Update on Carter

During the night little Carter past away from more complications.
Carter's funeral will be Friday, May 26 at 1 p.m. at Wyatt Park Christian Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Visitation and graveside information to come.

All those who are still loggin onto the blog please visit our friends Gary and Sarah at http://carters-page.blogspot.com/ and lift them up in prayer. I just got an update that they are being transferred to Children's Mercy and being put on a list of some sort.

May God give them the peace and support they need during these very trying times. It brings a lump in my throat to think about what they are all going through.

Follow Visit went fine

It was a glorious day. Today we drove to Mercy for a follow up visit with the Cardiac Surgery. Our next appointment is June 21 with Dr. Drake. Jennifer had a drag. Appointment with Maureen Boyle. I am so thankful of the relationship we fostered with Dr. Boyle that lead to the intervention by the cardiac specialists. We live a tough and cynical society and I am thankful I pushed my wife into going with Dr. Boyle with the second child, even though she didn't get to deliver Aubrey. I was up late with Aubrey so Jennifer could catch a few zzz's and tried to finish unpacking so it is now back to sleep. God Bless and good night. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz.

Where's the sleep

After our first night back home we are looking for some sleep. Aubrey, just like Dylan, likes to sleep when in contact with a human body. Kellie came by in the evening and provided some support. Kathy came by and gave her a bath, which she liked. We are getting the house in order and Bob is working on the old house again tomorrow. It time for some sleep. Good night.

We are home!!!

At 9:27 PM we pulled into our driveway safe and sound. I can not tell you how excited I was to be drive our four person family out of the parking garage at Mercy. We then went over and cleaned our room and ate dinner with Theresa at the Ronald McDonald house. If I could do a cartwheel (I can but it isn't that pretty) I would. Anyway we will be up awhile tonight working on getting things in order. It is amazing after two weeks the house was the way we left it, outside of Bob Morton mowing the grass while we were gone.

We are discharged!

We are all checked out from the hospital. Last night Aubrey had to sit in her car seat last for two hours while she was hook up to the monitor to make sure she would do alright for the drive home. She checked out with flying colors and Jennifer and I took an infant CPR class, and boy was it different from adult CPR. We are gathering things up right now and should leave to go to the Ronald McDonald House to clean up the room. So we should be on the road by this evening. We will post once we make it into the house.

Mother's Day

We have traveled many floors. We started on the 3rd, then after surgery moved to the 2nd, now we have landed on the 4th floor in the Sutherland Tower, the recovery floor. The hospital room that we have now is nice with our own bathroom, TV, couch and refrigerator.

The best thing that we have heard all day is that Aubrey is coming home TOMORROW! It's hard to believe but the doctors say she is ready and they will take her staples out in the morning.

So far all of my meals today have been hospital food and its been pretty good. I nursed Aubrey for the first time yesterday and it was a little tough but we are working on it. My Mom visited today and she took Dylan to go play with his cousins. Then Kathy, Kylee and Mike (A.K.A Mikey) stopped bye for a nice visit. Be sure to check out the new photos I am working on putting on.

Bob's Graduation Day!

It was hard to leave Aubrey, but she was doing so well we made a trip back to St. Joseph for the first time since she was born so that Bob could walk across the stage and graduate. I couldn't be more proud of him for sticking with it for almost 13 years to earn two degrees one in Economics and one in Finance.

I got to hold her today!

Today was a great day. I woke up early to take Bob and Dylan to the train station. They are going to Jeff City and will be back tonight. I went to the hospital and she has been on milk all night. I got to hold her and I was scared with the tube in her chest. She knew I was scared and started crying. Bob says that "dogs and babies know when you are scared." I don't know about that but..... I got to feed her and hold her and that made me smile from ear to ear. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. I look forward to moving to the next floor. Cardiac recovery!

Yahoo! She has that tube out.

Aubrey was feeling mighty uncomformatable this afternoon with her pain meds gone. She was alert and moving alot. The Docs finally decided she has had enough of the tubes that they pulled them out late this afternoon. After the blood gas test and hour later, they said she was good to go. How exciting! I woke Dylan up from his afternoon nap to tell him.

Notes for today. Everything was laid back.

Yesterday they tried to take the ventilator tube out and she was still a sleepy baby and they had to sedate her and put it back in. Today they let her just rest throughout the day. Yesterday was our roughest day yet, very emotional. Today was more relaxed and Dylan worked with his MP3 player. At the Ronald McDonald house we had a great Italian meal provided by some awesome volunteers. I will try to provide a more detailed post tomorrow.

We have a link on the bottom for Carter Heckman's Page

Last week I put a link on the bottom right hand portion to the Carter Heckman page. He appears to be one strong little boy. I encourage visitors to visit their Blog, also at http://carters-page.blogspot.com/ .

our family will continue to hold their family up in prayer. God Bless.

Here are all the flowers we have received

Thank You SJSD School Board, Debbie, Steve and Melody.
Thank You Mom, Dave, and Hughs & Snyder Family.
Thank You Kim, Pastor Robert Warren and Word of Faith Church

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS

On the road to recovery

The surgery went great and she is on her way to recovery. What a day it has been. We made it to the hospital at 7 a.m. and they took her around 9:45 for the anesthesia. Dr. Lofland came and said it was all done around 11a.m. Finally at around 1 in the afternoon we were able to go and see her. I thought I was prepared for it, but nothing I think could have really prepared me for seeing my baby hooked to some many tubes and machines. We made it back to the Ronald McDonald House around 5P.M. and had and nice quiet dinner. So yes I am so emotionally drained today not that I haven’t been since that first night.
I am blessed in so many ways not only for Aubrey but also for a wonderful husband who has started this blog and done almost all the postings. I am not one that likes to just sit down and write but I love to sit down and go through pictures and for those who know me I love to take pictures. Below is a link to just a few of them! I feel like I am also so lucky to have so many friends, family and strangers thinking about and praying for us. I love reading the comments you all have left. Please keep them coming!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW AUBREY'S VISITORS

The surgery went great!

Dr. Lofland just came in. The shunt is in and she is recovering. The nurse will be in shortly to take us to the ICU (2nd Floor). They say she will still be kept under until tomorrow. Hopefully she will open her eyes and smile. Thank you for you continued prayers.

Mom's scrapbooking night

On Wednesday they have scrapbooking for Mom's. My friend Theresa encouraged me to get away and we started Aubrey's first two pages of her scrapbook. Dylan worked with the volunteer, Virginia, on his own stamp scrapbooking page. She was wonderful, as are most of the volunteers here at Mercy and the RM house.

First Night at the Ronald McDonald House with Dylan

Although Bob's first night was Tuesday and Dylan and mine was Wednesday, that was the first night together. We had a wonderful spaghetti dinner provided by volunteers. I had about five chocolate cookies, that Bob got on me about. I slept good! Here are some pictures from out front. We have Grandma Shiori, Dylan, Me, Bob, and Kathy. (And of Course Ronald)

Pictures

The nurse in the picture is normally on the day shifts. Her name is Summer and she is awesome. She is normally paired with Kristin.

Today is pretty smooth

Last night I went out and had Jennifer's prescription for Motrin filled. I came over and stayed with Aubrey until 1:15 or so. His night nurses, Mary and Blair we great to converse with. We talked about school, family, and a little of everything. This morning we just got things in order at the RM house and came over to the hospital. I just got something to eat and Dylan is playing with some blocks.

I read a few books to him and Aubrey earlier. Jennifer is hanging out in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). It is located on the 3rd Floor. You have to take the Castle elevator there, which is near the Cafeteria. At some point I will get the number to post for there and the RM house.

Where we are staying

I got Dylan all tucked in after two books and a puzzle. We had a nice dinner here provided by the volunteers fromAmerican Century. We are staying at the New Ronald McDonald house near Mercy. I am getting ready to run out to get Jennifer a presciption filled. I am going to swing by the hospital to see Aubrey also. Jennifer doesn't want me out too late.

Post Op Pictures

Jason and Stacey and Theresa came over to the hospital after surgery. Theresa took some post op pictures.

Surgery went great.

Wow that was fast. Aubrey made it through surgery and everything went great. They were successful in making an entry through the chambers. Dr. Hubbell was not only great in the operating room, he has great patient communication skills. Aubrey is now in recovery and the surgeons will discuss everything else tomorrow. Dylan really liked looking at the model of the heart. One day he will make a great Doctor. Luckily I started saving for Medical school three years ago.

RSS Feed

Thanks to my friend Jason Park suggesting getting a RSS feed (Whatever that really is I don't know) You can now subscribe by clicking on the icon. You can add the sitefeed (the blog is added to e-mail or whatever or to your Yahoo page). When it is updated you can quickly see. It is fairly easy to setup up, so novices like me are very welcome.

They are doing the Cardiac Catherterization Today

When I got to the hospital this morning I visited with Dr. Hubbell, who is part of Mercy's Cardiac Team. We discussed the course of action they have decided to try to do today. It is scheduled for 2PM today and should last a couple of hours. Specifically it will be a Cardiac Catherterization and Angiography followed by a Balloon Atrial Septostomy. They will travel up an artery in Aubrey's leg to the heart.

Once there they will be able to explore some other options, however right now they will work on ballooning between the atrial walls and putting a stent in. This will allow the blood to flow through the two chambers and her to breathe without the prostins. They prostins are what is causing the apnea. Aubrey also has a murmur that would still be present after surgery. This is a complicated procedure, however they really feel she is a good candidate for this closed heart surgery. Since Mercy has WI-FI in most of the building, I will use the site to keep updates. Plus it has been therapy.

We will be having surgery in another part of the hospital so we won't be in the NICU unit, however will be in the Ronald McDonald's Family Room until she is moved back after recovery. I read more about the PDA.

More pictures of Aubrey

As of the time of this posting I spoke with the Doctor on duty at Mercy and she said the Cardiologists are still reviewing the tests and will be getting back with us this afternoon. She is still tracking just fine. Below is a link for more pictures.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bobhughs/my_photos

Aubrey Elaine Hughs

Aubrey Elaine Hughs was born on May 2, 2006 at 2:57 AM. She weighed 7lbs 14oz. and was 20 inches long. It was a very, very fast delivery. The medication she is now on causes her to have some apnia(she stops breathing so that is kind of scary. They will come up with a diagnosis for the course of action by the middle of the afternoon. Jennifer finally got to go to sleep around 7:30 and I am still up waiting for the both of us.

Baby Room Pictures

Here are some pictures of the baby room that my youngest brother Kory's wife, Alissa and her mother Angie came over and painted one Saturday. They did a wonderful job and their foreign exchange student from Japan, Sayori helped as well. Click on the link to see the pictures.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bobhughs/my_photos

The Gameplan

After a nice dinner with our family at a place on the Plaza yet to be determined, Jennifer will go into St. Luke's at 8PM to be given the medication to induce her. I am hoping for it to go rather quickly. She has been a little anxious this past weekend as we have been trying to get things around the house in order. We will continue to keep everyone posted.