And so it began...(a story in pictures)

6:30 am - arrived at the hospital where we waited an hour and half in the cafeteria with my folks and Gemma.

8:00 am - went back into triage, put the gown on, got hooked up to an IV, and waited again until surgery.

10:00 am - Vance dressed for surgery, wheeled into surgery room, stuck in the spine with a big niddle, waited for the drug to take effect, surgery began....

10:33 am - a FLOOD of liquid later, Vance Gabriel Smith was born weighing 7lbs 15oz and 20in long and looking very blue.

I got one quick peek at him and he was off to the NICU.

After I was stitched and cleaned up, the nurse wheeled me, bed and all, down to see my sweet boy.

Vance really wasn't doing to well. His poor heart was working to hard and he had fluid in his lungs that was making it hard to breath.

Not much could be done with his heart since doctors still though it was just a VSD and double outlet. (something they said could be taken care of within a few months) But nurses would come and pat his back to help break up the fluid. They also used a CPAP on his nose to blow puffs of air into his lungs.

Poor guy wasn't eating either. He would just throw it up. They put a small tube down his throught for any fluid to have a place to go so he wouldn't choke.

We noticed that Vance's feet up to his knees was still looking blue. My mom mentioned it to his cardiologist which prompted him to look at another part of his heart. Much to his surprise, there was yet another defect that needed immediate attention. They call it Hypoplastic aortic arch in which his aortic arch was starting to narrow and close. The doctor also noticed that his pulmonary artery was to large. Later that Sunday evening, an ambulance came and picked up Vance to be transferred to UMC which is one of the BEST places to be for heart surgery.

Vance's cardiologist and his surgen over the next 2 days planned out his surgery while I was still over at TMC recovering.

Monday afternoon I got a call to my room from a nurse over at UMC telling me that surgery had been scheduled at 1pm Tuesday afternoon and that I should do what I can to be discharged so I could be there for Vance's surgery.

So that's what I did. I was discharged Tuesday and made it over to UMC around 12:40 pm.

I was able to hold and love on Vance before they took him off to surgery.

And he was off...

4 hours later...............

It was a SUCCESS! The surgeon made a horizontal incision under Vance's left arm and performed, what I think, a remarkable gift. It sure broke my heart to see him hooked up to so many tubes and wires but I am so grateful for this day in age.

Recovery was 8 days long and during this time, our social worker put us into the Ronald Mcdonald House so we could be close by. This place was so WONDERFUL! It was like staying in a very nice hotel where volunteers came in and fed us. There was cable, interent, and TOYS!! Gemma enjoyed herself.

Finally, after a grand total of 13 days of being in hospitals (TMC & UMC), Vance was discharged on Wednesday 6-9-10. It was such a wonderful day to be able to head home and start life.

Now, Vance still has one more heart surgery due within the next 2 to 6 month to fix his VSD and double outlet and when I think about it it breaks my heart all over again knowing that he has to go through this all over again. I thank everyone for your prayers! Heavenly Father sure does hear and answer them!! My heart is full.