Palmer Girlies: My Anibella's Healthy Heart!

Eight months ago, at my sweet Anibella's routine, 9-month well-baby check-up, we were shocked to find out that her Pediatrician was very concerned about the way her heart sounded. All of Anibella's check-up's before then had been completely normal & we thought she was perfectly healthy. We have since changed Pediatrician's for many reasons, including how she handled this appointment. After she listened to Anibella's chest, she drew back, made a face & abruptly said, "This doesn't sound right. Has she ever had a problem with her heart before? I don't like what I'm hearing. I'll be sending you to get an Echocardiogram asap!". I was terrified & I felt like I was going to pass out! I scooped my sweet baby girl up off of the exam table, checked out & needless to say, I left the office in tears! The Pediatrician gave us no other information & told us that her Echocardiogram was scheduled for a couple of days away. I so desperately wanted to go searching for answers but, I listened to my wise Hubby who encouraged me NOT to Google "heart conditions in baby's"! I'm so grateful for my wise & loving Hubby because I was already struggling enough without reading about all of the "what if's"! I just cried out to God for my sweet baby, pleaded with Him to heal her & asked for His grace for my anxious heart! The next few days of waiting for her Echo were so hard! I love my precious little Anibella Hope so so so much! Every time I looked at her, a flood of emotions would fill my heart! I was terribly scared for my sweet baby, grateful to God for my precious little treasure, doubting, fearing & desperately trying to trust God with it all! I spent a lot of time cuddling her, praying for God to heal her & to give peace to my anxious Mommy-heart! My 4 big girls were so sweet & helpful & we prayed together a lot for their baby sissy! Anibella did amazing during her Echocardiogram! She was only 9 months old & she had to say completely still & quiet while a total stranger was rubbing the ultrasound wand all over her chest, tummy & neck for 20 minutes. If she had been too squirmy or fussy, we would have had to reschedule because, of course, an ultrasound is sensitive to sound & motion. I am so grateful that my Anibella was still nursing a lot because she just nursed the whole time, held onto Mommy with one hand & Daddy with the other hand & kept a watchful eye on the technician doing the Echo. The next day, I had to call to get the results, even though I fully expected them to realize that I was eagerly waiting to hear the results. I forget that they do this everyday so it's not as urgent to them. The Ped (the one we no longer see) said, "Is this Anibella's Mommy? Yes, the Echo showed that Anibella has ASD." I said, "What is ASD?" & she answered, "Oh, Anibella has a hole in heart. It may or may not close on it's own. We'll follow up with you in a few months. Have a nice day." I was fighting my fearful, anxious heart & trying desperately to talk to myself instead of listening to all of my fearful "what if's"! Before I even called my Hubby, I made the mistake of Googling "ASD" which stands for "Atrial Septal Defect" & was definitely scared by what I read. I waited until my Hubby got home from work to tell him because he manages a large group of people & he needs to be at the top of his game all day. So, I spent the rest of the day cuddling with my baby girl & praying for God to heal her. When I told him, he hugged me, cuddled Anibella & just started praying for God to heal her. He did what he always does, points me back to God & encourages me to trust Him. He reminded me that God loves our precious baby girl even more than we ever could & we love her SO much! My Hubby has a very tender place in his heart for our girlies so he was sad but I could tell that he was trusting God (way more than I was!) & that he really believed that God would protect Anibella! He is also a problem solver & has an innate desire to "fix" things & make them better for all of his girls. So, we both wanted & needed to know more. We ended up changing Pediatrician's & we found one that we really really love! (You know you have a good Ped when your 3 year-old gets a little "owie" & says, "Oh Mommy, do we get to go see Dr. Jain?" Haha!) : ) So, Dr. Jain read Anibella's Echo report & he explained in more detail about her ASD. He said that she most definitely had a "hole in her heart" but that he wanted us to start over from the beginning by seeing an actual Pediatric Cardiologist who specializes in the teeny tiny hearts of baby's! Our first Ped had just sent us to the hospital for Anibella's Echo, sent the report to a general Cardiologist to be read & then back to them to tell us the news. We waited for a while to be referred to our Pediatric Cardiologist but Dr. Jain followed us closely during the months in between to be sure her heart was sounding the same or better & not worse. So, finally, on Monday, February 21st, we drove over to Orlando to go to Anibella's new Pediatric Cardiologist. We were so grateful to finally be going to get some answers after 8 long months of wondering, praying & asking God to heal our sweet baby! Anibella had an EKG, another Echocardiogram & a very thorough exam. My sweet baby did not like those super sticky tabs they had to put all over her chest for the EKG, I think there were about 10 of them. Our nurse was such a sweetie & she was so compassionate when she had to pull those sticky tabs off of our baby's soft skin! I could tell it hurt because Anibella has a very high pain tolerance & she was crying so sadly when she pulled them off. : ( Randal was so sweet to Anibella & wanting so much to comfort her! When she was scared by the EKG sticky tabs, I was cuddling & comforting her & he was holding her hand & whispering into her ear! It was so adorable & made me love my man all the more! : ) Our Bellie Bug is such a sweet, affectionate, cuddly little girl & she absolutely adores her Daddy! Our nurse even commented on how sweet Anibella is & how cute it is to see her big, strong Daddy being so sweet to his little girl! : ) We were so happy to hear that, right away, they could tell that Anibella's EKG was totally normal! Yay! Then they did another Echo. As I said before, Anibella had to be completely still & quiet. I was worried because my sweetie isn't nursing anymore & now she is a very busy & curious 15 month-old! Our wonderful Cardiologist, Dr. Sattar, reminded us that if Anibella couldn't be still & quiet, that we could come back in 6 months to a year to try again. She said that because of how healthy Anibella looks & "seems" & because of her great EKG, she wasn't as worried as she would have been had Anibella had some of the classic "heart patient" symptoms & if her EKG hadn't been so great. It was such a relief just to hear that but I was hoping & praying that Anibella could do well through the entire 20 minute Echo so that we could just know & not wonder again for the next 6 months or a year! Well, the Echo room was quiet & dark & they had an Elmo DVD playing. The ultrasound tech encouraged me to give Anibella a snack & a drink or whatever would keep her calm & happy. I gave her Cheerios to nibble on & apple juice to drink. My girlies are usually just water & milk drinkers but I brought her a little cup of apple juice because I knew she would need to be still & completely interested in something that would distract her from the Echo. It was really cute when she tasted her apple juice! She looked at me like, "what is this yummy stuff?!" & just sipped it happily! : ) She sat on my lap, completely still & quiet the entire time, mesmerized by Elmo & that yummy apple juice! : ) I am SO incredibly happy & grateful that she did so well! The ultrasound tech was amazed at how well she did too! : ) My sweet Hubby is such a tender & attentive Daddy! (Although my Hubby has always been so wonderful with our girlies & it should never surprise me, he really still amazes me at how well he does with our girls & how much they adore him!) He was fully engaged & so tender to Anibella! During her Echo, he was so sweet & wanting to comfort & take care of Anibella, like he did when she had her EKG. He was talking to her & encouraging her! It was so sweet! He was saying, "Oh, is Elmo playing with Snuffalupagus?" & "Aw, look, Elmo & Snuffy are having lunch together!" Haha! SO so precious! : ) I'm so grateful that God has given me such a wonderful Hubby who is such an amazing Daddy to our girlies AND that our 5 girlies love him so much! As soon as we got back in our room, Dr. Sattar came back in & said that she was thrilled with how Anibella's heart looks! She said that she has a "perfectly healthy heart" & that her "ASD" or the hole in her heart is TOTALLY & COMPLETELY HEALED! YAY! Praise God! We are absolutely overwhelmed by God's kindness & so so so grateful for His amazing grace & mercy! We are so grateful that, sometime in the last 8 months, God healed our precious baby girls' little heart! We both kissed & hugged each other & our baby girl & I was so happy that I started crying when the doctor left the room! We both immediately prayed & thanked God for healing our sweet Anibella! YaaaaaaaY! We are so incredibly grateful to God!

Thank you, our wonderful friends & family, for all of the times you have loved us, sought God on behalf of our sweet baby girl & carried us in your hearts! Our amazing God has heard your (& our!) prayers! He has had mercy on us & healed our precious little Anibella! We are so grateful & we love you all!

I had to share some pictures I took of my Anibella today! This sweet baby has some PER...SON...AL...I...TYYYYYYY! : )