Prayers for Harper!!

A friend of mine had a very precious and beautiful baby girl!!! She turned three months old on Christmas!  She has been very sick for a while now and she has pulled through so many times!! She is definitely a trooper!!!  And she has such a wonderful Mommy who has been the strongest that she can be!!  I've been wanting to write this blog post sooner when Miss Harper wasn't doing too good, but it's never too late!!! She could still use all of the prayers!!  Jessi keeps everyone updated through facebook, and it's always so nice to know what's going on so I know what to keep praying for. It's also nice to see pictures of Harper's smiles, and how happy she is, even when there are days that are bad for her!  I'm sure that those smiles are what keeps her Momma holding on and staying strong!!  Seeing her smile just gives you hope and assurance that everything will be okay, and will turn out fine, and that little Harper is in God's hands!!  I will post a few status updates that Jessi has posted, so you know what exactly is going on with this precious little girl!


After being in and out of the hospital, Jessi posted this on December 3rd:

So update with Harper....went to check up yesterday from er visit and dr ended up admitting her to blessing hospital. They went ahead put iv in her and did echo on her heart results came back and they thought she had tetralogy fallot which is 4 heart defects..her iv came out of her head and they could not get it back in because she was to dehydrated and her veins kept blowing so they airlifted her to peoria and we are in icu they did another heart echo and cardiologist diagnosed asd and vsd which is basically 2 holes in the heart one asd is the hole in the top of the heart which that hole in her case is smaller and the vsd is a hole in the lower chamber of the heart and that hole is big and the blood flow from the right lower chamber is flowing into her left lower chamber. They will have to do surgery but they have to fight off infection first. They want to keep her 2 to 3 weeks get the infection gone then if everything goes as planned they will wait till she's 4to 6 months old to do the surgery so she has time to get bigger. If for some reason she gets worse they will do emergency surgery. They did say they do a lot of these surgeries to close the holes and 90 percent of patients have a normal healthy life. I'm sure there's more I could tell everyone but that's the basics




This one made me smile!!! :)

So I think I have a problem! Little miss Harper likes men already :/ .... She has a male nurse today and she just stares at him and her eyes just follow him whereever he goes! She did the same when we were in quincy er with the dr...she has good taste though  ;)




December 10th:
Harper is progressing a little everyday. Last couple days have been rough she hasn't slept much and is very fussy. She's down to 1 1/2 on oxygen would like her to get completely off it but she still breathes to hard without it. They are going to try to bottle feed one time today just to kind of see where we are at. I don't feel like she's ready yet so we will see. Still got awhile till she's able to go home. #fingerscrossed 




December 11th:
Got her belly full then passed out! Has kept her last two oz bottles down so hopefully they will bump her up to a little more and she can keep it down..fingerscrossed!



December 13th:
My princess is feeling very good today!! :) I've gotten lost of smiles and silly faces..couldn't ask for much more right now! Praying she stays like this and keeps improving...I'm so so so happy and thankful!!!

 (See what I mean?  Her smile is beautiful!! She's so precious!)

Much happier baby now that the feeding tube is out and oxygen off!

December 14th:

 :(  Her time without the feeding tube was shortly lived...this time its in her belly instead of intestines..she's not eating good and dropping weight so they are going to build her back up with tube again and once they think she's ok they will and try to feed by bottle again if she does the same thing again they will more than likely do the surgery sooner.

December 17th:

So 3a.m the screaming began til about 8a.m. tried everything to calm her down and nothing worked. Harper got put back on oxygen this a.m and finally got calmed down and even when she was calm and sleeping her heart rate was in the 180s to 194...way to high for her especially when she's calm so drs called cardiologist. He order ekg, chest and stomach xray and a few tests. Ekg came back ok for her heart condition so they bumped up her meds and did a couple breathing treatment. She's done really good since then. One of her test came back and her red blood count was low so she's getting a blood transfusion. Her iv had made her foot really swollen so they had to start a new one before the transfusion so between the labs and iv she's been stuck 8 times let's just say she's had a rough day. But they just started transfusion and hopefully she will sleep good tonight and everything goes as planned. #poorbaby #fingerscrossed #praying #whataday  

 December 18th:

she's feeling much better since her meds were uped and she had the blood transfusion! Got a smile again today always a good day when she smiles! She's got her color back too

December 20th:

Harper Update: So yesterday they put a picc line in her arm so they can draw blood and don't need a iv anymore they can just do everything through it which is fantastic! She came out of the sedation pretty good thank the lord I was very worried but she did awesome. But this a.m she spiked a temp of 102 heart rate got up to 190s highest it got was 207 so they got blood and urine cultures to check for infections those take 24hrs to come back though. Her fever has broke for now hope it stays gone...doctor said if she continues to run a temp and her heart rate raises and she's having all these problems she will go back to ICU.  

December 21st:

Nothing like waking up to your child screaming at 3:30am and 9 nurses in your room...enough to give you a panic attack! Harper's temp dropped to 96.8 so put the bear hugger on her (warms her up) and still continues to drop to 95.5 within 10 mins. Good news is that one of the test came back negative from yesterday so no more gowns, masks and gloves! 

 She's such a happy little girl!! :)

 Harper and her amazing Mommy!!! :)

Christmas and Harper turns 3 months!!!! :)

December 27th:

Harper is back in ICU now. She's 8lbs 2oz her temps been going up and down the past few days and this a.m got up to 104 doing all sorts of test did another echo it showed she was fluid overload from her heart so getting that under control now. Have to wait for blood and urine cultures to come back. She's very sick they just can't figure out what it is. Can't feed through her stomach because her reflex is so bad but they say that's common in heart babies. Took feeding tube out of stomach once again and put one in her intestines. That's all I have for now.

December 29th:

Update on Harper: She's 7lbs 15oz...if she tires herself out they will put a breathing tube in her. All her test have came back ok so there's no answer for her temp right now. Their going to give her more calories through her iv to see if she can pick up weight because she's dropping everyday yesterday she was 8lbs 2oz and today 7lbs 15oz it just breaks my heart the doctors and cardiologists are going to have a meeting tomorrow and talk about where they are going to go from here because she really needs her surgery but she's so small and weak and that the chances aren't as good as if she were bigger. Plus they can't do anything if she has a temp. Please keep her in your prayers she needs it now more than ever.

 December 30th:

If Harper can gain some nutrition this week with how they are supplementing her through her feeding tube and iv calories and stay ok for a week she will have her surgery next week!! I'm so happy and thankful right now. Hoping and praying she does good this week!

January 4th:

She's gaining weight!! Up to 9lbs 3oz. Still not the best way for her to be gaining but got to get her bigger for surgery. Making some progress finally I'm one happy momma today

Look at that big girl holding onto her binki by herself! So glad I get to see the new little things she does everyday. She was very happy today also couldn't ask for a better day

 January 5th:

Harper is all smiles again today even though they put another iv in and are giving her more blood! She's fine her blood count was just a little low so they wanted to give her more. Love seeing her smile.. makes my day

They also got moved to a different room again!

January 6th:

Harper's surgery is weds!! Surgery will take 4 to 6 hrs from start to finish. Recovery will be longer. Glad she's finally able to get it done and over with but I'm not looking forward to seeing her sedated and with a breathing tube. She needs this though! Ready for her to be a healthy happy baby

 Last week to this week! 7lbs 15oz to 9lbs 7oz...amazing isn't it

These are the basics, and I'm so happy to be able to see and hear how well Harper is doing!!  She is such a trooper!!  I know that Jessi and Harper have a lot of people there for them through this time and they also have lots of prayers going out for them!!  This little girl is just so amazing and so strong, and I know that she'll definitely be taking after her Momma!!  If you all could please keep Harper and her Momma in your prayers, I know that it would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Jessi,

I just want you to know that you are an incredible Mommy!!!  I know that you're only doing what any mother should do, but unfortunately, not all Moms do what they need to!  You have been so strong for Harper and I can't imagine going through all that you two have been through!!  She is very lucky to have you as her Mommy!  God let you be her Momma for a reason, and you're doing such a wonderful job with your precious bundle of joy!!!  I really look up to you!!  You inspire me to be the best that I can be!  Not only for when I become a mother some day, but in just everyday things in my life!!!  I always enjoyed working with you and I loved seeing Harper when you would come into the store!!  I really wish I could come see you and Miss Harper, but I'm definitely looking forward to when you're both home!!  She's getting better and stronger everyday!! <3  I pray for you both everyday!!  I know that it seems like everything possible has been going wrong, but I'm hoping and praying that all of your dreams and more come true!!!! Love you both!!!! <3

~Elizabeth <3 

UPDATE:

January 8th:

Today Harper is having her surgery!! She'll have surgery anywhere from 1-2 today!! The procedure will take 4-6 hours and recovery will take much longer!! Please Pray for Harper and Jessi today!! This couldn't possibly be easy, and I know that I would be a mess!! It's probably going to be really hard for Jessi, but she knows that this is best for Harper and this is something that needs to be done!! I love you Jessi and Harper!! <3

UPDATE:

Jessi posted this at 4:37.

They took Harper in at 1. Made incision at 2:45 and they came out at 4:15 and said they were closing her up. Waiting for her to get back to room and surgeons to come talk to me.