Annabelle was born on November 24th, 2009. Annabelle came into this world screaming her head off. I was so happy to finally be able to hear and hold my beautiful baby girl. We all noticed that Annabelle's hand was blue, but we were reasurred that it was normal and that she was fine. 24 hours later Annabelle's white blood count was above normal so they took her to have some tests done in the NICU. It was then that Annabelle starting to have trouble breathing. We were told that our baby was very sick and that she would need to be transferred to Children's Hospital in Detroit. I don't remember much after that. I just kept praying that she going to be okay. My in-laws drove us to the hospital and we met my parents there. At Childrens a nurse took us into a room and started to explain that Annabelle was again very sick. It didn't help that the nurse started to cry as she was telling us. At this point we still had no idea what was wrong with our little girl. 2 hours later 2 doctors came into the room and only wanted to speak with my husband and I because we were going to have to make some tough decisions. My heart just sank...what kind of decisions? This can't be happening.

We were told that Annabelle was born with Hypoplatic Left Heart Syndrome. The left side of her heart was under-developed. We were told that she would need 3 sugeries in order to repair the defect. We were both in shock. Why her? That night Annabelle was so sick that she needed to be put on a heart and lung bypass machine called ECMO. Her body was put through so much in the past 24 hours that she needed a break. She was on ECMO for 11 days.

She had her first surgery called the hybrid 3 days later. Four days after the surgery Annabelle was diagnosed with Necrotizing Enterocolitis(NEC) a bacteria infection in her intestines. She was put on antibiotics and her feeds were stopped. We were at a stand still for 2 weeks waiting for her infection to go away. After the Nec infection was gone the next step was to get Annabelle off the ventilator. She was having a difficut time so the doctor's decided to do some blood work to see if she had any other infections. It turns out she tested positive for Acinetobacter, another bacteria infection that is commom in hospitals. Annabelle was put into isolation and again put on antibiotics. While she was in isolation her Chest tube finally came out. It was such a big step, since we were told that if it hadn't stopped draining she would need another surgery to stop the drainage.

Finally when Annabelle was 8 weeks old she came off the ventilator. We finally got to hold her whenever we wanted. She loved to be held and cuddled. Unfortunatley a week later Annabelle was having problems breathing and was put back on the vent. Her blood and urine was cultered to see if she had any other infections. She tested positive for a urinary track infection and once again was put on antibiotics. After a week of rest the doctors tried to take her ventilator off again. This time it wasn't to good. As soon as the vent came out Annabelle would not stop crying. Her breathing was very rapid and her chest was constricting. Aaron and I knew she was going to be put right back on the ventilator. After about an hour they told us they were going to put the tube back in. Even though we knew the vent was going back in it still hurt so bad. I broke down and we had to leave the hospital. We went and saw a movie. It helped to get our minds off Annabelle for the moment.

The next day one of Annabelle's cardiologist wanted to meet with us. During one of her routine echos they noticed a blockage in her atrium septum, its an opening that allows blood to flow from the left side of the heart to the right. Because of the blockage, blood was backing up and putting pressure on her lungs. Which was why she was breathing so fast. They would need to do a cardiac catheterization to either balloon up the septum or insert a steint. On Monday February 8th Annabelle went back into the cath lab as my husband and I and our parents sat in the waiting room. About 2 hours into the procedure they came out and wanted to speak with my husband and I. We were told that because Annabelle's vein's in her groin were used so much for IV'S that they were to damaged to even attempt to go up to the heart. Instead they wanted us to sign a concent that they could go through her liver. I just couldn't believe it. It just seemed like this shouldn't be happening to her. We signed and prayed she would be okay. About another 2 hours later the surgeon came out and told us everything went great. He even showed us on the computer the whole procedure. It was amazing to see her heart. We could see the bands and the steits put in during her hybrid procedure and the new steint. I just wanted to hug Dr. Forbes. He truly is a miracle surgeon.

After the cardia cath Annabelle was still on the vent and doing good. We were told however that she has chronic lung disease just from being on the vent so long. With time her body will build up new tissue and her lungs will get stronger. The doctors were still weaning Annabelle off the vent daily untill 10 days after her cath Annabelle decided she was done with the ventilator. She coughed up her vent. It was the worst yet best moment ever. When she coughed out the vent she started to
de-stat. I looked up and their were about 6 doctors in the room. They pulled out the rest of the vent and got her oxygen levels back up to normal. Instead of putting the tube back in they decided to give her a chance without it. I was so happy. I knew she didn't need the vent. She has been off the vent for 2 weeks now and is so happy. She still loves to be held and loves to smile. She melts my heart just looking at her.

Annabelle is now 3 months old and we are finally starting to talk about going home. We still have some steps to take with her, but home is in the picture. The next step is giving Annabelle a bottle. We were told she would come home on oxygen and a feeding tube. Its all still a little scary, but we don't care. We are so thankful to God that we will be taking her home.

Annabelle almost died the day she was taken to Children's Hospital. It was the worst day of our entire life. I will never forget how me and my family felt that day. Annabelle is our miracle baby.