Staci’s Story

Site created on June 1, 2019


Welcome to baby Faith's caring bridge site (and her momma Staci). We hope this can be a place for us to begin a better and more informed place to keep up with all of our ultrasound and doctor appointment results and how we both are doing in general. We are so blessed and thankful for all our family and friends support and words of encouragement. We hope this will be a good way for us to all keep connected. 


~with love and thankfulness,
Levi, Staci and the rest of the Moses crew

Newest Update

Journal entry by Staci Moses

May 29th, was our most recent heart check up for baby Faith. We had the ultrasound to check on her heart functions and to also check on my amniotic fluid levels. 

A praise for this week is the fluid levels are lower again this week. Last week they were showing it to be at 17 ounces and they said it was lower even this week (but with it being a different doctor meeting with us we didn't get the actual numbers. Just that they were a good lower and it wasn't a concern). 
The overall of my angioma (spot on the placenta) and baby's growth and movement looked to be staying good and consistent. 

Then the results from our Cardio doctor. Not much of a change, but there is a tad bit more enlargement being seen in her upper right chamber then last week and the lower chamber is still looking over worked and not any signs of getting better. Also her heart due to being enlarged is taking up more of her chest then it should be. A normal heart to chest ratio is 50%, our little gal's is 71%. Not horrible, but it will become a bigger concern if it reaches 80%, which means it is now taking the room needed for her lungs to grow and function how they are supposed to. 

Maybe, I should do a quick recap for those who are new to our story or cant remember the crazy amount of details. The middle of April I had been diagnosed with Polyhydramnios. This is a rare condition effecting 1-2% of pregnancies, where there is way more amniotic fluid present then should be. Normal range for fluid levels is 8-24 fluid ounces. When we went in for a level 2 ultrasound mid April my levels were at 36 ounces. This was beginning to create a lot of breathing and high heart rate issues for me. Through this time my heart rates were consistently between 124-138, when I would have a contraction, it would spike up to 140-150. I was winded often or felt as though I was in a constant running marathon, even when I wasn't doing anything at all but sitting. I began to not be able to sleep laying down but only in an upright position. Levi headed out on his missions trip to Jamaica's boys home just as May began. That Thursday I was having so much trouble breathing that after having a triage call we opted to set up an appointment at the Mercy Women's clinic to see if something more was going on. That is when our crazy whirlwind journey began. The OB Dr HIGHLY recommended to go down to the Mercy ER and be checked for blood clots and have an echo/ekg done to see how my heart was doing. Through all of this I had been dealing with lots of contractions. Any ways after a brief stay at the Mercy Cardiac Wing and finding I was indeed having issues related to my pregnancy, they transferred my to Abbott Mother and Baby Center by ambulance where I was admitted and spent the next full week trying to figure out what we were up against. An early birth? To what extent of complications? So many things. It was definitely by far the scariest and hardest thing to go through. We made the decision once I was realizing I was gonna be in the hospital awhile for Levi to head back home early to be with me and help in our decision making. 
Tuesday May, 7 we went ahead with an amniotic fluid reduction (similar to how they preform a amniocentesis) where the doctor removed a whole Litter of fluids! What an experience. I really don't want one ever again. Due to the removal procedure and my contractions that were stronger from it, they put me on an IV with magnesium. Although I had it that previous Friday, this day I had a reaction and it caused my blood pressure to drop down to 60/37. I had blacked out, couldn't see or hear during that time. So another fun experience to add to this journey we are both on. I have learned so much, and felt so much more closer to God through this experience. His peace was truly the thing getting me through this.
While in the hospital, I was having ultrasounds almost daily to see how things were progressing and watching my fluid levels. Through all of these scans, we were informed Faith's heart, for whatever reason was struggling. It was enlarged on the right side, the right valves are leaking fluid severely, there is a toughness to her right side and scarring. At one point she had fluid/edema in a pocket outside her lung, around the outside of her heart and over hear scalp of her head. Praise God, because all of that fluid that was seen is now completely gone!! I was released the following Thursday. A whole week in the hospital, praying she would stay put and things would go back to normal. 
Since then, I am getting weekly ultrasounds to check fluid levels and overall heart condition (not an echo), every other week I have had an echo done for her heart functions, and a growth check every 3 weeks. 

This weeks cardio echo, gave us a glimpse of what to potentially expect if nothing changes for her heart (which he hasn't seen thus far, like I've mentioned, its a small click worse each week. He has been hoping each week to see some good changes. He began to draw us a diagram of her heart to explain it better. Levi and I both knew, him grabbing a pen and paper wasn't going to be the greatest news for our sweet little one. Let me just say, we serve and AMAZING God! This story feels overwhelming, I know, I am living it and thinking about it every day, all day long. But His story will always be greater then anyone I could make. Our doctor gave us some options of worst to a best case scenario, which still all depends on how things look at the time of her birth. 
We are potentially looking at heart therapies/medicines and some breathing help when born to relax her heart to help it heal. We could also be looking at a valve repair to help the heart function better and help eliminate the severe leakage into both upper and lower right chambers. Other options are more in depth surgeries that could be done over a period of time. Nothing is for sure since she isn't here yet and of course nothing will transfer (medicine wise) through me to her. So for now we are just at a waiting game. 

As of right now, Faith's heart is being called by our Doctor "right ventricular heart failure".

I want to thank you for your time reading and learning about our sweet little ones story. And we want to thank you for prayers that have been said and those yet to be made on our behalf. They mean so much to our family. We also want to thank those who have helped in various ways these last few weeks; with school, with meals, with visits to just talk to me, those who have cared for our older children while I was in the hospital or for the many Dr appointments that we have had to go to. For your prayers and support. We love each and everyone of you.

Staci
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Staci Stay Connected to Family and Friends

Your $25 donation to CaringBridge will help keep this site online for two weeks. And if you donate by March 28, a generous CaringBridge donor will match your donation, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000.

Make your gift in honor of Staci by midnight on March 28 to be counted!

Comments Hide comments

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top