Faith Like Noah

“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

So, I’ve been gone for a while. I’m sure most people who read this know by now what the little Bayles family has been through, but I want to document everything that has happened in the last month and hopefully do a better job of keeping everyone up to date with what happens in the months to come. Brace yourself, this could be a long one!

It all started on June 23 when I went in for my 16 week check up (see post below). We were anxious to hear about our little person and were only thinking of, what seems now, such trivial things like whether we were having a boy or girl, and how I could get rid of this pesky heartburn situation. We went in and did the normal appointment stuff- weight, blood pressure, etc. Then the nurse went for the Doppler to listen to the baby’s heart beat. She usually went straight to it in appointments past, but this time she took a long time to find it and kept saying that baby was just moving too much and she wanted to make sure she was really getting the baby’s heart beat. After what seemed like forever (and with tears welling in my eyes) we finally heard the loud galloping of our baby’s heart and relief fled over us. She then said that my doctor had to go to an emergency so it might be a while before he came back to see us- if it was too long then another doctor would see me. Hmmph. Well, that really didn’t go well with our plan to convince my doctor of a quickie ultrasound to see the sex of the baby! Half an hour passed and still no doctor. Ben went to the hallway to see what the deal was and the nurse said that he should be back any minute. At that point, it was close to noon and I was thinking that I just wanted another doctor to come in so we could go get some lunch! I was irritated that we were having to wait when I was sure that another doctor could come in and talk to us- after all, we were some of the most low-maintenance patients! Another 15 minutes passed and finally my doctor came in. He told us we were going for an ultrasound. Score! He felt bad for making us wait! Wrong. He went on to say that the baby’s heartbeat was around 200 and that it may be a fluke, but he wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go in there because he had to go back to his emergency, but he was sending us with another doctor in the practice, one that I had never met or seen before. I was already in tears, knowing that something wasn’t right with my baby. We had the ultrasound and it was confirmed that our baby was in tachycardia (really fast heart rate) with a heart rate around 230, and the doctor that was taking care of us knew absolutely nothing. She was the least helpful person for us at that time. The next 20 minutes were such a blur, with her talking about me needing to see a high risk specialist and getting an appointment as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in until Thursday to see the specialist (it was Tuesday). (SIDE NOTE: if anyone that reads this is ever pregnant and told their baby is in tachycardia, DO NOT wait to go to a specialist. INSIST on going immediately and if they won’t take you, then call around. We now know this, but at the time we trusted that the doctor knew what she was doing and if it were truly an emergency she would have us walk over to the hospital right then.)

Those were the worst 2 days. All I could think about was my baby. Was something really wrong? What does tachycardia mean? What caused it? Why was this happening? How sick is my baby? And I could do absolutely nothing. I read Hebrews 11 about all the people of great faith in the Bible and kept praying for faith like Noah- that I would have faith that God will deliver us and take care of us through anything and that I would completely trust in God.

Thursday finally came around and we went to see the specialist who did a full anatomy ultrasound and again confirmed the fast heart rate and officially diagnosed us with Super Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT). She told us that I needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately to start medication in hopes that it will get down to the baby and slow the heart rate. There was a lot of information for me to be taking in and in such a short amount of time- the medications I would be started on, which hospital I would be going to, what doctors would be attending to me (a LOT), and a whole lot of other details. Thankfully my parents had come to town to be with us at our appointment, so they were able to pretty much take care of everything at our house so that Ben and I could focus solely on the baby.

I was taken by an ambulance (a first for me, and really not that cool…) to the med center where I was admitted to the adult cardiatric unit and the real fun began. In order for me to be given any heart medication, I had to have a whole slew of tests run on my heart to make sure it was healthy enough to take the meds. The whole process lasted pretty much all night. In the end, I was well enough to take medication and began my loading doses of Digoxin. The next morning, we were wheeled down to the pediatric cardiology lab to meet our pedi cardiologist and have a fetal echo, which is just an ultrasound of the baby’s heart. Yep, still in SVT. We later learned that there was a little fluid building up around the heart and the heart was slightly enlarged. Since it was a Friday, and hospitals pretty much shut down over the weekend, the Dr. G (pedi cardiologist) said that I would get all of my loading doses over the weekend and we would check the heart again on Monday.

Overall, I was in the hospital for 12 days. So much went on, that it would literally be a novel if I wrote it all out. We went from emotional highs to lows quite frequently. Medicine made me sick, heart got better, then worse, then better again, then didn’t change. When we left the hospital on July 7th, the heart rate was staying around 190-200, which was an improvement from when we came in, I was on the max doses of 3 different heart medications (and still am) and they told us that they had basically done all they can for the baby at such an early gestational age. We were an anomaly- no one had seen SVT before 24 weeks, so this is sort of unchartered territory for everyone. The good news is that baby has no signs of hydrops (fluid around other organs and heart failure) and is quite an active little baby. The bad news is that we have so far to go in the pregnancy and there is so much unknown.

Now, here’s the best part.

God has a plan for us. He is watching over us and little baby Bayles. He has made this baby just how He wants. I know this and believe it with all my heart. Giving up control over my baby has been the hardest thing I have ever done and I still struggle daily with it. I want to constantly put my faith and trust in the medicine and doctors, but I can’t. They have said it clearly to me: there isn’t anything else they can do. And quite frankly, there never was anything that THEY can do. God is the ultimate healer and every step our baby takes in the right direction is only because of God. HE is allowing the medicine to work through me. HE is allowing me to tolerate the strong medicine so well. HE has put us in Houston with the best doctors. HE is giving the doctors the wisdom they need to treat us. HE is constantly teaching us that HIS will be done. Glory be to GOD.

There’s more good stuff…

My marriage has been so blessed by this. I have seen Ben in a completely new way that I probably never would have, had we not had this happen to our sweet little baby. He stayed with me every single night in the hospital on a little couch in my room. He prayed with me when I was sobbing. He cried with me when we got good news. He was strong when I was at my low points. He loves our baby and he loves me and I thank God for teaching me this blessing of marriage.

And there’s more…

We have been shown the love of Christ in so many ways from so many people over the last month, that it brings tears to my eyes and completely humbles me to think about it. Our family, church and friends have been an amazing pillar of strength and comfort through all of this. Knowing that people are praying for us, hearing them ask about how we’re doing, rejoicing when we get good news, bringing us food and magazines at the hospital, visiting us at the hospital, and sending us cards of encouragement means so much to us. We know that we are loved and we feel it every single day. So, to everyone that says a prayer for us, THANK YOU from the bottom of our heart. And keep those prayers coming please!

We go to Dr. G tomorrow, so please, please, please pray for a good report. Last week, his HR was in the 130’s which was fantastic! Today, he was in the 180’s, which is a little higher than we would like. Tomorrow, we’ll find out more about his heart and see if he has broken the arrhythmia that is causing the SVT. We believe with all our heart that God hears the prayers.

OH and one more thing…

Lock up your daughters, because...

It’s a BOY!!

Noah Thomas is our precious little active baby boy's name...