Through Christ all things are possible! God's work is every where and in everything! I just know Mr. Hank will be able to grow up to be a strong little man and share his story with others so that they too can see God's power! We are praying for y'all many times everyday! Oh and I love the name Hank! It seems fitting, a strong name for a strong boy!

Your old Friend,

Nik


-Hank's Mommy

Day 11 12/19/09

8:00 a.m.

Hank had a good night last night. One of the main numbers that they have been watching is his urine output. They know how much fluids they are giving him through his IV, and they have been tracking how much has been coming out through his catheter. He has been around +60, which means he has 60cc more going in than coming out. They wanted him to be negative before they closed his chest. This morning he was -5, and they said they will close him up around 9:30 a.m. This is the next big step. His nurse, Kristen, said that after the operation we might take a step back because his body has gotten used to the extra room with his chest open.



This was a picture of Dr. Tsai to the left talking to Kristen his nurse and his fellows about Hank's progress through the night and what the next step would be. He then told us he would be in at 9:30 to sew his chest up!


Daddy works his crossword puzzles!


Here is one of the cardiologist playing with his pace maker.

Mommy got to read him a Christmas story this morning he was so responsive. Nurse Kristen was trying to keep him warm by putting a blanket over him and he kept throwing his arms up and kicking his feet. It was too cute!

11:10 a.m.

Dr. Tsai got started closing Hank's chest around 10:15 a.m. Sam went back to deliver some milk to the nurses station at 11:10 a.m. and they were just finishing up. Dr. Tsai said everything went well, but we need to wait about an hour before we go back to see him.

2:15 p.m.

After he was all closed up they wanted to take one of his lines out of his umbilical cord that they had been using fro a while and give him a new IV in his shoulder, well.... that didn't work. The line they put into his shoulder ended up taking the meds to his neck instead of his heart (they check by an xray), so they decided to try a little later or maybe even tomorrow. They also decided to go ahead and do an EKG today to check the rhythm of his heart. He is doing great on his blood pressure and he is just a little sleepy! Gnight little buddy, we will just be in your room hanging out with you just in case you wake up!

6:00 p.m.

Since Hank was doing so well they decided to go ahead and do his EKG today, they think he is of heart block now and that his rhythm is coming back! They say that they will keep the pace maker near by just in case but that he is doing really well and it looks good. We are waiting to talk to the cardiologist on duty to get a more official report but John the man who ran his EKG told us all of this.

Day 10 12/18/09

So everyone says the big anticipation is the surery, but now walking through this I know that, it's untrue! Yes the surgery was a major part of this but as Dr. Tsai spoke with us last night, he told us he and Dr. Douglas can control every little thing in the Operating Room as Hank was hooked up to the bypass machine (aka the heart and lung machine) but what they cannot control is Hank's body reacting to the medications and alterations that have taken place in his body.

This is a 10 day old baby that just had lots of changes made in his body. Last night when Derric and I went to see him in his room for the first time it was pretty scary. He looked fine, we had prepared ourselves for what he was going to look like through people we have met who shared their children's stories with us. He was a little more pale than I thought he would look, his eyes had been taped shut from the surgery because they have paralyized him and they said his eyes would have remained open then been very dry so as a mommy as asked can you please put some saline in his eyes... they were a little crusted over like sleepy eye! So they jumped right on that. His chest was open with a clear saran wrap placed over the hole. You could actually see his heart pumping. Derric doesn't deal with blood well so he didn't look the first time we went in. His body has about 10-15 different IV lines going through him pumping him with fluids like, antibiotics, pain medication, lasiks (to make him urinate), etc.... they had a blanket over him because he was cold but he is on a Pace Maker for now until he has a normal heat beat. Our prayer for him right now is to first and foremost get the normal ryhthm of his heart beat back . If that doens't happen by this morning when the doctors make their rounds they will start him on steroids which should help his rhythm. If not... there is always the option of a pace maker but that would limit his activites long term and the doctor does not want that to happen.



As we sat in the back of the room all the nurses started to get a little anxious they were making facial expressions to one another and hollaring out numbers, and codes, and all this stuff that was making me a nervous wreck! So I yelled out is everything okay after I sat back and watched for a good 3 minutes, they said he was fine so I asked Derric if we could step out until they were done doing whatever it was they needed to do. One of the nurses came out and told us that they were just going to be playing the ICU Dance for a while which means.... when his blood pressure goes up they turn his meds down, when the blood pressure goes down that the blood pressure meds goes up. Until they learn what his body needs they would be playing with that. Hank required a very little amount last night of blood pressure medicine so it made him start this rollercoaster effect. They said that is to be expected coming out of such a major surgery.



Gabi had already fed us all chili so I was getting tired from the long day and decided to lay down for a while around 9:30 or 10:00. I eneded up just sleeping until I pumped again at 4:00 and then I went to see him again. His nurse Patrick was dancing when Derric and I came in the room which was pretty funny to walk up on someone doing something like that AWK-WARD haha!

So anyway, Patrick was the nurse that said he looked ok much better from last night. We talked to Hank for a minute, he's really just laying there asleep but Derric and I want him just to since subconcously that we are there if that is at all possible if not it makes us feel better anyway! We hung out for about 20 mins, it's a hard place to be right now. After is chest is closed and breathing tube is out we will feel better and more comfortable in the room, but it is VERY OVERWHELMING, he does look different and even though he is on amnesia medication and we know he cannot feel any of this you can't help but feel broken hearted for the poor baby boy.



I just finished pumping again so I guess I will grab something to put in my empty stomach and go see him again. We will keep you posted please do not stop praying these are the most criticial days we are currently facing it is minute by minute. We love you all your comments at the bottom of each post give us so much support we love to read them please keep them coming with your prayers and all the small groups, churchs, and organizations from Florida to California we are so thankful for each and every prayer! God is going to show up in a BIG WAY for Hank and we can't wait to one day share this all with him.

UPDATE:
So this morning his nurse is Kristen, she has been great to work with. She said that he is having a good morning. His blood pressure is doing a little better. She said if the fluids come down then they might even try to sew his chest shut tomorrow if he has a good day today. Then we just want to focus next on the rhythm of his heart. They say with all the changes that Hanks body has been through his body now just has to figure it all out!

We got to put some precious little socks on him today!

Derric talked to Kristin to figure out his numbers and what to look for on all the machines!


We started to decorate his room with all of our cards Christmas and Congrats Cards!



Here is a picture of Hank waking up and responding to Derric and my voice.


Here is another picture of him with all his IV lines, he currently has 13. He also has a breathing tube and he is still on the pace maker.

The Harughty Family
Hank loves his Mommy to read to him!


We have been spoiled by all the gifts and gift cards from lots of friends and family

Love you all-

Hank's Mommy





Here is a picture of Hank this past week... He's so cute!