Surgery Update - Hernia Repair

Hey all,
I wanted to post a quick update to get the prayer warriors going ASAP!

We spoke with Piper's general surgeon this afternoon, and he feels like she has reached a point in her stabilization/oxygenation that is right to take her to surgery. She is tolerating the weaning down of her blood pressure meds, her ventilator oxygen percentage, as well as keeping her blood gases stable for the NICU staff. Time for surgery ya'll!

Tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 15th at 12pm, Piper Grace Jarvis will go in for her Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia repair. Dr. Iqbal will assess the severity of her hernia (testing shows small - moderate herniation,) and then use Piper's own muscle (her internal oblique abdominal) to repair the hernia. This surgeon, the top in his field, knows what he is doing. Instead of using a mesh patch to repair this, that would not grow with baby and has chances of hernia recurrence, he uses her own muscle that will grow with Piper! This means, in most cases, once this hernia is fixed.....IT'S FIXED. One thing to check off our list. Please send your prayers for Dr. Iqbal's steady hand and skill as he works on our precious girl tomorrow.

Most importantly for all to know, is this hernia repair will not fix Piper's lung function. This surgery just puts her body back into a better anatomical fighting shape! Her tummy/bowel will be back where they're supposed to be, her heart will shift back to the left side of her chest, and will this will give her lungs more room to grow, heal and breathe. Once the hernia is repaired, we will be back to our routine of daily watch n' wait for her oxygen saturation to get stronger and stronger by her own doing.

The big step that comes with hernia repair? With her belly back in its right place, NICU staff can start adding some scrumptious mommy milk to Piper's diet! Woo Hoooooo! (Mommy has been working hard at getting a head start on this, and Miss Piper already has enough milk stored to have a big party if she wants! Milk for all the babies at Piper's crib!) This little step is just one good step in the right healing direction for us, and we are excited for this change.

Another tidbit, is that ANY surgery is a big deal for a baby, and we must be prepared for the possibility that Piper might be out of sorts for a while afterwards with her stabilization. Please pray that her body kicks right back into gear and will not need too much additional assistance to stabilize in the days after surgery.

Lastly, I wanted to share our fun experience a night ago with Miss Piper. I wanted to keep this video to myself, but then realized that sharing would allow all of you to feel how I felt when our baby girl, the most awake and aware we've ever seen her, decided to open her big baby blues and chat with Matt and I. We have felt that Piper would tell us along the way that she was fighting. Sometimes your brain second guesses decisions, and we wonder if we are doing the right thing. Piper opening her eyes and watching her mommy and daddy told us she's here to fight. She's not sedate and unaware, she's here, letting us know we made the right decision to give her a chance. "I'm here mom, I hear you mom, I'm fighting mom!" Fight on Piper Grace! YOU GO GIRL!