Daylen is scheduled for a heart cath on Feb 8th. I am beyond nervous, and hate the idea of going. Even though heart cath's give the cardiologists all the info they need about Daylen's heart, I wish he didn't have to go thru it. The risks associated with heart cath procedures are very low and rarely happen, but he's my precious baby and I hate him constantly being pricked and poked. We have to be there at 7am and I can't feed my little one after midnight. Are they kidding me???? I am going to go insane, especially because I have to do this alone. My fiance works til 6am so he will be meeting us up there afterwards.
The procedure should only take an hour or two, and he will be staying at St. Vincent over night for 24 hrs. I don't like that idea either. My baby is very demanding, and very particular about how he wants to be handled and he looooovvves watching tv! I wish I could stay there for the whole 24 hrs but I have class tuesday night at 6 pm. :(
Daylen's second surgery is coming up. After the doctors get the cardio pics they want, they will determine from that when his next surgery will be. My guess would be in April (making him 5 months old). Let's see if i'm correct!
<3
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
National Wear Red Day!
Today is National Wear Red Day so we are doing just that! Although this day is mostly set up to support women and heart health, there are many many others battling with heart disease! Please wear red to show that you are aware of heart disease!
Awareness = Education....Educatin = Research....Research = Hope!!
Feb 4th - National Wear Red Day
Feb 7th thru 14th - CHD Awareness week
Feb 14th - CHD awareness day
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Reaching milestones!
SUCH A BIG BOY!
This little man continues to make me smile every day! Even though I feel like I don't have all the time in the world to dedicate to mommy and baby time, my little boy is growing and developing just on time! Baby D hates tummy time but he loves sitting and watching spongebob! At 12 weeks old, he is holding his head up just fine, he can start to see objects that are across the room, he turns his head side to side, can roll from his side to back, and he sure has found out how to laugh! The only thing I'm having trouble with is getting him to grasp things. I'm not exactly sure what age they start to grab things, but Daylen always has fists (he's not colicky) and never really wants to open them unless he's sleeping or relaxing on someone's lap. He uses his fist to hit things when he's in his swing or bouncer, so I know at least he knows he can touch things with his hands. I'm just going to be patient and hope he starts to be less tense!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Picture day! :) 1 month!
This is Daylen at 7 weeks old (for his 1 month pictures)
He was so alert and wanted to talk to the photographer!
2nd visit with cardiac pediatrician
Daylen had his 2nd routine visit with the cardiac pediatrician since his open heart surgery. Everything is looking great! His SAT levels were 75 and his shunt was looking healthy! He weighed 9lbs 9 oz and the doctor joked about Daylen possibly outgrowing his next surgery! ;)
Daylen is scheduled for another heart catheterization on Feb 8th, 2011. This will help doctors get better pictures of his heart so they can figure out when his 2nd surgery should take place.
Daylen is scheduled for another heart catheterization on Feb 8th, 2011. This will help doctors get better pictures of his heart so they can figure out when his 2nd surgery should take place.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
1st pediatric appointment!
I love the pediatric office that I go to! They treated Daylen just like the special boy that he is. As soon as we arrived, they put us in our room so that Daylen didn't catch any sickness from the waiting room! They touched him as little as possible when doing his check up and they let us do all the handling!
Daylen is almost back up to his birth weight!! He weighs 7lbs and 7 oz right now! :) They said he should be gaining about an oz a day right now and that is basically what he's gaining so hopefully he continues to do well so we won't have to have extra help from outsiders!
I think Daylen may have left the office with a few new girlfriends ;)
Daylen is almost back up to his birth weight!! He weighs 7lbs and 7 oz right now! :) They said he should be gaining about an oz a day right now and that is basically what he's gaining so hopefully he continues to do well so we won't have to have extra help from outsiders!
I think Daylen may have left the office with a few new girlfriends ;)
1st week home!
Daylen is such a precious gift! He has came a long way into this world and already endured more than what most adults do in their life time. I appreciate him that much more for it, and I thank God every day that I have with him. :)
Daylen is definitely a ball of attitude! He knows what he wants and he screams until we figure it out! He loves eating! Right now we feed him every 3 hours since that is the schedule that the hospital had him on but i'm hoping he starts sleeping longer between feedings! He went home eating almost 2 oz per feeding, and now he's up to about 3 oz! He struggles to put that amount down every feeding but he's doing great overall! The little guy HATES being gasy and the only thing I can do is to continue using Dr. Brown's baby bottles for caulic (since those babies are fussy from gas and such, I figured it would work) and they really do an awesome job for the most part!
Daylen is definitely a screamer, and a loud one!! At first I was really frustrated with him when he screamed because it seemed like it happened all the time, plus I had not been used to his schedule so the lack of sleep was catching up to me! I have since figured out to sleep when he sleeps instead of sitting there and starring at him like a hawk to make sure he still okay every second of the day! I also figured out to stop using the tiny hospital bottles and to only use those when giving him his medicines every 12 hrs.
I love watching him sleep! He sleeps so comfortably and he looks so happy when he sleeps :) its precious!
Daylen is definitely a ball of attitude! He knows what he wants and he screams until we figure it out! He loves eating! Right now we feed him every 3 hours since that is the schedule that the hospital had him on but i'm hoping he starts sleeping longer between feedings! He went home eating almost 2 oz per feeding, and now he's up to about 3 oz! He struggles to put that amount down every feeding but he's doing great overall! The little guy HATES being gasy and the only thing I can do is to continue using Dr. Brown's baby bottles for caulic (since those babies are fussy from gas and such, I figured it would work) and they really do an awesome job for the most part!
Daylen is definitely a screamer, and a loud one!! At first I was really frustrated with him when he screamed because it seemed like it happened all the time, plus I had not been used to his schedule so the lack of sleep was catching up to me! I have since figured out to sleep when he sleeps instead of sitting there and starring at him like a hawk to make sure he still okay every second of the day! I also figured out to stop using the tiny hospital bottles and to only use those when giving him his medicines every 12 hrs.
I love watching him sleep! He sleeps so comfortably and he looks so happy when he sleeps :) its precious!
Friday, November 19, 2010
1st Surgery
Daylen was scheduled to go home around the 18th of November, but Daylen decided he had other plans that day. After removing his PICC line that morning, Daylen started having breathing problems shortly after and his oxygen saturation levels dropped to the 40's. They gave him oxygen in order to get his levels back up and to help him breath and he seemed to do fine after that. Once again, Daylen had another episode that morning and needed help breathing again, with sat levels staying in the 40's and 50's.
We got the wake up call from the NICU doctor saying the cardio team has decided to go ahead and do surgery that day. Daylen was transported to the main hospital at 12:30 and his surgery started at 1:25. The procedure was very short, lasting only 1 hour. A central shunt was placed in his heart, and he wasn't put on the heart-lung machine so that was very encouraging!
Daylen will be in the PICU for 3-4 days for his recovery, then sent back to NICU until he is ready to go home.
We got the wake up call from the NICU doctor saying the cardio team has decided to go ahead and do surgery that day. Daylen was transported to the main hospital at 12:30 and his surgery started at 1:25. The procedure was very short, lasting only 1 hour. A central shunt was placed in his heart, and he wasn't put on the heart-lung machine so that was very encouraging!
Daylen will be in the PICU for 3-4 days for his recovery, then sent back to NICU until he is ready to go home.
Bless his little heart :(
Heart Catheterization
Daylen had to get a heart catheterization on monday November 15th, 2010. This procedure involved placing a catheter into vessels of the heart and releasing a dye so that the cardiologists could see where the blood went and how Daylen's heart was working.
We were informed that the extra artery coming out of Daylen's right ventricle was indeed pumping blood into the arteries that supplied his lungs with oxygen rich blood. They also figured out that his PDA was acting as an actual artery and they didn't think his PDA would ever close like it was supposed to. Another thing that they had found was the arteries going to his lungs were more narrow than usual. With all this said, they expected he would be find without the first surgery and that if he needed surgery at all, it wouldn't be the Norwood surgery. They were going to keep him for a few more days just to watch his breathing, feed him some milk finally, and then send him packing hoping to see him in 6-9 months for the hemi fontan.
We were informed that the extra artery coming out of Daylen's right ventricle was indeed pumping blood into the arteries that supplied his lungs with oxygen rich blood. They also figured out that his PDA was acting as an actual artery and they didn't think his PDA would ever close like it was supposed to. Another thing that they had found was the arteries going to his lungs were more narrow than usual. With all this said, they expected he would be find without the first surgery and that if he needed surgery at all, it wouldn't be the Norwood surgery. They were going to keep him for a few more days just to watch his breathing, feed him some milk finally, and then send him packing hoping to see him in 6-9 months for the hemi fontan.
Double Artery
After Daylen was born, cardiologists performed a few echo's on him to try and figure out the anatomy of his heart. He was getting extra oxygen to his lungs, and the doctors couldn't figure out where it was coming from. They established that he may not actually be a true hypoplastic and that his heart had an extra artery. Daylen's saturation levels were in the mid 80's for the first few days of life.
We were happy to know that his heart was better off than what we had expected thru-out the whole pregnancy.
We were happy to know that his heart was better off than what we had expected thru-out the whole pregnancy.
Birth Day!! :)
Daylen Lee Foster was born 11-11-10 at 1:55 a.m.!
He weighed 7 lbs and 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Last and final ultrasound!
We had our last and final ultrasound today and at 37 weeks and 1 day, Daylen has reached 7lbs and 1 oz! He still has 2 weeks to go so he will be the perfect healthy size for surgery! I am relieved to know that he has gained so much since last time but this explains why i'm having trouble getting comfortable at night!! oh the pregnancy joys! :)
At my last check up with my regular OB last week, they had checked my cervix and found that it hadn't done anything so far...However.... We discovered today that Daylen has finally dropped so there has been some progression! I've been experiencing lots of sharp stabbing pains so hopefully things are starting to take its natural course!
At my last check up with my regular OB last week, they had checked my cervix and found that it hadn't done anything so far...However.... We discovered today that Daylen has finally dropped so there has been some progression! I've been experiencing lots of sharp stabbing pains so hopefully things are starting to take its natural course!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Growth & Development
As of week 34, Daylen weighs 4 lbs and 13 oz and has a little more than 4 weeks to go until he says hello to the world! Joy! As noted before, Daylen had been 8 oz bigger due to my gestational diabetes, but since I have been on a diet plan, he is back at the weight that he should be during his gestational period. Thats a good thing! I'm guessing he's going to be about 7 lbs when he is born as long as I stick to my diet! The ultrasound tech tried showing us another 4D of his face, but Daylen is face down in my womb so the most we could see was the side of his face again.
The next growth and development session will be in 3 weeks so I can't wait to see how my lil monster has grown!
The next growth and development session will be in 3 weeks so I can't wait to see how my lil monster has grown!
Last Echocardiogram
During our last echocardiogram, the cardiologist showed us the significant difference between his left and right chambers, and from what we saw - his left chamber is so small and barely exists! The mitral valve is closed and not functioning. The second artery that was found on the last echo that comes out of right chamber may have a reverse blood flow but it is not exactly known yet.
Once Daylen is born, he will have an echo done on him by the cardiologists and he will have tests ran on him to see what his oxygen levels are. We are still hoping that the 2nd artery is a good thing!
Once Daylen is born, he will have an echo done on him by the cardiologists and he will have tests ran on him to see what his oxygen levels are. We are still hoping that the 2nd artery is a good thing!
Meeting the Heart Surgeon
Today we met the heart surgeon who will be performing the surgery on Daylen. He went over the diagnosis and explained to us the basics of it just like every other person on the heart team has done. It's good that we constantly get re-educated on this syndrome because it helps put us at second nature with it. The surgeon was really easy going and made me feel good rather than sad about this entire situation. Since my induction date is November 10th, the surgery will most likely be on that following Monday. So lets hope that baby Daylen can hold out until then!
PICU Tour
Today we had the chance to take a tour of the PICU over in the Peyton Manning's Children Hospital at St. Vincent. While in the PICU, we caught a glimpse of a newly born HLHS baby right after surgery. The amount of tubes and IV's that were hanging out of this baby was really overwhelming to see. I have never seen so many tubes coming out of such a little person! I am not really sure if I am ready to see that on my own baby. It's a sad sight.
When Daylen goes into the PICU after surgery, only two people will be allowed at a time to see him, and unfortunately for friends and extended family, only the parents of Dave and I will be able to see him while he's in the PICU. The PICU stay is anywhere up to 10 days. After this, he will be moved back to the NICU for the rest of his recovery where a selected number of friends and family can come see him.
When Daylen goes into the PICU after surgery, only two people will be allowed at a time to see him, and unfortunately for friends and extended family, only the parents of Dave and I will be able to see him while he's in the PICU. The PICU stay is anywhere up to 10 days. After this, he will be moved back to the NICU for the rest of his recovery where a selected number of friends and family can come see him.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Staying Healthy!
Here is lil baby Daylen in mommy's tummy @ 31 weeks!
Had a recent ob/gyn appointment, and my blood pressure is great, and my tummy is measuring a week ahead! The doctor took a look at my glucose log book (only had a few days written down) and mentioned if I don't get my sugars down then they will be putting me on pills or insulin shots next time I see him! Good thing I have figured out how to keep my sugar below 120 for the most part, with no ketones in my system! It's a task, but I can manage the low carb diet for 8 or less more weeks!
Daylen seems more active than usual! Seems like he is never sleeping anymore, and just loves to bug mommy with weird alien-like movements! :P
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The NICU tour
The neonatal intensive care unit at St. Vincent Women's hospital.....
Touring the NICU was quite an experience! We were taken through the units on both levels at the hospital and we were able to see how it was set up, the security of the NICU, and how many staff members are there taking care of the babies! Most of the babies that we saw in there were premature babies, but a few had been through surgery. We were also shown the operating room in which I will be delivering Daylen in. Kind of nerve racking to see the bed and all of the machines and set up. The good thing is, we can take pictures of Daylen after delivery so we will be sure to upload them as soon as possible!
Meeting baby Joshua.....
Baby Joshua was 3 weeks old at the time of getting to meet him at the NICU tour. He is a HLHS baby, and he looked great for being so soon out of surgery! We were told he has been one of the better babies that have dealt with open heart surgery. I hope Daylen's luck is just the same! Baby Joshua was a little loopy from the medication, but his color and all looked great! His mother, who also has a blog on here, showed us his scar and drainage tube, and his scar did not look bad at all! I was thinking the scars would look terribly gross after surgery, but they actually don't! What a relief!
Here is the blog site where you can read about baby Joshua! http://fierceandfiesty.blogspot.com/
Touring the NICU was quite an experience! We were taken through the units on both levels at the hospital and we were able to see how it was set up, the security of the NICU, and how many staff members are there taking care of the babies! Most of the babies that we saw in there were premature babies, but a few had been through surgery. We were also shown the operating room in which I will be delivering Daylen in. Kind of nerve racking to see the bed and all of the machines and set up. The good thing is, we can take pictures of Daylen after delivery so we will be sure to upload them as soon as possible!
Meeting baby Joshua.....
Baby Joshua was 3 weeks old at the time of getting to meet him at the NICU tour. He is a HLHS baby, and he looked great for being so soon out of surgery! We were told he has been one of the better babies that have dealt with open heart surgery. I hope Daylen's luck is just the same! Baby Joshua was a little loopy from the medication, but his color and all looked great! His mother, who also has a blog on here, showed us his scar and drainage tube, and his scar did not look bad at all! I was thinking the scars would look terribly gross after surgery, but they actually don't! What a relief!
Here is the blog site where you can read about baby Joshua! http://fierceandfiesty.blogspot.com/
Third echocardiogram (28w 6d)
We had a third echocardiogram at St. Vincent Women's hospital with the fetal cardiologist, but before we had our echo done, they check his growth and development! To our surprise, we were able to see him through 4D images, and it almost brought tears to my eyes! It was absolutely amazing! We also learned that he was measuring almost an entire week ahead of schedule! His weight was 2lb and 14oz which is almost a half pound more than the average baby during this week.
The cardiologist met with us, and this time they may have discovered something else that makes his heart more unique. He wasn't 100% positive on this, but as mentioned before, they won't exactly know the anatomy of his heart until he is born. The cardiologist thinks there might be 2 arteries coming out of the right working ventricle, this could possibly mean that his lungs might get enough blood pumped to the lungs. This could also possibly mean that one of the 3 surgeries could be eliminated. We aren't holding him to this because he says they won't know for sure until they can do an actual echo after he's born, but how awesome would that be for Daylen to possibly only have 2 surgeries. It gives us a little more hope!
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