Special Gift

So.... I decided to blog about the special gift my cousin Caroline got Bryce on the day of his open heart surgery because he is loving it these days. It is a Ty brand monkey with hearts on his chest. He is oh so soft and he was one of the few stuffed animals that got to be with Bryce during his recovery. Among other special gifts Bryce received during his time at UAB was a gown resembling a lab coat with UAB on it from his Big Momma and Poppa, a onesie with a choo choo train and hearts from Jenny Sain,a stuffed doggy that looks like Minnie (our dachsund) also from the Sains, flowers from Wes and Katie May on Valentines Day, and many many more precious gifts that I can't recall right at the moment. We are so thankful for each and every one of them. The day of Bryce's surgery, I received a Pandora heart charm that all of the girls in my family got for me! I get a Pandora charm for just about every occasion but this one is by far the most special and meaningful one I have received yet. Also, my mom got me a necklace with a heart shaped locket........Other toys he is loving these days besides his monkey are his Baby Einstein Lion that plays music (from Ronald and Debbie Westmoreland) and his glow worm that plays music given to him by Aunt Debbie. I will leave you with a pic of he and monkey swinging:) Thanks for reading. I'll try to put up some pics soon of the other gifts I mention here.

First Big Hurdle

Okay, so I'm not doing so hot right now keeping this updated but I promise, I will try to do better. Nevertheless, here is the story of Bryce's first big hurdle he overcame at UAB and might I add, he passed it with flying colors. Upon arriving at UAB hospital, doctors quickly ordered prostaglandins to be administered. I will keep this in laymans's terms so it can be easily understood..... Okay, when we are in our mother's womb, we all have a hole in our heart that is essential while we are still getting everything we need from the umbilical cord. At birth, after the umbilical cord is cut, this hole is designed to close off and we begin to breathe on our own, circulation begins, etc. Well, since Bryce had transposition, God allowed this hole to remain open to sustain life for Bryce because things were a little out of sorts. That being said, prostaglandins are designed to keep this hole open until surgery can be done to correct the problem. By the grace of God, Bryce's hole stayed wide open on its own and he was able to be weened off of prostaglandins less than 24 hours after they were started!! We were so thankful and excited because this was a huge deal. Doctors and nurses were amazed because this is not typical for an infant with a heart defect. Symptoms from prostaglandins can be pretty harsh. The most noticeable symptom is the startle reflex. That first night, he would just jump out of his skin for no reason and was pretty restless. Nevertheless, we were very glad that the prostaglandins were gone. His saturation was in the 80's and 90's on room air (e.g. he did not have to have any oxygen at all) the entire two weeks leading up to surgery. Praise God, he is our little miracle baby! More stories to come. Thanks for following our blog:)
(This picture was taken right after I delivered him at ECM Hosptial- administering oxygen - about the time they were realizing something may be wrong)

Bryce's Precious Heart

On January 23, 2011, I gave birth to a precious 7 lb., 6 oz. 21 inches long baby boy at 10:15pm. After delivery, he didn't cry out, just a few squeaks here and there. Immediately, my mom (a respiratory therapist), knew something wasn't quite right. At this point, Jon and I were oblivious to the fact that anything was wrong and were overjoyed as we should have been at the birth of our son. At first, they thought it was just his lungs. After a bit of trying to suction his lungs with no strong cry, he was wisked away to the nursery at ECM for further evaluation. After about 4 hours at ECM, lots of suctioning, an oxygen hood, and chest x-rays, he was sent to Huntsville Hospital by ambulance for further evaluation. Quickly after arriving in Huntsville, Bryce had an echocardiogram (because they suspected it may be his heart) that was read by the pediatric cardiologist over his iphone (yes..really!...he was on a ski vacation) who quickly diagnosed Bryce with transposition of the great vessels. A quick explanation....the aortic valve and pulmonary artery are switched. After the diagnosis in Huntsvlle and the phone call from Jon letting me know our son had a heart defect and was going to have to have an operation, Bryce was sent immediately to UAB hospital where we waited 2 weeks and 1 day before he had full blown open heart surgery to correct the problem. Jon was so wonderful through it all. We had arrived at ECM Hospital at about 8:30 am on Sunday, Jan. 23 where he had supported me through a wonderful labor all day long and then chased our precious miracle baby all over the place until he eventually got to UAB Hospital Women's and Children's Center (Regional Neonatal ICU at 3:00 pm the next day. If you are wondering where I was during this time, I had to stay at ECM Hospital to recover for a bit. I was released by Dr. Keith on Monday to go and be with my precious son and husband. Although scared to death, pain medication on board, and running on adrenaline, I was overjoyed to finally arrive at UAB Hospital (around 8:30pm Monday night) to see my husband and son for the first time since delivery. Jon said it was amazing seeing Bryce perk up when I was finally there to hold him and talk to him. He knew his mommy had finally arrived! :) This was just the beginning of our journey...more to come! This picture was taken as Bryce was leaving ECM to go to Hunstville Hospital (still thinking it was his lungs at that point)