Heart to heart & hand in hand

At 7:59am today my life changed forever and like the Grinch, I'm pretty sure my heart grew 3 sizes. Ella May Beckstead, my first niece, came into this world hollering and ready to beat the odds that had been placed against her since we first learned she had a heart condition back at Lissa's 20 week appointment. Most of you who will actually read this already know about this, but for those of you who dont, here's my brief summary...:


Ella has been diagnosed with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left-Heart Syndrome), which is a rare congenital heart defect that basically means that she is missing half of her heart and instead of 4 chambers, it only contains 2. Wikipedia writes "Without life-prolonging interventions, HLHS is fatal, but with intervention, an infant may survive,"...so that's where we are now. Ella will have her first of 3 open heart surgerys sometime this week and the following 2 will occur at 3 months and then around 3 years of age. She has already shocked and awed her family (as well as the Drs!) by coming out larger than most HLHS babies (8lbs, 6oz and 20 inches long...a very good thing!) and not even needing to be on any breathing treatments or be intubated (I dont know all of the hospital and medical terminology yet, but I know I will soon, so bear with me), which is very rare. She has remained in good condition all day and I can't tell you what that has meant to our family. Even in my best of the best dreams she wasn't doing this good! Now you have to understand, Ella is part Moses, so that means she know what she wants and doesn't let anyone tell her what she can and can't do...this baby is going to be one tough cookie. :)


As beautiful as this day as been, it has also been equally tough, as Lissa has yet to be able to hold Ella and had only had a couple minutes to look at her before Ella was transfered to Childrens Hospital, next door to where Liss is staying. The Drs had predicted Ella was going to be over 10lbs so at that point decided they'd have to do a mandatory C-section....and look who came out 8lbs. :) So because of her C-section, Lissa has to remain on bedrest and can't go next door to see Ella until Friday, and as you can imagine, its tearing her apart. To have just experienced the most amazing moment of your life and meeting your precious, beautiful newborn baby and then have her immediately whisked away and covered in tubes and medicated...it doesn't seem like it should be allowed to happen in real life. Not to a baby. As I'm saying this though, I have to express just how grateful we are that she's doing as well as she is, because so far its been nothing short of a miracle. My brother in law (Ella's daddy!)Brady has taken on all roles today and fit so perfectly into each that you'd think he'd been doing it for years. He was able to hold our Ella a couple times and just the sound of his voice put her at ease and you could tell she knew just who he was. He has a big job to do, taking care of both Ella and my sissy, but Brady has done it wonderfully.  


 Its crazy how when you look at Ella, (assuming she didn't have any tubes in her), she looks like the healthiest, most beautiful baby to ever bless this Earth. And no, its not just that I'm biased...seriously!...this baby is gorgeous. My heart feels like its going to overflow when I look at her and see her little blinks and her tiny hands searching around her new spacious surroundings...you should have seen those skinny legs all stretched out!!!! I was as equally overwhelmed with love today as I was 8 months ago when my Rilynne was born. Ella has stolen my heart and I just can't wait until we can take her home someday. At best, she'll go home in 5 or 6 weeks, but depending on how things go, it could end up being longer. Until then, Liss and Brady will call LA (or more accurately "Childrens Hospital LA") their home, and it will be a 2nd home to the rest of our family.


I've been wanting to have a blog for awhile now but was too lazy to actually start it, so my precious niece gave me a kick in the butt today and here I am. :) This will be the end for tonight though, since I got up at 5am and I feel like my eyes are burning holes in my head...until next time, I ask you to please take a minute and say a little prayer for Ella, as well as Naya and Scarlet, who are babies that could also use any extra strenth and love you may have available. They're my final thoughts & prayers before I go to bed, one of the 1st things I think about when I get up and are stronger than most adults I know! There are a ton of other babies out there that are just as deserving of these same things,  so although I dont know them, I wish all of this for you as well.


Everybody go sneak in and give your babies/kids one last kiss for the night. :)