diff --git a/code/ddns-lambda.py b/code/ddns-lambda.py
index ad1a3fe..362cf45 100755
--- a/code/ddns-lambda.py
+++ b/code/ddns-lambda.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger()
 account_id = None
 region = None
-VERSION = '1.2.0b56'
+VERSION = '1.2.0b57'
 
 # Read Env variables
 DEBUG_LOG_LEVEL = os.environ.get('DebugLogLevel', 'INFO')
@@ -373,6 +373,10 @@ def lambda_handler(
                 LOGGER.info("instance: %s, no instance data, repeat check: %s",
                             instance_id, lineno())
 
+# instance object to/from DDB contains the instance data from get_instances (Reservations).
+# We are adding a fake entry to it _DnsEntries to store what was added by the code, so we can also easily remove it later
+# to avoid orphaned records
+
         # Remove response metadata from the response
         if 'ResponseMetadata' in instance:
             instance.pop('ResponseMetadata')
@@ -391,21 +395,22 @@ def lambda_handler(
         put_item_in_dynamodb_table(dynamodb_client, DDBNAME,
                                    instance_id, instance_attributes)
         LOGGER.debug("done putting item in dynamo table %s", lineno())
+        dns_data = []
     else:
+        # state is stopping or terminating
         # Fetch item from DynamoDB
         LOGGER.info("Fetching instance information from dynamodb %s", lineno())
         instance = get_item_from_dynamodb_table(dynamodb_client, DDBNAME, instance_id)
         LOGGER.info("instance attributes: %s", str(instance) + lineno())
-
-##        LOGGER.info(f"Fetching instance DNS information from dynamodb {lineno()}")
-# instance_dns_data = get_item_from_dynamodb_table(
-# dynamodb_client, DDBNAME, f'{instance_id}/dns')
-##        LOGGER.info(f"got instance dns data: {instance_dns_data}")
-# if instance_dns_data:
-# instance_dns_data_dict = json.loads(instance_dns_data, default=json_serial)
-##            instance_dns_data_dict = json.loads(instance_dns_data)
-# LOGGER.info(
-# f"instance dns data: {str(instance_dns_data)} length {len(instance_dns_data_dict)} {lineno()}")
+        try:
+            instance_data = json.loads(instance)
+            dns_data_raw = instance_data.get('_DnsEntries', [])
+            dns_data = [dns_data_tuple(**item) for item in dns_data_raw]
+            LOGGER.info(
+                f"Found entries from DDB for DNS records: {str(dns_data)} {lineno()}")
+        except:
+            LOGGER.error(f"Cannot deserialize instance data from DDB {lineno()}")
+            dns_data = []
 
     # Get the instance tags and reorder them because we want a zone created before CNAME
     try:
@@ -732,9 +737,9 @@ def lambda_handler(
                  " %s", str(heritage_value) + lineno())
     delete_records = True
 
-    dns_data = []
     # Create OR Delete the A / PTR Record
     if state == 'running':
+        dns_data = []
         if not flags['noforward']:
             # create the records
             try:
diff --git a/code/ddns-lambda.zip b/code/ddns-lambda.zip
index 36cbb29..36c0a2b 100644
Binary files a/code/ddns-lambda.zip and b/code/ddns-lambda.zip differ