Progress

The last few days have been more than exciting. He has exceeded our expectations, yet again. Yesterday they weaned him from his oxygen, no more nasal cannula!! They also took off an IV that was attatched to his hand. They discontinued one of his Co2 monitors and changed his blood gas checks to every 8 hours, which used to be every 4. The blood gas checks check his Co2 levels. He is on the most minimal amount of assistance he could be on. He is on his prostiglandin, which he will not be able to wean off until after his surgery, as it is keeping his hole open and keeping him alive. He gets an IV of lipids and fluids, along with fats and heparin (a blood thinner). It is great to see him with only a few cords and lines on him. He has become slighly jaundice, but not enough to be concerned about.

Last night when we went to visit we were at the right place at the right time. His nurse was just about to change his bedding, so we were able to assist. I got to hold my baby! I was allowed to lift him up while the nurse changed his blankets. He was fussy until he was in my arms, he settled right down, didn't make a peep and just laid there. It was beyond incredible.

We were informed yesterday that they were going to start feeding him today, just small amounts to make sure his digestive system can handle it, but feeding him, none the less. When we got there today we were told what time they would start and we made sure we were back in time. She had just finished doing his care and had the tiny bottle ready with 2ml of my breast milk in it. She instructed Jake on how to hold him to feed, and he went at it. Logan ate like he has known how to for years. He sucked the bottle dry in a matter of seconds. If he is anything like his big brother is will have quite the appetite! Judging by his performance he certainly does! He is such a sweet boy, we are so in love.

We stayed at the Ronald McDonald house last night, and I cannot say enough good things about it. It is simply an incredible place for families in any type of stressful situation far from home. The room was nicer than some hotels we have stayed in. The bed was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. Jake and I slept more last night than we have in the last 3 days. We needed it and it was amazing. We felt renewed and ready for the day. We will be staying there at least one more night before we head to Rochester, which, once we are there we will utilize the R. M. House the whole time.

We came home tonight to be with Corbin. Although we cannot do much for Logan, it is really hard to be away from him. Spending time with Corbin really takes my mind off of things, but once in a while, when he slows down, my mind gets the best of me. I was just pregnant for 9 months, and now I am home, not pregnant, empty handed. It made me feel so empty even though I am surrounded by my beautiful family. He should be home with us, we should be adjusting to the new lifestyle he has yet to bring. Corbin should have met his little brother by now. There is nothing we can do. Despite all of the great news and progress we have with our amazing little heart warrior it is still a hard situation, obviously. We are staying as strong as we can, taking it one day at a time, because that is all we can do.

I can't imagine, or at least I hope, we won't have many more updates until he goes to Rochester. Hopefully he stays stable and continues to eat without any issues and I don't have to fill you in on anything new. Unless it is good, of course. Here are some pictures of our momentous moments.

Ultrasound

Well, we had our meeting with our new high risk doctors today,  and the wait time in that office is terrible. That will be fun to deal with the rest of the pregnancy. We had an ultrasound first. The tech was super friendly and explained everything to us as she looked at it and took pictures. It was nice to be informed that all of his internal organs were there and normal. She looked at of his heart for a long time, so they can have a better idea of what they are dealing with since they are our new providers.  She had some trouble with the orientation of the heart and seemed confused but we all laughed it off and made jokes about it.
Once we were done we were sent back to the waiting room to wait for the doctor. Eventually we were called back. We sat down and waited, optimistically. She came in and introduced herself, she asked what our understanding was of what was going on. We briefly explained our viewpoint. She then explained that sometimes heart defects can be secondary to other defects. We were then told that everything else looks good. We were relieved!
However, his heart is on the wrong side of his body. Instead of being on the left side, it's oriented on the right side. A mirror image, is how it was explained. A very rare anomaly.  She explained that typically this doesn't pose any immediate threats to the baby. Thankfully. We will learn more about it on June 3rd when we have another echo and meet with the cardiologists.
We are expecting to be induced at 39 weeks.

I'll update more after our June 3rd appt.