Baylor's Story

Hello World!  I have never blogged before, but now that I am staying at home and have recently moved I thought this would be a great time and a great way to keep friends and family posted on everything that's going on. My first blog...and most...will be about my sweet Baylor Ann.  It's a little long, but I feel like she already has such a strong testimony and story to share!

After struggling with infertillity for over a year on November 25, 2009 I found out that I was finally pregnant!!!   God had finnally given us the baby we had wanted and prayed so long for. Fast forward to July 12, 2010. 

I was at my 37 week check up accompanied by my mom, sister, and nephew.  I was going to go in for a quick check and then we were all going to go shopping and get some last minute baby things and my newphew was going to buy a toy with some birthday money he had gotten!  I should also preface that I had just eaten mexican food which made Baylor move quite a bit in my belly.  I get called back to the office and my doctor, Dr. Heckman, can't get a good read on Baylor's heart beat because she was wiggling too much.  So he decides to do a sonogram to look at the heart and see if he can get a heart rate from the sonogram.  We did the sonogram and I'm not sure if he still couldn't get a read or saw something wierd, but at that point he told me they were going to put me on a monitor just to be sure.  I actually wasn't nervous at all at this point because I thought she was just wiggling too much for them to get a good read of her heart beat. After being on the monitor for about 20 minutes my doctor came back in and informed me that Baylor's heart rate would go up for a little bit, then drop back down for a little bit.  He thought it probably wasn't anything to worry about, but wanted me to go across the street where they have more detailed sonograms just to be sure.  Apparently I was going to see a high risk doctor, but at the time I had no idea. So...me, my mom, my sister, and my poor sweet nephew go across the street for another sonogram.  I check in, get called back, and this time a new doctor sees me and prefaces the sonogram with, "I just want you to know that we are looking for heart failure so if we find something, I want you to be prepared."  Panic immidiately took over my body. My heart sank.  Tears started streaming down my cheeks. As a mother I felt helpless. He looked at her heart and said, "Ok, we are going to call in our Pediatric Cardiologist. Your daughter seems to have some sort of flutter and you are very blessed that your doctor heard this.  The good thing is that you are at this hospital and we have everything she needs."(I was at Baylor Dallas).  The cardiologist then comes and looks at Baylor's heart.  After a few minutes she explains to me what is going on.  Baylor has an Atrial Heart flutter.  Very common in elderly people, but very rare in infants.  The top 2 chambers of her heart were beating at 300 beats per minute while the bottom 2 were beating at 150 beats per minute. My questions then poured out, "What does this mean? How do we treat this?  Does this mean she has a bad heart?  How will this affect her later in life?  Can she still lead a normal life?"  The cardiologist assured me this type of flutter, though very uncommon, was very treatable. She again mentioned how blessed we were to have caught this so early because this type of flutter is hard to hear, and had it gone unnoticed it could have caused major damage to Baylor's heart and body. She was going to admit me to the hospital and give me a medicine called dijoxin to try and convert Baylor's heart in the womb, then if that didn't work then they would take her via C-section and convert her heart outside the womb by giving her heart a shock with baby difibulators.  She was very positive that this would work, but if it didn't then Baylor would have to take medicine everyday, but still lead a relatively normal life. At this point my body is numb.  I feel like I am in a bad dream.  Even though the outcome seems positive, I still can't believe that instead of going shopping, I am being admitted to the hospital because my daughter's heart isn't working correctly.  Something is wrong with my little miracle baby and I am completely helpless. My mom prayed with me in the doctor's office and started a prayer chain throughout our church and community. The cardiologist spoke with my husband on the phone and explained what was going on.  I couldn't talk him...I had no idea how to even begin to explain everything I had just been told. 

                                                And so the waiting game begins....

                                                         Baby Day!  Here we go!!!


After being in the hospital for four days, Baylor's heart rate had still not converted.  My doctor came in Thursday morning on July 15th and told me that at 12:30 we were going to be having a baby.  I had such a mix of emotions.  I was so excited that Baylor Ann would finally be here, but I knew she had a major and unpleasant battle ahead of her.  Since the medicine they had been giving me hadn't worked, Baylor was going to be taken to the NICU to get her heart shocked in hopes that it would convert to a normal, safe, heart rate. I hated that she would be so new to this world and possibly in pain and I, her mother, couldn't be there for her or even comfort her when it was over.  It was hard.  We went to the operating room at 12:30 and at 1:06 Baylor Ann was born.  I got to see her over a curtain for a brief moment and then she was taken to another room.  Colby got to see her for a little bit. He said she was beautiful and perfect.  He told me the nurses were telling him that she was a super star!  He also said there were tons of doctors, nurses, and residents waiting for her with stethescopes to listen to her heart.  No one attending to her or myself had ever actually seen an atrial flutter in an infant.

While I was in recovery I had several people come back and visit me, but there was one person in particular I was very anxious to see.  Dr. Eapen, her cardiologist. Then...after several minutes...the door swung open and in cam Dr. Eapen with a huge smile on her face.  Baylor's heart had verted.  Tears of joy streamed down my face, a huge weight had been lifted off my chest.  I closed my eyes in a peaceful rest. My miracle baby was going to be okay. The baby we had prayed so long for, the baby the town of Sulphur Springs was praying for was going to be okay. 

      She's here!!!  When Baylor was born she was given an IV, oxygen, feeding tube, and placed on  heart and oxygen monitors.

                                                 I finally get to hold my sweet Baylor Ann!



After 5 days in the NICU for monitoring, we finally got to take our sweet Baylor Ann home!

God heard our cries and blessed us with a child.  I knew he would bless us with a child, I just did not know the road he would take us on be it infertillity or adoption.  God heard our prayers throughout the pregnancy and took us to the right doctors so that Baylor's heart flutter would be found and her heart would not get damaged.  God healed Baylor's heart.  We serve an awesome God and even if Baylor's heart had not converted he would still be a loving and faithful God.  It is not my job to question the road God takes us on, but emabrace it and see how he is going to take the situation Satan intends to destroy our faith, and use it for the glory of His kingdom. I'm so thankful for Jesus Christ and that the life we live in this world is not in vain.