I Need A New Heart

First off a little background on the heart:

Heart Structure:
Humans have a four chambered heart. The above heart is depicted as though it has been cut in half by a vertical plane allowing both its internal and external structures to be visible. The four chambers, Right Atrium, Left Atrium, Right Ventricle, and Left Ventricle are compressed by the heart muscle at different times in order to pump blood. All the veins and arteries connected to the heart are like one way streets that either bring blood to the heart(vein) or take blood away from the heart(artery).

Heart function:
The right side of the heart is responsible for getting blood through the lungs so it can be filled with oxygen, and the left side of the heart is responsible for pumping blood through the entire body. The heart beats from top to bottom. So first the Atria on both sides contract squeezing blood into the Ventricles, and then the Ventricles contract sending blood both to the body and the lungs, and in the process refilling the atria. This is why a heartbeat has two beats to it. The first beat is the Atrial contractions and the second is the Ventricular contractions. The Atria refill because pressure from the Ventricular contractions gets blood sitting in the circulatory system moving again. Some of this blood is far enough along on its journey though the body or through the lungs to come back to the heart, specifically to the Atria. The diagram shows the direction blood flows through the heart as well as the flexibility of the different valves that separate the chambers of the heart from each other, the Pulmonary Artery from the Right Ventricle, and the Aortic Artery from the Left Ventricle. Valves allow blood through in one direction but close when the beat is finished so that blood does not go back into the chamber it just came from. This is where my defect exists.

A Bicuspid Aortic Valve

Instead of having a tricuspid Aortic Valve like 99% of humanity I have a bicuspid Aortic Valve. This condition is caused by a mutation in the notch1 gene which effected the development of my aortic valve while I was still in the womb. The above image shows a tricuspid Aortic Valve on the left and a bicuspid Aortic Valve on the right.

If you look at the diagram of the heart above you'll notice that the Aortic valve separates the left ventricle from the Aortic Artery. The left side of the heart is much more powerful than the right because the left has to push blood through the entire body while the right just has to get it to the lungs and back. So basically I have a bad valve in the hardest working part of the heart.

What Should Happen
Here is what a normal Aortic Valve should do. The Left Ventricle contracts and tries to push all of its blood to the body. The Aortic Valve opens, allowing blood to pass from the Left Ventricle to the Aortic Artery. When the Left Ventricle is empty a negative pressure exists in the chamber, and this causes the Aortic valve to close. If there was no valve there the blood that was just pumped would come back into the Left Ventricle and nothing would have been accomplished by the beating of the heart. A tricuspid Aortic Valve prevents this from happening and the blood stays in the Aortic Artery.

What Happens in My Heart
Since I have a bicuspid Aortic Valve every time that negative pressure is created in the Left Ventricle some of the blood in my Aortic Artery leaks back into my Left Ventricle. I have a leaky Aortic Valve, or as the doctors put it I have moderate Aortic insufficiency. Basically my heart isn't as efficient as it is supposed to be.

Consequences of Moderate Aortic Insufficiency
Since my heart isn't as good at its job as everyone else's it has to work harder to get the same results. This means that over time my heart has been growing too large. Every year my heart undergoes a bunch of checks. This year at our appointment they let me know that my Left Ventricle has passed the 'acceptable' range for size and the best thing to do is operate. They prefer to operate now when I don't have severe symptoms so that after the valve problem is gone my heart can go back to normal.

I have an appointment with the surgeon next week. I plan on making another post about what specific treatment options exist and what I plan on doing.

Where is God in All of This?
God is amazing. The complexity of life never ceases to amaze me. The more I learn about biology the more I'm convinced that evolutionists don't have all the answers. Biology screams design, and it is only because of the dogma of naturalism, and the indoctrination that occurs at most universities, that most scientists reject design.
The reason my heart has a defect is not because God's creation wasn't perfect but because of the fall of man. In the garden Adam sinned, and as a consequence God has removed some of his sustaining power from creation. Since then man has continually turned away from God. Jesus came to allow a way for man to be right with God again. He gave his life to pay for our sins and because of this we can have a relationship with God. Jesus is coming again, this time to restore Creation to its original perfection. I look forward to eternity knowing that I will live with my perfect Creator forever.

Open Heart Surgery

Oh my gosh! Doesn't that sound horrible? Open heart surgery?!? Jonny & I keep repeating it over & over in shock. Open heart surgery.

So Jonny had his annual appointment w/ the cardiologist on Tuesday. His heart has made some significant growth in the last year & the cardiologist is suggesting heart surgery as soon as possible. For those of you who don't know about Jonny's heart murmur, he will be making a more detailed post about what is going on. In short, he has a bi-cuspid aortic heart valve instead of a tri-cuspid. Because he only has two 'flaps' that regulate the pumping of blood in & out of the aortic valve, there is some blood leakage which has caused his heart to work extra hard & enlarge. The purpose of the surgery is to put in a mechanical valve. The surgery is scheduled for July 21st. The recovery time is about 6 weeks. For the first 4 weeks, he can't lift anything over 5lbs. Jonny won't be able to hold his boys for a whole month. :(

Our surgeon is Dr. Howard Song. We are confident that he knows his stuff. He graduated Magna Cum Lada w/ his Bachelor's in biology from Yale, then got his MD at Stanford, then got his PhD in Philadelphia while he worked as a surgeon. Now he specializes in aortic surgery & biomedical & tissue engineering. Basically, he's the man when it comes to aortic valve replacement surgery.

We are both surprisingly calm & collected about the whole ordeal. Maybe we're just in shock b/c its such a huge thing. Maybe we're used to having medical issues... just kidding. :) (Remember this time last summer I was going in to the dermatologist to get my mole, which turned out to be melanoma, removed.) We have learned that the Lord is in complete control & we have no choice but to hand it over to Him. He will be our strength.

Joe's Wedding

Last night was our friend, Joe's wedding. Joe was one of our closest friends from high school. Jonny had the honor of being a groomsmen in the wedding along w/ a few other old high school friends. It was a fun night, especially being able to visit w/ other people we went to high school with & haven't seen in years. Our whole family came, so it was quite an adventure. Our dear friend, Brea, was Eli's date for the night. Boy, oh boy was she a life saver. She danced, fed, played, chased & held Eli all night. And of course, you know I'm going to say- everyone loved Eli. He was so friendly w/ all our high school friends & parents of our friends. He was dancing, singing, giving 'pounds' & high fives way past his bed time. We didn't pack everyone in the car until 10pm, but it worked out okay b/c the whole family slept in till 9am this morning!
(I dressed our boys nicer than they look, but it was extremely hot in the banquet hall, so we stripped them down a bit.)

Baby Eli & Baby Noah

Here are some similar infant poses of our boys...

ELI (top) NOAH (bottom)

They both tried to hold their head up early.

Hmmm...

Noah is doing so well. He is such a good baby. He is so easy... unlike his big brother was. Noah hardly ever fusses or cries & he sleeps all the time! So far he is making this very, very easy on us. :)

Way too much fun!

Eli has been having way too much fun w/ all the visitors lately. He especially had a good time w/ his cousins. I attached some pictures of all the fun they had...

Aunt Becky getting a work out. Eli did really, really well for his grandma.

Our new play structure.

Playing w/ silly Lily.

Eli loves his cousin, Ruby.

What nice aunties!

Eli also loves his cousin, Joshua.

And of course, there is cute little Noah.

Everyone loves Noah!

First Night Home

It feels so good to be home w/ my boys! Apparently Jonny & I make BIG BOYS that like to be born on Fridays. :) Eli is doing okay adjusting to Noah. He really likes Noah, but also wants to be held whenever he sees me holding Noah. I'm sure it'll just take some time. Noah did really, really good last night. Eli was trouble his first night home, however, I think I sorta knew what to do better this time.

Everything has gone so smoothly. The delivery went so fast; so fast that nobody made it there in time. A nurse took pictures for us. Our stay afterward was really laid back. I remember feeling a little overwhelmed during our stay w/ Eli, but this time was very peaceful.

The same midwife that delivered Eli delivered Noah. I didn't think she was on call, but she was! That was really cool. Also, the same delivery nurse was working. She was really, really nice & helpful. I remember w/ Eli she stayed past her shift to keep coaching me as I pushed, so she could be there for his delivery.

Here are a bunch more pictures:

Infant Pics

Here are infant pictures of Eli & Noah to compare. The lighting is different, so Noah's skin appears more pink. I think Noah's nose looks more like Jonny's & Eli's looks more like mine.

Elijah (left) Noah (right)

Noah Zachary

We met the newest member of our family, Noah Zachary Oelkers, on June 6th 2008. Jessica started having mild contractions around 7pm Thursday night while we were in Eugene picking up a play structure for Eli. We went to bed around 11 PM and she was able to sleep through her contractions until sometime around 1:00 AM Friday morning. We arrived at the hospital at 2:50 AM and he was born less than an hour later at 3:47 AM. Noah weighed in at 8 pounds 14 ounces, and was 22.5" long. Eli seemed like a giant when he was born, but Noah came out 4 ounces heavier and 1/2" longer. Jessie had a much shorter labor with Noah and did a lot less pushing too! We are thankful that God has given us another healthy baby boy.

Can't Sleep

Okay, these contractions are getting more intense- too the point where I can't sleep. Jonny's still sleeping. We didn't go to be until 11pm, so that sucks! Oh, & our smoke alarms went off again, right before bed. Apparently the steam from the shower sets them off. They're really hard to turn off! Anyway, I'm just going to sit on my exercise ball (which is called a birthing ball in the hospital) & time my contractions. My back really hurts. I hope his head isn't the wrong way like Eli's was! Oh, another one.... OUCH!
The other Katie is on call for the 6th. I like her a lot too. Looks like both of my boys will be born on Fridays. I'm a little annoyed how close I got to having him on a cool date like 06.07.08. If it couldn't be that date, why does it have to be so darn close to it!?
I think we'll take Eli over to Rory & Lindsey's in a couple hours. Hopefully I can make it okay to wait to call my mom & sisters until like 5am so they get some sleep!

Baby Time?

So I've been having mild contractions about every ten minutes for the last three or four hours...

Praise & the fire dept.

Just a little post to thank you for your prayers for Eli. He has been sleeping so well lately! He hasn't been waking up in the middle of the night or super early in the morning. In fact, he's been sleeping 45 min. to an hour later than he usually does, & that's still w/ a two hour nap! (three today!) It's been good for me to get the extra rest, too; so thank you!

No other news regarding the baby. I'm still having a bunch of those contractions I don't feel.

Off subject... The fire dept. came to our house yesterday morning! Eli & I were getting out of the shower when our smoke alarms went off. They were piercing loud & wouldn't stop so I threw a rope on, grabbed naked Eli & tried to stand on the step stool in our hallway w/ my finger on the hush button. The button wouldn't work! So yes, I called 911. (Jonny always teases me b/c I've called 911 so many times in my life.) I managed to get some real clothes on & Eli in a diaper before the sirens turned into our neighborhood. I stood back up on the stool & actually got the alarms off right before the fire crew came in. I'm sure we were quite a site to see. Eli was pretty entertained. They replaced a couple batteries, but said if it happens again to call 911 again (see Jonny!) & they'll come out to check it out; but we may need an electrician to check our wiring. Anyway, it was an exciting morning! Too bad I didn't think to get a picture of Eli in his diaper in front of the fire truck parked outside our house. :)

Almost Time...

I had my usual Tuesday appointment today & I met w/ the midwife who delivered Eli. Not much has changed. I am 60% effaced & 3+cm -she said I'm not quite 4cm- (I believe 4cm would be considered active labor). My cervix is still in a posterior position, so once I feel hard, real contractions it'll probably be my cervix lining up w/ the birth canal & after that we're ready to go! I've been having braxton hicks contractions for about a week & a half now. The only reason I know I'm having them is b/c I touch my belly & its rock hard from my muscles tightening. I've only maybe had a dozen contractions where I feel my muscles tighten. Well, that's about it, more time to wait & enjoy being pregnant. Tomorrow is my nephew, Rian's, 5th birthday, so who knows, maybe these cousins will share a birthday! However, I still like the date 06.07.08. The longer it takes just means the closer we're getting to Jonny's last day. :)