Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hush, Little Baby

Tonight my heart is with the tiniest, most vulnerable little person I know.

Eve is three months old and tomorrow she will undergo open heart surgery to fix a defect that has wracked her tiny body since birth. She weighs barely eight pounds, she cannot breathe while laying down, and she had to be fed through a tube because she is too weak to eat on her own. If her surgery is successful tomorrow, however, she will grow up to be a perfectly healthy, normal child.

Tonight my heart is with her mother, who at 19 is facing a nightmare that is beyond the reckoning of even the most cynical and battle-hardened parents I know. She has risen to this challenge with uncommon grace, courage and clear-headedness. I am so proud of her I could burst.

Tonight my heart is with her surgeon, a man I have known for years. He has dedicated himself to giving life back to these incredibly tiny, hopelessly weak patients. He daily works miracles we couldn't conceive just a few years ago.

Tonight I'm asking you if you would spare a bit of your heart, your thoughts and prayers, to lend strength to baby Eve and the people who are going to work together to save her life tomorrow morning. They could use all the help they can get.

8 comments:

winter said...

My thoughts are with her and everyone involved - including you.

Anonymous said...

I'm on it, too. Eve may well be in surgery as I write this.

ptooey said...

Count me in, as well.

newwavegurly said...

I hope the surgery went well... I'm sending good thoughts that way now.

Beanie said...

I don't have a lot of time to go into detail -- I promise more in the next day or so. But I want to thank each of you, sincerely, for your good wishes.

Eve is OK, but not out of the woods. The surgery lasted seven hours; her surgeon was exhausted yesterday when he came out. But I think she'll be OK.

Thanks, all of you.

Mermaid Melanie said...

that is good news. I await your detailed account.

Mississippi Songbird said...

Oh, I hope everything went well for this precious baby.. Bunches of hugs and prayers...

rebecca said...

so precious. my good thoughts and prayers continue.