Pray for Baby Elaina

Well all the big heads in the state of Utah got together recently to look over baby Elaina's case and determine the best course of action. They are stumped.

Elaina has an enlarged aorta, which is on the wrong side of her heart, and only one of her ventricles is functional. The enlarged artery has a lot of blood pressure in it so they need to find a way for her blood supply to be properly distributed. They do know that blocking it off would kill her. This heart defect is so rare, that all they can do right now is "try" to save her. (Docs do not sound very hopeful, but will obviously do all they can.) Tomorrow Elaina will have open-heart surgery to install a shunt that will just be a temporary fix, and ("if" she survives this procedure) she will need a series of much more complicated surgeries over the coming months and years as she grows bigger. It has not been decided yet if they will operate through her chest or through her back, but she will need to be hooked up to a bypass machine while the operation is performed, and she will remain in intensive care for at least 2 weeks until she is strong enough to go home.

Elaina is 13 days old now and weighs 4 lbs 9 oz. Mommy and Grandma are with her every day and showering her with love and attention. She's such a sweet little baby, so beautiful and small. Hollie is having a very hard time dealing with this, and her own recovery from major abdominal surgery has been slow and painful. Mike has gone essentially off his rocker and is of no help to anyone right now (which only adds to Hollie's troubles). Sad, really, but it's the only way I can describe it. I don't even want to think of what's in store for this family if baby doesn't make it. Devastation galore.

Friends and family have been called in for a special blessing on the baby this afternoon. This may be baby's only chance for a church ordinance. (For those of you not familiar with Mormon customs, a baby blessing is rather like a Christening ceremony, minus the baptism aspect.) Any prayers or happy thoughts you can send our way will be a great comfort to us right now.

We are all putting on our bravest faces and speaking optimistically about what is to come for this precious little girl. Whatever happens, the outcome is pretty bleak no matter how you look at it and baby's future is, at best, fraught with complications and extraordinary needs.