Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Samuel Lars Larson
We were scheduled to induce tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8 am, but I woke up at 1:20 am today (Tuesday, June 30) wondering if I had a contraction. At 2:45 am I thought that must be it. We checked into Baylor hospital at 3:30 am, and he was born at 7:07 am, weighing 6 lbs., 1 oz. and measuring 17 1/2" long. We love him so much and are thankful to God for him and for a smooth, natural delivery. We got to hold him in the NICU for several hours, and our families got to see him before he was transferred to Children's Medical Center at noon. He is beautiful, had strong cries and is the greatest little guy. They've done echocardiograms and other tests and say it is a hypoplastic left heart with a dysplastic right side. We continue to thank God for him and to pray for God's will in his life.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Pizza Party
When Aunt Karin and Cousins Larson, Secily & Jane Reilly showed up at the door, Lucy could not contain herself. She immediately was laughing, screaming, and chasing them.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sings Along
Lucy loves to sing along, especially to Taylor Swift songs (The Best Day, Love Story). She usually claps her hands and sways and dances, but at least you can see some of the singing in this one... She also does a sweet shoulder shrug dance move that we are trying really hard to get on video.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Baby Boy
"The Lord will work outHis plans for my life -
For your faithful love,
O Lord, endures forever."
-- Psalm 138:8
The current plan is I will be induced Wednesday, July 1 (Canada Day) at 8:00 a.m. Our prayer continues to be that the Lord would work miraculously in and through our Baby Boy according to His will and for His glory... and that we would have His wisdom and grace. We are thankful for the blessings of God's peace, strength and guidance through the prayers and support from all of you this past month.
The Blue Chair & Pink Socks
Lucy is almost 17 months; I love looking at older pictures of her as a baby in the blue chair and seeing how much she's grown... Bryan was getting ready for work and putting on his shoes and socks, so Lucy wanted to put on socks too. She stared at them all morning.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Father's Day
Lucy painted a Father's Day Card for Bryan. We had lunch with the Larsons and dinner with the Sloans; what a blessing.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Praying
We pray together as a family at the table and before bed, but - so far - Lucy has only stared at us. Just recently she suddenly started folding her hands, and then she claps when we say Amen. It's really sweet.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
SueSue's Blue Shoes
My Mom has been staying with us as we pray and learn about what's going on with Baby Brother, and Lucy loves to wear her blue shoes.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The word "Ball"
Lucy loves to play with the beach ball with Bryan. Sometimes they play toss, and sometimes he'll hide it under a blanket or his shirt, and she loves to find it. I guess it makes logical sense then, that she points to my stomach and says, "baaallll." I'm trying to teach her the word "baby" but she has seen her baby cousins Jane and Anders, and she has decided that "ball" is the more appropriate word when describing my prego stomach. She always makes us laugh. (p.s. - sorry to show some skin but hopefully the iPhone pic is pretty blurry, and I was laughing really hard that day, and I will always remember that)
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Baby Boy Larson
An email from Bryan
Hello Family and Friends,
Hope each of you is well. We've spoken with many of you in the past week but wanted to send this email to bring you up-to-date on the most recent developments in our lives.
Eraina and I are expecting our second child on July 8, 2009 - a baby brother for Lucy. This past Wednesday, Eraina had a check-up where the doctor discovered that the baby is measuring about a week behind schedule. This apparently is not a big deal by itself, but the femur bones (from the hips to knees) are measuring about four weeks behind. Again, this is not necessarily a big deal since neither Eraina or I play in the NBA, but it was enough that Eraina's doctor recommended that we see a high-risk specialist for a closer examination.
A sonogram later that day confirmed the lag in the bone growth and also identified a possible heart defect. As a result of this, Eraina was admitted to Baylor Hospital on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, a pediatric cardiologist saw Eraina and confirmed that this baby's heart is not normal. The official diagnosis is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It is 100% fatal without either (a) a heart transplant, or (b) a series of three open-heart surgeries. Both the transplant and surgery are risky.
On top of this significant heart issue, the doctors suspect there may be other abnormalities. The current plan is to perform an amniocentesis next week (maybe June 8th). Eraina will remain in the hospital until we receive the results from this test, maybe longer.
As we understand the doctors, if the testing discloses any other significant abnormality, the heart will not be treated and comfort care will be provided. If the testing shows no other abnormalities, we would wait until the child is born to conduct a more thorough head-to-toe evaluation and determine a game plan.
This is obviously not what we had hoped, planned or prayed for. However, we are absolutely confident that God is in control. We have felt very loved and at peace this past week. We have wonderful doctors and are so glad to be at Baylor, and are even more glad and thankful to have sweet friends praying.
We know that God can do anything and we trust Him with this situation. If the medical reality remains the same, we are praying for wisdom for us and the doctors as decisions are made in the next few weeks. We are also praying that Eraina will not go into labor before the amnio test results are back.
Most of all, we are thankful for salvation through Jesus Christ and the hope of heaven. This world is not our home, but while we're here we are so thankful that we get to share the joys and trials of life with such a wonderful circle of family and friends. We are joyful. We'll keep y'all updated periodically as we learn more. We are thankful for each of you.
Bryan, Eraina and Lucy
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
PS - Attached is a recent pic of Lucy. I couldn't resist sending one. She brightens each day and is a joy to be around.
Hello Family and Friends,
Hope each of you is well. We've spoken with many of you in the past week but wanted to send this email to bring you up-to-date on the most recent developments in our lives.
Eraina and I are expecting our second child on July 8, 2009 - a baby brother for Lucy. This past Wednesday, Eraina had a check-up where the doctor discovered that the baby is measuring about a week behind schedule. This apparently is not a big deal by itself, but the femur bones (from the hips to knees) are measuring about four weeks behind. Again, this is not necessarily a big deal since neither Eraina or I play in the NBA, but it was enough that Eraina's doctor recommended that we see a high-risk specialist for a closer examination.
A sonogram later that day confirmed the lag in the bone growth and also identified a possible heart defect. As a result of this, Eraina was admitted to Baylor Hospital on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, a pediatric cardiologist saw Eraina and confirmed that this baby's heart is not normal. The official diagnosis is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It is 100% fatal without either (a) a heart transplant, or (b) a series of three open-heart surgeries. Both the transplant and surgery are risky.
On top of this significant heart issue, the doctors suspect there may be other abnormalities. The current plan is to perform an amniocentesis next week (maybe June 8th). Eraina will remain in the hospital until we receive the results from this test, maybe longer.
As we understand the doctors, if the testing discloses any other significant abnormality, the heart will not be treated and comfort care will be provided. If the testing shows no other abnormalities, we would wait until the child is born to conduct a more thorough head-to-toe evaluation and determine a game plan.
This is obviously not what we had hoped, planned or prayed for. However, we are absolutely confident that God is in control. We have felt very loved and at peace this past week. We have wonderful doctors and are so glad to be at Baylor, and are even more glad and thankful to have sweet friends praying.
We know that God can do anything and we trust Him with this situation. If the medical reality remains the same, we are praying for wisdom for us and the doctors as decisions are made in the next few weeks. We are also praying that Eraina will not go into labor before the amnio test results are back.
Most of all, we are thankful for salvation through Jesus Christ and the hope of heaven. This world is not our home, but while we're here we are so thankful that we get to share the joys and trials of life with such a wonderful circle of family and friends. We are joyful. We'll keep y'all updated periodically as we learn more. We are thankful for each of you.
Bryan, Eraina and Lucy
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
PS - Attached is a recent pic of Lucy. I couldn't resist sending one. She brightens each day and is a joy to be around.
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