Happy Saturday from a new room

Ok, so since I have posted everything that we have come through, I can now start posting things as I go through them.  So you, my loyal readers, can experience them with me.

Last night I was able to get a sleep room to get some actual rest in.  The sleep rooms are few and far between.  They are given out based on first how far away you live and second how sick your child is.  Well, we live only about 15 miles from the hospital. and so I generally only ask for when when absolutely need sleep.  I have had them a few times and they were such a welcomed change.  They have a full sized bed, that is actually really comfie.  However, the nicest part is the full bathroom.  I am able to shower, in peace.

Anyway, I slept through my 6:00 a.m. alarm.  At 6:30 my phone rang.  It was not a number I knew so I panicked.  The doctors and nurses have my number in case something happens.  So, it was Florence (yes, that is her name and she is only about 25 and cute as a button), our nurse.  Her first words were "This is not an emergency and I am sorry to wake you."  My heart, of course, was racing at this point.  They had moved Wyatt to another pod (part wing of the ICU) for staffing reasons (not something unusual for us).  She was just calling me to let me know so that I didn't freak when I came to see him. 

Since I was awake, I showered and got ready to come be with the boy.  However, in my shower, I talked to God.  It was a very emotional talk, as most of them have been lately.  It was one of those prayers where you beg for something.  Now, I know that begging generally doesn't get you anywhere, but this morning, I needed to get it out.  I know that God knows my needs.  I also know that the word says ask and you shall receive.  And I also know it doesn't say anything about begging.  However, this morning. I just needed to let it out.  When all was said and done, I felt better.  I felt a little relief. 

When I got to our new room, I was very pleased to see that we have a private restroom.  This is incredible considering the public one in his old pod was disgusting.  And when I say disgusting, I mean DIS-GUS-TING!  I twice had to tell the nurses that there was a bodily fluid (and you don't want to know what kind of bodily fluid I am talking about, trust me) on the floor.  Oh, and the patients don't use this bathroom.  Oh, and neither do the nurses.  Just imagine how dirty it is.  So, you can imagine how incredible it was to find that we had our own, private, restroom. 

Wyatt was sleeping, as he always is nowadays.  They have to keep him sedated because when he is awake, he gets so agitated that his heart rate goes up.  I settled in for a long day. 

I asked about CPAP trials because that is what our surgeon, Dr. Lovvorn, had told us last night.  Our nurse, Curry, said that they weren't going to do one because the peds doctor said that they didn't want to get him tired, since his diaphragm wasn't moving anyway.  Ok, here we go again.  So, I sorta freaked.  It's getting much easier for me to voice my opinion.  Curry said that a doctor was going to come talk to me about it.  I also want to note, that I didn't not freak out on Curry.  Curry is a super sweet and kind nurse, as most all of our nurses have been. 

In the meantime, Wyatt had somehow developed a temperature.  So, they took some blood, took a culture on mucus from his vent and started giving him Tylenol.  Now, his temp wasn't terrible, but of course, they don't want to take chances with anything.

My mom came about 11 and sat with me.  It is so nice to have company.  Don't get me wrong, I have completely gotten use to being alone.  It really doesn't bother me.  And, my handy dandy laptop is such an amazing help to beat the loneliness.  Anyway, around 1:00 Bubby John, Meme and my brother came to take us to lunch.  We ended up at Macaroni Grill, one of my faves!  It was nice to get out of the hospital and be around non-sickness, if only for a minute. 

So, when I got back the doctor came in to tell me that she was very sorry for the lack of communication, again.  She also said that even though Dr. Lovvorn thought there was movement in his diapraghm, the radiologist thought that the movement was very minimal at best.  So, their plan was to not do the CPAP trials because they didn't want him to get tired.  I could be ok with that.  She also told me that Wyatt's white blood count came back good.

Also on Friday, Dr. Lovvorn had told me that on Monday they wanted to do a specialized test to watch his diaphragm in real time.  If there was still no improvement, they would schedule the diaphragm plication surgery on Tuesday.  This surgery will basically attach the left side to the right side of the diaphragm.

Wyatt's temperature had broken shortly after he received the Tylenol and didn't have a problem with if after that.  They did, however, start him on an antibiotic, just in case.  You see, Wyatt not only had the surgery from the aortapexy, but he has a chest tube still in.  So, they don't want whatever it is that is going on with the temp, to be an issue later on.  So, they are treating him with antibiotics.  A move I am totally ok with.

Let me tell you what is so special about Saturday nights.  Mike doesn't have to work on Sundays so he comes to stay with our boy so that I can go home and sleep in my own bed.  It's a magical time when I can walk around in a night shirt, and not worry about doctors or nurses.  When I can take a long, hot bath and just relax. 

So, I left the hospital about 9.  I only stayed so late because I was not a fan of the night nurse.  She left a lot to be desired, that's for sure.  I was really happy that Mike could deal with her.  It wasn't that she wasn't good.  She just took her time.  His blood pressure stays kinda low because he is sedated all of the time.  And they have the machine set off to take it every 30 minutes.  So, when it takes his blood pressure, it's low and his monitor goes off.  It literally took her 20 minutes to come see what the alarm was.  Thank God it wasn't an emergency. 

So off I went for my time back home.  I miss is so much, and I'm pretty sure Mike isn't watering my plants.

Life in the PICU

Wyatt's oxygen rate was dropping rather quickly.  Our nurse had to call rapid response, again, for their help.  They talked to me about what might possibly be going on.  I asked the doctor if one of the possible complications during the surgery had been the cause.  They weren't sure, however, this information was very helpful in determining the cause.  More on the cause later.  They used the blow by to get oxygen to him while they moved him into the PICU.  They put him on CPAP in hopes that it would suffice.  It did not.  Once in the PICU, they had to intubate him, which meant that he was back on the ventilator.  And being back on the ventilator meant that he had to be sedated. 

On Saturday, they took Wyatt off of the ventilator because they felt like he was breathing well on his own.  His respiration rate became very fast and his heart rate rose.  They put him back on the ventilator Monday morning and they took an x-ray and found that Wyatt had fluid on his left lung.  Because his diaphragm was pushed up against the lung, fluid accumulated around it.  The surgeons put a chest tube in to drain the fluid.  In the process of this, they found that his left lung had collapsed.  On Tuesday, they scheduled Wyatt for another scope.  They felt as though a mucus plug had caused air to be blocked from his lung and for it to collapse.  The surgeons were able to determine through the scope, that there were multiple mucus plugs.  They were also able to remove several of them.  Wyatt's lung re inflated rather quickly.  So, Wyatt had been breathing, off of the ventilator, for more than 36 hours on one lung.  Please keep in mind that the right lung is compromised because his heart is on that side.

So, it turns out that one of the possible complications from surgery, that we had been informed of prior to, indeed had caused Wyatt's breathing issues.  It seems that during the surgery, the nerve to the diaphragm had to be moved, not cut but rather slightly pushed to the side, in order to get to the aorta.  In doing so, it paralyzed the nerve. The surgeon had informed us that by moving it, possible paralyzing could occur.  Indeed, this happened.  The left side of Wyatt's chest is where the incision was made to do the aortapexy. 
The doctors had hopped that by giving his body time to rest, this nerve would recover and heal itself.  They have now given him 7 days, and this has not occurred.  They have attempted to wean him off of the ventilator, and he has failed each time.

This morning, seven days after the aortapexy surgery, our surgery team came in and they feel as though surgery is the only option.  This surgery will be to tact the left diaphragm to the right.  So that when the his right side moves, it will move the left, allowing him to breathe easier.  I don't know much more information about the surgery, but I will post more information when I get the chance.

On a side note, I just want to vent on how hard this is for me.  I have tried to stay oh so strong for everyone, for Wyatt, Mike, my family.  But honestly, I don't know if I can much longer.  I have gone 7 days now and have not been able to hold my baby.  He has been sedated for 95% of this time and on a ventilator.  All my baby does is sleep (if that's what you call it).  Prior to the aortapexy surgery, he was so happy, playing with his feet.  Now, it's a miracle if he opens his eyes enough for me to see them.  I want my baby back.

Back to Vandy

On Saturday, January 29th Mike was leaving for work. It was 8:15 am and Wyatt and I were laying in the bed "talking". He starting breathing a little raspy (not different from what we had dealt with earlier in the week that his doctor told us was based on position and his ability to swallow) so I picked him up from his back and placed him on my chest, facing me. He immediately quit breathing. I sat up with him hoping he would begin breathing. He didn't. I walked out into the living room and (only by the grace of God) Mike was still home. At this point, he was turning blue. I immediately called 911. While I was on the phone with 911, he went limp and lost all color. During my call to 911, I somehow hung up on them. Mike called them back and I took Wyatt and laid him on the couch. Somehow the Lord gave me the clarity to give him CPR rescue breathing. I tilted his head and gave him two breaths. I could hear the air passing secretions in his throat. I then gave him about 6 or so more breaths and he started to cry. Shortly thereafter the paramedics arrived and brought him to Vandy.

In the ER they took blood to check for all sorts of things. They were immediately concerned that he had RSV or some other respiratory problem. We were moved after about 2 hours to the PICU where we stayed for a day. During our PICU stay Wyatt blew the IV vein he had. Now, mind you the last time he ate was at 6 that morning. I tell you this because it took them 4 hours and 12 people to get a new IV in. They had to use the ultrasound to get it in. So we were moved to the regular floor on Sunday. All of his tests came back for no infection, no RSV or other issue of that nature. Monday, he had another "blue spell". I was alone. I couldn't get the nurse here fast enough so I call the in house first response team. His blood oxygen went from 100 to 75 to 24 in a matter of 30 seconds. Before first response got here, a nurse came in and had him breathing again. At this point they had determined that his issue was structural and not a cold. ENT and pulmonology came in and did an evaluation. They wanted to do a bronchial scope to see what was going on.

On Tuesday he had the bronchial scope thingie which found that he had a compressed airway close to where the lungs split. It was also found that he has tracheal malaysia (or floppy airways).  They weren't sure why the airway was compressed, so they ordered a CT for Wednesday. Pulmonary wasn't sure so they were going to follow up with the CT as well. Now, mind you he went from Saturday morning until Tuesday night without eating. He ate at 8 pm Tuesday night and went NPO again at midnight because he had to be sedated for the contrast CT. When he was able to eat again, they stopped his IV. But, when they went to start it again for the CT, the IV was no longer good. So, after being poked again 3 more times, he had to have a pic line put in. In the meantime, they wanted to check him for reflux so they ordered a pH probe put in. So, Friday at one they put in the pH probe. After it was put in they had to take an x-ray to make sure it was in correctly. In doing this, they found that he had air in his intestinal wall. So, they stopped his feeds, again. One doctor told me that it was a possibility that they would have to do surgery and take our part of his intestines. Of course, I freaked. But after 48 hours of antibiotics this healed. They thought this air was because he had destated a few times.  The intestines require a lot of air and the lack of it can cause air to build in the walls.  From the CT scan, we found that because his heart is on the right side of his chest, his aorta is laying on his windpipe, causing it to compress the lower part of his airway.  We were told that our options were an aortapexy and that a trach was a possibility.  Of course we had no idea whatsoever what an aortapexy was and a trach was not even an option to consider in our minds.  The ENT doctor had told us that a trach had a 1 percent mortality rate for every year it was in.  Even this 1 percent was too much of a risk for us.  The pH probe showed only four spells of reflux in a 48 hour period.  However, because of Wyatt's tracheal malaysia, any little bit of reflux was bad.  So, they started him on Nexium and Pepcid.

After attempting to do research on aortapexy online, I was terrified.  All that I read was that they had to break the sternum to get to the aorta.  Mike and I were both opposed to this surgery.  It was very difficult to reason with a surgery to fix something that only happened from time to time.

Let me stop right here to tell you that these "blue spells" happened every day.  Generally one a day.  They were triggered by his bearing down to have a bowel movement or when he became fussy.  So, anytime he would make a noise, I was at this bedside, soothing, be it at 2 in the morning.  I wasn't sleeping much, but at least he wasn't turning blue.  Most of our days were spent rocking and singing.  I learned quickly that Wyatt loves Fire and Rain by James Taylor.  However, I could not spend my life on pins and needles.  The doctors also said that they would not allow us to take him home as long as he was still having these spells. 

As time went by, a definite decision was not made.  For the most part, all we did was sit in the hospital, rock and see the daily doctors.  Mama was a little frustrated to say the least.  About two weeks in, I had a mini breakdown.  So, our amazing nurse had what the hospital refers to as a Care Conference scheduled for us.  This is where all of the doctors that Wyatt sees gets together with us and we all formulate a plan.  This conference was set for a Tuesday.  ENT and the general peds doctor came.  Our pediatrician also came.  Surgery was late, but they said that they would talk later to him.  Let me also interject that only ten minutes prior to the Care Conference, our pediatrician so graciously told us that she was leaving the children's group we went to and that we would need to find a new pediatrician.  Oh, and then she proceeded to tell us that there was no one left in the group that she would recommend for Wyatt.  Yeah, you can imagine my anger.  So, we had the Care Conference.  During which it was determined that all parties would get together and make a definite plan. 

Thursday morning during rounds, the surgeons came in and told me that they felt as though a Nissen surgery was the right course of action to take.  This would cut down on all of his refluxing.  Score!  We knew this surgery and knew that it was an "easy" fix.  Just as we were given this information, the general peds doctor came in and said that no, this information was incorrect and that they wanted to do the aortapexy surgery.  She told me that they would all talk about it once again and make a determination.  Then, approximately fifteen minutes later, the ENT team came in.  They told me that the aortapexy AND trach would have to be done.  Lets suffice it to say, I went ballistic.  My super sweet nurse  listened to me freak out.  She then called the patient advocate to come talk to me.  The patient advocate is the person who someone would go to just prior to filing a grievance.  We talked about everything that took place and she went into action. 

When the smoke cleared, it was determined that Wyatt would need to have the aortapexy surgery.  This would alleviate the pressure on the airway and help "fix" the blue spells.

I'll take this moment to tell you what an aortapexy surgery is.  Aortapexy is basically where they go in and attach the aorta to the sternum.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aortopexy .  As the aorta is pulled up, the connective tissue between the aorta and the windpipe pulls the windpipe open to allow easier airflow.  He will grow with this and as he gets older he just needs to know this in case he needs open heart surgery some day.

In the beginning, Mike was totally and completely opposed to the surgery.  All I knew, was that I wanted my baby to be better.  I didn't want to be afraid to leave him alone for just a second.  Our surgeon, Dr. Lovvorn, came in and explained in great detail how the surgery would go as well as what the risks were and what we could expect.  I did continued research online and found much for informational materials and felt good about things.  Mike also felt good about it.  Apparently, the sternum would not be split.  Rather they go in through the second and third rib to reach the aorta.  Surgery was scheduled for the following Friday.  Dr. Lovvorn told us that he didn't want to rush into the surgery, mainly because he still needed to do research.  You see, not only was Wyatt's heart on the right side of his chest, instead of the left, he had Poland Syndrome.  He had not seen the combination of the two in a child that needed this surgery.  So, they took more x-rays and ultrasounds to map out Wyatt's internal make up.   

Anytime Wyatt has to be sedated through anesthesia, I freak.  We had a mishap in the beginning, although no one is sure why, and I am terrified.  Dr. Lovvorn said that he too was apprehensive and that he asked the cardiac anesthesia team to be in on the surgery for Wyatt. 

Surgery went beautifully.  Dr. Lovvorn was very pleased with the way things went.  The surgery itself took longer than planned, only because they wanted to make sure that they did everything perfectly.

We had been prepared for Wyatt to go to the PICU as well as have a chest tube after surgery.  He was doing so well that they didn't feel the need the put him in the PICU.  We were elated!  He was still sedated from the surgery, so mama went to bed around ten.  Around 11:30, I was awoken to the nurse talking to Wyatt and his monitor going off.

Our time at home

Wyatt's first week home was an adventure, to say the least.  We came home on Friday, December 23rd.  Mike's mom, or Grandma, came to visit.  Wyatt is her first (and only) grandchild.  Her stay had been intended to last a week or so.  However, on Christmas Day received a call from her cousin in Ohio.  Mike's Grandma Chubbuck (Lynn's mom) had fallen.  Now, Grandma Chubbuck is 93 (will be 94 in April or August, I don't remember which) and is amazingly independent.  At any rate, she was walking to the neighbors to take them some salad and slipped and fell.  Did I mention that she lives in Ohio?  Did I also mention that there was 28 inches of snow at the time she decided to venture out?  Anyway, she fell and broke her foot and Lynn had to leave to go to Ohio to be with her.  But, we powered through.

Our routine was amazing.  We fed him every three hours and he was on a continuious pump all night.  We set the pump for four hour intrivials so that we could make sure to change him.  This routine worked so well that Wyatt slept through the night when we first came home.  Ok, I should tell my secret.  This is the same schedule he was on in the hospital.  And, since he was on a continuious pump at night, he didn't get hungry and thus had no need to wake up.  However, at the four hour mark we woke him up to change his diaper but then he went right back to sleep. 

The longer the first week at home went, the fussier Wyatt got.  Until the night before New Years Eve, it was unbelieveable.  Also, this entire day, his apnea monitor kept going off.  I called the peditrician's office and they suggested that we take him to the ER.  So, back to Vandy we went.  Let me also say, that 10 minutes before I left for the ER, my mom and dad came for a visit.  I felt terrible.  The ER doctors did an x-ray and found that his stomach and intestines were full of gas.  They suggested that we legnthen his feeds during the day from 20 minutes (this is the amount of time it takes for the food to go into the G-Tube) to run through the pump for an hour.  They also suggested that we switch his nightly formula feeds to a senstive formula for gas. 

I'm going to pause here for just a moment.  I want to just say that I have always been a pro breastfeeding woman, even before I ever throught about getting pregnant.  My mother breastfed all three of us and to me it just seemed natural.  That's why it was so hard for me to feed my child formula.  Because Wyatt was whisked from me immediately after birth, I didn't get to hold him much.  That coupled with all of the stress of having a NICU baby, my body didn't produce very much milk.  I was able to give him all of the milk I produced, but that was not very much.  Once he was moved into Seven South while in Vandy, I produced more milk and was able to keep up with his supply.  However, once we got home, I couldn't keep up with his demanding little body.  So, I decided that during the day, I would give him breastmilk and at night I would switch to formula.  I wanted to make sure that he was able to get all of the good stuff that breastmilk has to offer. 

Anyway, we switched his feedings to the sensitive formula.  We were also instructed to "vent" his tube before and after each feeding. This was as simple as putting an empty syringe into his G-tube to allow excess air and gas to escape. It's basically like burping him.  Once this routine was established, all was right in the Carcione household. 

For the following two weeks, life was bliss.  We had an incredible schedule that was rarely deviated from.  We saw daddy off to work at 8, ate at 9, played, napped, ate at noon, played, napped, ate at 3, played, napped, ate at 6, played, napped, and then at 9 in the evening, he went on the continuious pump as well as went down for the night.  It worked out so incredible.  During this time home, we were also visited by a nurse from Vandy.  They have a program where babies with special needs gets visited twice a week where they weigh and measure the babies.  They also answer any questions and overall give amazing support. 

Week four at home came with new issues.  Wyatt woke us up one night crying.  This was pretty unusal for him (unless he was dirty).  When I got him out of his bed, he was having issues breathing.  I held him against my chest and he settled down.  I used the suction machine, thinking he had issues with secretions and couldn't swallow.  He drifted off to sleep and so I laid him down.  On Thursday, Becky and I were going to check out a daycare when he had an issue again.  I called our peditrician and they said to bring him in.  He sounded congested and I was afraid he had RSV.  Our doctor thought it might be positional because of the secretions so we left thinking that if this happened again that all we needed to do was lay him a different way.  On Friday, Nurses for Newborns (a different program from the Vandy one) came out to visit and it happened again.  This time, his color started to change a little and I was worried.  The nurse was concerned, but once I suctioned him, he was better.  Of course, this is was the peditrican had told me to do, so I did. 

I will stop right here because at this point, we are venturing into an entirely different blog.

Welcome to the world Wyatt Paul

I want to begin by letting you know where we came from.

At 20 some weeks into my pregnancy, we were informed through ultrasound that I had a two vessel umbilical cord (or a single umbilical artery "SUA"). Basically, during a "normal" pregnancy, the umbilical cord contains one vein (which carries oxygen and nutrients from mama to baby) and two arteries (which move the waste from baby back to mama to be processed and gotten rid of through mama's kidneys). Let me take a minute here to give you some stats about the two vessel cord. The two vessel cord occurs in only 1 percent of "singleton" (or carrying one baby) pregnancies and 5 percent of twin and multiple pregnancies. Researchers aren't sure what causes this, but they think that the second artery disappears at some point early in the pregnancy. SUA's tend to cause preterm birth or stillborn. Women with SUA's are considered high risk because of this. It was also thought to cause lower birth weights due to restricting the nutrients to the baby.

Also during this ultrasound they found that our baby's heart was on the right side of his chest instead of the left. Because of this, we were referred to a Dr. DeRoche, a perinatologist. Let me say how much we LOVED Dr. DeRoche. He was patient and very informative. We saw him monthly for monitoring of growth, and to check the development of his heart. Every month we were able to see our baby and were reassured that everything looked good. Dr. DeRoche thought that our boy's heart was displaced because of a bony abnormality. Because an ultrasound is pretty limited in allowing views of everything, this was his best guess. He could see that his heart was functioning properly and had all of the correct "plumbing". However, because of this abnormality, he suggested that we schedule delivery and do so at Centennial downtown as opposed to Summit (where we originally planned to deliver). He wanted to make sure that everyone that needed to be there was (i.e. the neonatologist). So, we were scheduled to deliver via c-section (only after our boy refused to drop) on his actual due date, November 26.

I won't bore you with everything I went though (i.e. the spinal and stuff). Wyatt Paul Carcione came into this world on his actual due date, November 26, 2010 at precisely 8:00 a.m. weighing in at 8lbs 12oz and measuring 21 inches long. When he was born, he did not immediately cry. They took him to the warmer where we could see them working on him. The nurses kept talking about his big he was and how alert he was. Still, he did not cry. I heard the NICU doctor ask for a larger breathing tube. Then he cried. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard on the face of this earth. He was then whisked away to the NICU.

I was moved to the recovery room and the barrage of doctors started to come in. The cardiologist came in and told us that Wyatt had dextracardia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextrocardia. Basically, his heart is a mirror image of itself. It is located in the right side of his chest. However, other than it being misplaced, it worked like it should. About two hours after his birth, the NICU doctor came in to let us know that he was doing well. He was on oxygen, but was really doing well.

I didn't get to see my angel until 13 hours after his birth. To say it was love at first sight is an understatement. He was perfect. The next day I was able to hold him. He was having a hard time sucking, so he was given an NG tube (or feeding tube through his nose) until this was remedied. The doctor also told us that the geneticist would talk to us about other "stuff" they found him to have. He had a single simian crease ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transverse_palmar_crease ) in his left hand as well as a few other abnormalities. They weren't sure, but thought that these issues could all be related to a syndrome. When we finally saw the geneticist she felt as though he had Poland Syndrome.

I will take this moment to educate you about Poland Syndrome because this is indeed Wyatt's "condition". http://www.polands-syndrome.com/ Poland Syndrome is a rare birth defect (occurring on one in every 30,000 live births). It was first named in 1962 and was named after Dr. Alfred Poland who first referenced a similar deformity in 1841. Boys are affected 2-3 more times than girls and 75% of all cases occur on the right side of the body as opposed to the left. Classic features of Poland Syndrome are absent pectoral muscle, brachydactyly (shortness of the fingers), dextrocardia (heart is on the right side of the body) abnormal gastrointestina tract, diaphragmatic hernia, liver/biliary tract anomalies, webbed fingers, hypoplastic/absent nipples as well as a long list of other features I won't bore you with because he doesn't have most of them. Of this list, Wyatt is missing his left pectoral muscle, has shortness of the fingers of his left hand, dextrocardia, hypoplastic nipple on the left side and single simian crease of the left hand. Included with this syndrome is low muscle tone, which Wyatt exhibits. Researchers feel like Poland Syndrome is due to decreased blood flow to the chest, arm and hand region of the fetus in utero. The subclavian artery (the artery supplying blood to the chest, arm and hand) is pinched or narrowed during the 6th week of fetal life when these areas are developing. The lack of blood supply may cause these regions to fail to develop fully. Now that I have bored you to tears, I will continue with out journey. I will add that notable athletes with Poland Syndrome include Bryce Molder, a PGA Golfer and an olympic boxer, Jerome Thomas.

Rather quickly after birth Wyatt was weaned to room air and maintained his body temperature. Through all of this, he received physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy all because of his low muscle tone. The speech therapist did a swallow study at about 2 weeks, during which it was found that he was aspirating. She said that three out of four swallows were good, but the fourth he was aspirating on. Because of this he would need a surgery to put in a feeding device called a G-Tube. We were transferred from Centennial to Vanderbilt because they were only equipped to help with general NICU issues. So, at only a few weeks old Wyatt underwent surgery to put in a G-tube for feeding. Even though were scared, we knew that in order to bring him home, the G-Tube had to be put in.

Wyatt was schedled for surgery on Wednesday.  We went down for surgery, loved and kissed and he was taken back.  We were told that surgery would last about an hour and that they would come let us know how things went.  After only about 20 minutes, we were called into a consult room to speak with the doctor.  Once the doctor came in, he told us that anestheiology had given him medication to put him to sleep and he had an adverse reaction.  Apparently, his blood pressure dropped, his heart rate went up and he went blue.  The doctor said that the anestologist had to "flip" his chest to get everything back to normal.  Needless to say, this surgery was aborted.  The doctor told us that a nurse would come let us know whether he was moved back to his room or to the recovery room.  We waited for over two hours.  I was a wreck.  The doctor had just told us that Wyatt had just had an issue with his heart, and then I sit for two hours and was told nothing.  Finally, I couldn't take it any more.  I went to the receptionist in the waiting room.  She called back and apparently he had been taken right back to is room.  Furious, we went to the room.  The doctors had obviously all been there and gone and we were no where to be found.  You have never seen so many people appologize in your life!

Surgery was then set for the following Friday.  Since the doctors weren't sure exactly what happened to cause his reaction, they took every precaution possible.  They increased his fluids the night before just in case he had been dehydrated.  When we went to the OR prep room, we were introduced to 3 anesthesiologists.  They even called in one from the "big hospital."  They told us that they were going to put him off to sleep with the gas, instead of the meds in his IV.  Our surgeon, Dr. Lovvorn came out about 45 minutes later to tell us that everything went perfectly.

After surgery, Wyatt was transferred to what the hospital calls "Seven South". This area of the NICU is a step down unit where parents are taught how to care for their infants who might have special needs, such as Wyatt's G Tube. In Seven South, I was able to spend the night with him. This helped me to become comfortable with not only his feedings, but general infant care prior to coming home. It was really nice to have someone else there when those typical mommy things needed to be done at 3 in the morning.

In total, Wyatt spent 3 weeks in the NICU total between Centennial and Vanderbilt. We received the most amazing Christmas gift when we were able to bring home our angel on Christmas Eve. I have skipped lots of things such as our emotions in all of this because frankly, there isn't enough paper in the world to contain the roller coaster of emotions we went through.

I am going to try and post our phases in separate blogs due to everything we have gone through with Wyatt. I think it will be easier to follow that way.

Blogging about my boy

I started this blog a while back and didn't continue it. However, since the birth of Wyatt, the overwhelming love and support of not only our friends and family but perfect strangers has caused me to get back at it. I hope to be able to update frequently with how our angel is doing. Also, I will be posting all of the old things about him that I posted previously on Facebook so that everyone can be up to date on where we have come from.

Photography Classes

I have been attending photography classes for two weeks now. Photography has been a love for me for years now. Growing up, my father had a dark room in our basement. It wasn't until my early twenties that I started taking pictures for the art of it. I know very little by way of technique, thus these classes. I have attached some of my photos from my first class. I am still a "work in progress" but these turned out to be my best. Enjoy!