URGENT...

Head guy is changing ET tube and is afraid she won't survive it. Please stop what you're doing and pray for Averi right now! ♥

Friday morning (18 days old-DAY 7 on ECMO)

When Teresa and Kevin got to the hospital this morning, Averi's color was very bad. She is also continually awake, despite the fact that they are giving her sedatives that should be helping her rest. The doctor is now saying that things aren't going well and that he wants to consult with some other doctors. The main issue right now is the hematoma in the liver. It is still bleeding, but there is nothing they can do about that while she is on ECMO because of the heparin.

Please stop right now and pray for these doctors as they meet... that the Lord would give them wisdom and understanding. That He would cause them to seek advice outside of the hospital if there are experts out there that can help with this situation.

And lastly, pray for Teresa and Kevin. Pray that they would be given strength beyond measure and peace that passes all understanding.

Back to Maximum Support...

Averi had a rough night. They tried to wean her on the iNO but it backfired, so she's back on the highest settings on everything. They don't know what the plan is at this point, (they haven't met with the doctors yet) but have asked for fervent prayers. I'll keep you updated as I get further information.

This morning...

Kevin and Teresa have been at the hospital all night and are, as you can imagine, exhausted. Teresa mentioned that she is afraid to leave. I have been there! They do have some places they can go to rest that are fairly local, but I totally understand the need to stay. Please pray that Averi gives them a good "super stable" window (preferably one that lasts for a long, long, long time!) in which they can go and get some rest and refreshment.

On a completely different note... This is something that comes from ME, not the Gaynors, but there is a local church that is working to take care of the entire family for Christmas. As you can imagine, with being at the hospital for so many long hours, the holidays are likely the last thing on their minds. In the effort to keep some normalcy in the kids' lives, this group of people is seeking to take care of Christmas for them. If anyone would like to contribute toward Christmas for the Gaynors, please contact Kristin White. They would like to have everything in place by December 19th. Kristin has some ideas of what would be good for each family member, but gift cards they can use for gas, food, etc. would be good choices, too. They live quite a distance from the hospital, so those expenses are adding up. When we were going through this, our church adopted us, too, and I can't tell you how much that meant to me!

Thank you for your continued prayers and concern for this family!.

Update...

Averi is stable for now. They had to bag her, push fluids, and change her ventilator. They think she crashed because she was dehydrated. They had given her a normal dose of lasix. That likely dehydrated her. Next time they will give a half dose.

Lasix is a very strong diuretic drug that is used as to treat fluid retention (edema). This medication is also used to treat high blood pressure. All CDH babies have some degree of pulmonary hypertension, so it is possible that (Tricia talking, not anything from Teresa!) the Lasix caused her blood pressure to plummet. Some babies are just really sensitive to this drug, and adjustments must be made because it works too well.

Thank you for praying. Thank the Lord she is stable now. I keep thinking about how terrifying that must've been for Teresa and Kevin. Please keep lifting Averi up!

Please pray NOW...

Teresa just posted a message on Facebook saying that Averi Hope has crashed. I don't know anything more than that... She tried calling, and my cell phone dropped out and I got her voice mail after that.