Noelle's Birthday ~ December 8th

~Daddy and His Baby Girl~

  ***Written by Chris McDowell, Jill's Mother***

Baby Noelle Christine was born today, December 8th at 11:27 AM by emergency C-section. She weighs 356 grams (12.55 oz.) and is 9.4 inches long. The doctors were hoping not to deliver this soon with the concern for the health problems she has had, but Jill woke at 3:30 AM and realized something wasn't right. They called the hospital and after arriving and Noelle being checked out by ultrasound the doctor knew there wasn't much time to get her out. The blood flow in the umbilical artery was reversing during part of Jill's heart beat. Noelle couldn't survive at that point in the womb so they delivered her by C-section. She came out crying and kicking and grabbed and held Tom's finger for just a bit before they inserted a breathing tube and took her to the NICU. She started out on 45% oxygen and by this evening they said she was doing so well they decreased it to 30%. The doctors and nurses say she is feisty and a fighter. We will find out the results of the brain and kidney ultrasounds in the morning (these were done tonight). The ultrasound on the heart will be done tomorrow. Physically she looks well-formed and her EKG is looking good. Jill is doing well so far. No problems with her bleeding disorder. She should be able to be up walking around tomorrow. We greatly appreciate everyone's continued prayer.

11/15 Update

We are pasting in our latest update from our ultrasound today.  While the results may still be as originally believed, they might not!!  We're so thankful that we can rest in God's sovereign plan and His goodness during this.  We're also thankful that amidst the ever changing news we have been receiving these past 2 months, we serve a God who is never changing and who knows the beginning from the end.  Thank you for your continued support, love and prayers through this. 

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UPDATE 11/15:
We had another ultrasound today and the results were different yet again.  The doctor is actually calling Noelle a "little miracle baby" and offering hope for the very first time!!  They were very pleased with the way her heart has formed in the last few weeks, and it was unexpected.  There still is an issue with one part of it, but now they are thinking it may be an "easy" fix that will not require open heart surgery.  She still is extremely small and needs to gain about 150 more grams for them to be able to help her outside the womb, but the doctor was very encouraged with the growth that she did see.   The blood flow through the cord is still not normal/great, but it has not worsened as they expected it too...so far.  There still are a couple of other issues which they believe are present but they don't have a clear picture what those really are or what it means for her life, after she is born.  Basically because they still do not have a diagnosis, it's still very difficult to give a prognosis.  But our doctor was smiling at us today!  The tone was completely different than any other appointment the last 2 months.  They are trying to schedule us to see a prenatal cardiologist on Thursday who can look at Noelle's heart and better diagnose what the condition might be and if/how it can be solved.  There are still many unknowns, but thankfully those are not unknown to God.  Whether the outcome is still as originally predicted or whether He is changing that, we're thankful that we can continue to rest in His goodness.  We went from the beginning of the appointment, being advised that based on our last ultrasound there was a good chance they would not detect the heartbeat today...all the way to the doctor smiling at the end and saying she never thought she would see us come this far, especially based on our last 2 ultrasounds.  Again, thank you for standing by us through all of this and continuing to pray.  We are learning to rest and wait on Him more than anything right now since the news is ever changing and no one here knows the real answers.  It's amazing how much peace there is amidst that.  We will continue to keep you updated and let you know if we end up seeing the cardiologist on Thursday.

With much love and appreciation,
Tom and Jill