what a day we've had...

Where do I start? First of all, the surgery went great. Madelyn is a tough little girl. Our day started at six this morning, and who knows when it'll end. Giving Maddie over to the doctors this morning was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but we knew she was in good hands.

Because the surgery was so early, we were pretty tired. I managed to sleep for an hour and a half once we got back to the hotel, and Rus read for a while. Then we went out for breakfast. We got back to the hotel around 10:15 and by 10:45 we had already talked to the surgeon and learned how everything had gone.

So the surgery... Dr. Quinonez said it was wonderful to work on a normal heart; I guess because he specializes in heart surgeries he has seen all kinds. And as of right now, this growth is not a growth. Rus understands all this way better than me, but I'll do my best to explain. While babies are still in the womb they have an extra valve in their heart that pumps the mother's blood to their heart, instead of going through their lungs as it does when they're born. Are you following so far? Anyways, this valve usually disappears very early, but Maddie still had part of hers attached to the wall of her heart when they did the 20 week ultrasound. They don't know where this valve goes, or how it disappears; but they do have a fancy word to describe the process (but I can't remember what it is!). So the good news is that there's no chance of anything growing back. It's also not a genetic malfunction so our next ten kids' hearts should develop normally.

Right now she's in the PICU and is hooked up to a lot of machines and tubes. It's so hard to watch her sort of wake up and try to cry, but can't because she has a breathing tube in. The nurses and doctors have all said she's recovering really well.

Pray: that Maddie will continue to recover well.

Pray: that Rus and I will continue to have peace about this whole scenario, especially as we watch her monitor and see numbers changing and don't know what they mean.

Pray: that we can continue to rest.

Praise: we slept amazingly well last night!

Praise: I was so worried about Madelyn being upset this morning because she wasn't supposed to eat. Well she slept later than I thought she would, and started fussing a bit while we were waiting for them to come take her. Praise God for Cindy, the nurse who came and rocked her back to sleep. How many babies have you met that will willingly fall asleep without eating breakfast? She has never ever done that. And it's not like she cried so much that she exhausted herself... Totally a God moment. Thanks so much for praying specifically for that!

Praise: That the surgery went so well and they think they've solved the mystery in Maddie's heart.