Gonzalez's Heart

Gonzalez's Heart

Friday was a very long and difficult day for us. We had many appointments (3 with doctors and 3 tours). It took us six straight hours to have them all. We did not even have time to get lunch so we bought a bag of chips. I know really healthy!

The first appointment was our tour of the NICU. We saw all of the little sick babies (I wanted to give them all big hugs). They showed us where our little baby will be and what kinds of things will be hooked up to it. We saw where we will be delivering the baby as well. The family lounge is pretty small and will be entirely filled up with our family and friends who will be there waiting to see this little angel. We also talked to the Neo-Natologist who is in charge of the floor. He went over a lot of information with us. And told us all the tests that will be given to the baby after it is born to help with a smoother surgery.

After that, we went to see the doctor who will be delivering the baby. We set a date to be induced. Are you ready? Grab a pen. Are you ready yet???? This will be when every single person needs to send ALLLLL of their prayers and positive energy our way. The date is April 3rd. It is a Monday and they are planning on doing it at 8am. My other 2 deliveries were pretty fast. Ethan (the last one) only took 6 hours. We are hoping that there are no other problems that occur during/after the delivery.

Our next appointment was the hardest. It was with the surgeon. She basically explained the problem all over again and the procedures in complete and very raw detail. It was very hard to hear. She also told us other complications/defects this little baby could be born with that are common with this type of problem. She said the surgery will be anywhere from 3-7 days after delivery depending on how the baby is doing. The surgery will take approximately 6 hours. So these hours are going to be another time where everyone needs to send all their prayers our way. They will then have to keep the baby sleeping for 3 days to help reduce risk of serious inflammation, infection and any other complications. That part will be so hard for us all. We will be able to be by the babies side but will not be able to hold it at all. So these 3 days we will need a ton of prayers sent yet again. From there, the doctor said that if things go well and with no complications it will be a minimum of one month recovery. The next surgery will be at 6 months of age. Recovery for this one will only be a few weeks.

After this appointment we went to tour where the baby will be recovering. Saw the bigger family lounges which are incredible. Then from there we went to tour the Ronald McDonald House. This is an incredible place. We will be staying here for all of the procedures and recovery times. If you have never toured a Ronald McDonald House, you definitely need to. They are so great. This one has 45 rooms and are full most of the time. They even have a K-12 grade classroom that is completely free for the families. It is the last classroom like this one in the state of Minnesota. We are very lucky to have a place like this to stay at. Tammy, Kelly and mom have already been recruited (by me) to have sleep overs with me during the weeks. Sal, the kids and his dad will be coming to stay with me and see the baby on the weekends.

Thank you to Tammy for watching the kids for our very long day. I know it was long for you as well and we really appreciate it.

We are still trying to figure out who is going to watch the kids on Thursdays. Amber (our dog) will stay with dad at Medallion during the delivery and surgery time. Thank you dad. We also think we have figured out who will help with Amber on the weekends. We just have to confirm with everyone to make sure it will be fine.

That is all for now. Thank you all for keeping our family in your prayers. It means so much to us.