Three months ago we happily added another daughter, Ellie, to our family. As many of you know Ellie was born with a congenital heart defect and on day seven of her life was rushed to Children’s Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis.
That day was the beginning of several days where I had to put my utmost trust in others.
It all started at home. Everything was as it should be — The coffee was on, Hadley was watching Dora and Ellie was nursing. It was a typical new morning in the Heinsen household.
Then as the day progressed everything turned upside down. Ellie stopped eating and I couldn't stop worrying. After a few phone calls I took her temperature and she was 90 degrees. Okay, not even close to what it should be. So off my mother and I went to urgent care in Onamia.
At this point I thought that she had probably caught a virus and most likely she would have to get some fluids and stay the night. Boy was I wrong because two hours later after amazing care from the emergency room team, Robert and I were in a car headed for Minneapolis, and Ellie was in the air.
Let’s put trust on a scale of one to 10. This was a trust factor of 10. I hate helicopters and have no desire to ever ride on one. But, there went my 7-day-old little baby on a stretcher in a cocoon sort of thing for the ride of her life. At that time I had to put all my trust into three guys whom I had never met: one pilot and two air nurses who took Ellie to Children’s.
Shortly before the air team left I got to exchange a few words with the pilot. He asked me how old Ellie was. I told him she was 7 days old and he shared with me that he just had his first granddaughter and she was exactly 7 days old too. Thank you helicopter pilot for sharing that with me, because not only did that help me remember that you were human, it also gave me a sense of who you were as a person, and it was much easier to trust you with my baby.
After we arrived in Minneapolis we found Ellie receiving care in the ER. There she was diagnosed with two heart defects which would require surgery. She was transferred from the ER to the cardiovascular care center at Children’s. As we followed Ellie on the stretcher Robert and I must have looked like zombies walking with a sort of deer-in-headlights look on our face. I couldn't believe this was happening to us, but I decided to remain strong and put my trust in the staff at Children’s. This was what they did, and we were in the best hands.
After a brief introduction we left Ellie to the CVCC staff, and she was transformed from a squirrelly newborn to a stiff patient hooked up to everything imaginable.
Three days later after Ellie got stronger she was slated for surgery. In those three days leading up to surgery Robert and I grew stronger too. But we were anxious.
All morning I kept looking at the clock waiting for noon to come. Ellie was scheduled to go into surgery around 1 p.m., but before she was to go we were to meet with the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Finally they came, and the surgeon explained to us what he was going to do. He gave us facts and stats and let us know her odds. He was very confident, and he admitted to us that her surgery was complicated but it was what he loved to do. He shook our hands and away he went to prepare. Shortly after, we said goodbye to our Ellie and trusted that she was in the best hands she could be.
Those were the longest hours of my life as my trust factor exceeded level 10.
The surgery went well. Ellie was done early, and we spent the next 13 days in recovery. After that I was relieved, and I felt a strong sense of certainty that everything was going to be alright. I attribute that to all our family and friends who were praying for us.
It is hard to trust but it is even harder to worry. I had to let go and as they say let God. I know behind it all he was the strength that guided all of us.
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