Ava is out of surgery!

Here is the very latest! God is good.


Family and Friends,

The nurses came through the door with smiles on their face. They are sewing Ava's little tummy up now and we should be talking to the surgeons soon to learn the details of the procedure. Many thanks to everyone for all of your support.

OK surgeons just left - they said the surgery went exceptionally well. All of her organs were moved down and her diaphragm was repaired with the patch. There's not enough room in her tummy for her newly placed organs so there's another patch at the wound sight. That patch will be removed later once her skin stretches. Team Ava will watch her recovery hour by hour for the next several days. She will remain on ECMO to help in recovery and we really do not know for how long. Could be days to several more weeks.

There is still a long road ahead for recovery. There are risks and many potential complications. But now Ava can come out of her corner of the ring and really start fighting.

I will send a weekend update Saturday or Sunday with her progress.

Love,

Jennifer and Todd

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Ava Update

I just learned that Ava's left lung has quadrupled in size from Tuesday. This is HUGE and shows awesome progress. What a fighter this sweet little one is. All of your prayers are helping this family. I know they are so thankful. Here is Jennifer's latest email below.


The 6:00 PM brain sonogram showed very little growth which Dr Thomas said could be expected since we did not start the drug to slow down the bleeding until 2:00 PM. He was relieved and so were we. Another sono will be done at 6:00 AM. If it shows no progression of bleeding then that should open a window of opportunity for surgery. Surgery could be done as early as tomorrow mid-morning. Ava will ultimately decide when it's time. She's resting very peacefully now and has continued to amaze us with her will to fight these battles. Six days old and she's preparing for her 2nd surgery. No one will ever have to remind me we have a miracle child. And I don't know how we will ever thank all the people who have touched our lives with love, support and prayer.

I will send another update as soon as possible.

Love,
Jennifer

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New Ava Update - She needs your prayers!

This is an email from Jennifer received a few hours ago. Please send your prayers!!!


Ava is keeping the doctors busy. The blood clot in her abdomen had decreased in size on two sonograms yesterday. We were hopeful that the medicine administered to break it up (TPA) was working. In the middle of the night the clot broke off a small piece and lodged somewhere in her right leg, knee area. Her foot was losing circulation and was cold and white. We prayed, mom had her talk with Ava, and we waited. Miraculously, the blood clot was gone at the 6:00 AM sono and her little right foot was warm, pink, and moving around.

The plan for the day was to rest, get her blood levels corrected, and prepare for surgery in the next 2-5 days. Then we were delivered the results from a brain sono done around noon today. Ava has a 6mm spot on her brain that's bleeding. Bleeding is a risk of being on ECMO because they have to use blood thinners to circulate the blood in and out of the ECMO circuit. It also could have been from the TPA clot buster medication but that was a life threatening issue yesterday so it had to be done. Her doctor immediately administered a drug that can slow down and/or stop bleeding in the brain. We won't know until results come back from another brain sono at 6:00 PM tonight. We need another miracle from above to work with Ava's strength, the medicine, and the doctor's knowledge to get her through this next battle. She HAS to make it through this so she can have her repair surgery. She HAS to get to point of the beginning of her recovery.

If the bleeding progresses she will have to come off ECMO, as early as tonight, so she can stop taking the blood thinners. If she comes off ECMO she will have to survive on her current lung capacity. We did get good news that her lungs and heart have seemed to reacted positively to this rest provided by ECMO.

Please continue to pray for baby Ava. It's working and we appreciate it.

Love,
Jennifer

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Ava - No surgery today!

I'm just going to cut and paste her emails that I'm getting and put them in the blog. Here is the latest! Please pray!!!

"Let me introduce you to the rollercoaster we are on. About 45 minutes before surgery, Ava's little legs started losing color and they found a blood clot in her lower abdomen/aorta area. This is an immediate threat and has to be fixed before surgery is performed. They are in the process of administrating a drug to break up the clot which will delay the surgery for at least 24 hours. Good news is she's stable and will be able to rest until the doctors clear her for surgery.

God is watching over her. If this would have happened during surgery it would have added risk and complications. Will send more updates soon.

Love - Jennifer"

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Ava Update

Hi everyone. Ava has been placed on ECMO, as of Sunday. She's responding well, and will have her repair surgery today at 10am. Below is an email from Jennifer...


"Hello,

Todd and I had lengthy discussions today with Ava's lead surgeon, Dr Chen, about the details of her hernia repair. She is strong enough for surgery now which allows her to stay on ECMO post surgery to recover. Team Ava will begin to operate at 10:00 AM tomorrow (well technically today) which will mark the beginning of her recovery from this condition. She will have an incision on her lower left abdomen and they will pull her liver, bowels, stomach, and spleen back down under her diaphragm. If the hole is too big to repair with the just the muscle they will stitch a patch made of an organic material called Permacol to complete her diaphragm. Permacol will allow scar tissue to form and grow with Ava. Her room will be converted into the operating room and the surgery should take about 2 hours.

Ava is responding remarkably to ECMO. She was responding to us today by lifting her arm, wiggling her feet (so cute!) and opening her eyes to look around. I think these are all signs from Ava letting us know she's ready for surgery.

We are so moved by the amount of love and support we've received over the past few weeks. We have otherwise strangers calling, visiting us at the hospital, and emailing us to show their support for Ava. All of your prayers, love and support for Ava will get her through surgery and recovery. Thanks to each one of you; we truly appreciate you reaching out and spreading the love for Ava.

Love,
Jennifer and Todd"

Everyone, please say a special prayer today at 10am for Ava that she does well during her surgery. Please also pray for the doctors and nurses that will be working on her. Pray for strength, courage and hope for her parents, and Ava as well.

Love,
Stephanie

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Pumpkin Patch Pics

Okay, so here are the pumpkin pictures. We had so much fun. When we walked in, they gave us 3 cups of food to feed the animals.

Brooke would have nothing to do with it. In the picture below we were trying to feed the sheep, and she got pretty scared.

Here's Hollie showing her sisters how to do it. She's a pro!

Brooke and Daddy

Kamryn, on the other hand, wanted to feed the animals, pet the animals, and probably would have gone in the pin with the animals if we would have let her. She had NO FEAR when it came to feeding them. She would get so excited if they walked by her or even moved. It was so cute to watch.


Daddy, Brooke and Hollie!

Daddy and the twins!

Kamryn!

Brooke was very serious the whole time we were there. She loved walking around the pumpkins and exploring.

Hollie helping Kamryn feed the goats!

See what I mean? She would hold on to the fence, and start bouncing up and down, with the biggest smile on her face. She loved the Longhorn. But, don't get any ideas Longhorn fans... Kamryn's going to be a Red Raider!!!

Mommy and Hollie!

This isn't just any junk either!!!

We had so much fun, and can't wait until next year, when the girls are a little bit older.

They twins are 16 months and completely walking now. For some reason, I can't post videos to the blog. I'm not sure what the deal is, but it just freezes up. But, they are walking pros. Kamryn is very vocal and is saying lots of words. She tries to repeat some of the words that you say. Brooke is just now starting to talk a little more. When you ask her what a cow says, she says, "mmmmm". So cute. But, then when you ask her what a dog says, she gives the same response.

Hollie is doing so well in soccer and volleyball. She's goalie for her soccer team, and is "fearless". She has now come to love the sport, as she is awesome at her new position. And volleyball is going so well. She got 3 serves over the net during yesterday's game. We were all so proud of her. Shawn and I took the twins to the game, so it was hard to watch the entire time. But, from what I saw, she did so well. We were all so proud of her!!!

Until the next post... please pray for Baby Ava.

Love,

Stephanie

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Ava Update

Hi everyone. I wanted to let everyone know that Ava has been moved over to Children's, so that she can be near the Ecmo machine. She doesn't need it yet, and it's looking more and more like she won't, as they want to protect her good lung. She's in critical, but stable condition. I spoke with Jennifer late last night, and she sounded good, but tired. We really need to lift Ava, Jennifer, Todd and the nurses & doctors up in prayer. Todd is posting on Twitter, and you can follow his updates there. j_t_dickerson is his Twitter ID. I've never "tweeted" before, but it's pretty easy.

Love,
Stephanie

PS - Pumpkin patch pictures will be loaded later today!

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Ava is here!

Just wanted to let you all know that Ava was born last night around 11:30pm. She weighed 6lbs and 6oz. Jennifer and Ava were able to have a skin to skin moment, but they had to quickly rush Ava over to prep her for the ventilator. Jennifer is resting, and we are waiting to hear back as to how she is doing. As you all know, they don't allow electronic devices in the NICU, and I'm sure they don't want to leave her side, which is probably why I haven't received any more updates. As soon as I hear back from them, I will let you all know.

Stay tuned for Pumpkin Patch pictures with the girls. They turned out cute.

Love,
stef

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Ava Dickerson

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ava is entering the world today. Jennifer's water has broken, and resting. Please pray for this sweet family. Pray that Ava fights through this journey, as well as strength for her parents. Will keep everyone posted throughout the day.

Love,
Stephanie

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Met the Dickersons

Hi everyone! We met the Dickersons last night. They came over for dinner, and they are such a sweet, loving couple! We answered their questions the best we could. They are scared, and have a look of fear on their face. After they left, I told Shawn that I wish I could make this right for them. I wish I could give them a guarantee that everything is going to be just fine. But, I can't. We showed them pictures of Kamryn hooked up to the ventilator, and swollen. We tried to prepare them as much as possible. But, we all know that that's nearly impossible. Today, they are meeting up at Parkland/Childrens to talk to the team of doctors and nurses that will get them through this. They will also get the tour of Parkland. I tried to prepare them that Parkland is what it is, but the team of doctors and nurses there are PHENOMENAL! They were just diagnosed with this condition a few weeks ago, so their brain is on overload, and the stress and tension is visible. My heart is breaking for this sweet family. I'm reaching out to my CDH family to please pray for Jennifer, Todd and Ava. Pray that they find comfort and peace. Pray that their delivery is uneventful, so that Ava isn't put under any more stress than she has to be. And pray that sweet baby Ava finds her will to fight through this, so that she can live a long and eventful life.

Love and thanks!

Stephanie

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Meet Jennifer and Todd Dickerson

Hi everyone! I just wanted to send out a quick post. A sweet couple contacted Shawn and I last week, making us aware that their baby girl had just been diagnosed with CDH. Jennifer's almost 38 weeks, and she was just diagnosed a week ago. I can imagine that since they haven't had much time to prepare their minds, they are feeling pretty hopeless and helpless right now. They are going to deliver in the same hospital as we did with the twins, so I know they will have the best care! But, please please please, pray for this sweet couple, and their baby girl Ava. We invited them over for dinner next Tuesday night to help them through this difficult time! The only facts I know right now are that 17% of the liver is up, and the LHR as of last week is a 1.1. They need your prayers and positive thoughts through this difficult time! I will post more information on them as I get it.

Quick update on the twins! They are walking!!! Finally! I have videos of them walking, but for some reason the blog won't let me post them. But, they think they are pretty cool now that they can walk. Kamryn is saying tons of words. Mama, Dada, night night, bye bye, dog, ball, baby, and a few others that I can't understand yet. Brooke on the other hand, isn't talking near as much. She knows Dog, but she says Dah when she says it. But, she says bye bye, mama, dada and that's about it. We aren't going to get concerned yet, although it's quite interesting how Kamryn is advancing a little bit further than Brooke at this point in time. I'll keep you posted.

Thats all for now. Please pray for the Dickersons!!!

Love,
Stephanie

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