Jan 25th - Day 2 in the NICU

On Wednesday, January 25th, we woke up to a phone call from Will's neonatologist, Dr. Sparks. He called to update us that over night, Will had to be placed on a ventilator because his breathing was still too labored and his O2 sats were too low. He was also given a central line through his umbilical cord for more frequent and accurate blood draws/labs, and to enable them to give him intravenous nutrition (TPN, or Total Parenteral Nutrition, or as Dr. Sparks calls it, "a hamburger in a bag.") :) While the ventilator seemed really scary, once we saw him we immediately knew it was what he truly needed. He wasn't working near as hard to breath! We completely trust his doctor, it's just scary to hear your little one is on the vent!

Speaking of his doctor, Dr. Sparks is AWESOME! He has fantastic bedside manner and cares so much for his patients and their parents. He is excellent at explaining everything, and even took time to sit down and draw out a diagram to explain Will's heart defect and pulmonary hypertension. It was especially helpful to Andy, who doesn't have a medical background. But for both of us, we so appreciated his time and effort. It's truly a blessing that Dr. Sparks happened to be the neonatologist on call the morning Will was born! What a Godsend! :)
Holding Dada's finger:

To further explain Will's condition, he has a PDA - a Patent Ductus Arteriosus - which is an open duct that allows blood to bypass the lungs while in utero. Once born, it should close on its own. An echocardiogram showed that Will's PDA was moderate in size and was still open/not shrinking as it should within a couple days. He also had pulmonary hypertension (the blood pressure in his lungs was high, causing blood to want to take the "easy" low-pressure route via the PDA and not go to the lungs for oxygenation). This also caused the right side of his heart to grow faster than it should, since it had to work harder to pump blood to the lungs. The pulmonary hypertension could be a result of the PDA or even pneumonia, so he was also treated with antibiotics. While the PDA is still open (we will have another echo sometime this week), the pulmonary hypertension has resolved.

One concerned but grateful Mama:

Besides Will being placed on the vent on Day 2, I was was discharged from the hospital. I felt a lot better after this delivery than the first, but it sure felt wrong to leave the hospital without my baby!! :( It was sort of a "non-event" when we left that evening... but we're just thankful for a healthy Mama and a relatively healthy baby! The care in the NICU is obviously what he needs, it was just difficult to come home without our sweet Will!

Love,
Abby, Andy, John, Will, and Wayne-Dog :)