Together...

Sunday was a little rough. Matthew's breathing is becoming more rapid and labor intensive as pressure in his heart and lungs is starting to climb. His Doctors told us surgery Monday morning is a must at this point and can't be put off any longer. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am and is expected to last about 6 hours. Please keep our family in your prayers Monday morning.

My Son...

Matthew had another good day on Saturday. He ate well all day and Mom even got to nurse him for one feeding which clearly made them both feel pretty good.

We met with the surgeon on Saturday morning which made us feel better and worse at the same time. He went over the details of the surgery including how they were going to fix his hypoplastic aortic arch which is an additional defect we didn't know about until after he was born. We feel very comfortable with and confident in the surgeons that will be performing his surgery tomorrow morning. He did tell us that Matthew looks very good and he thinks he's a very good candidate for this surgery. We're still scared to death.

Cuddle Time...

Friday was a wonderful day. The feeding tube came back out early in the day and he ate very well for us at the 3 feedings we were there for. All of his stats continue to look good.

We were finally able to talk to the surgeon (through polite persistence - Thanks for the suggestion Danielle) and set up a time to meet with him Saturday morning to go over the details of the surgery. At this time, surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am.

We also got to hold Matthew for the first time since he's been in the NICU. Once we got him in our arms we wanted to hold him forever.

Eating Lunch...

Matthew had another good day on Thursday. All of his stats are right where they should be at this point. Although we still haven't talked to the surgeon, the cardiologist confirmed that unless something changes surgery will take place early Monday morning.

Aside from the upcoming surgery, our biggest concern at this point is his eating. The Doctors aren't sure how well his blood is circulating to his stomach so they are only allowing 10 ML of food at each feeding which is just enough to "feed his stomach" and keep it functioning correctly. The rest of his nutrition is coming through the IV inserted in his belly button.

Babies with heart defects will sometimes have a hard time eating because the sucking wears them down so quickly. Last night Matthew wasn't eating well so he had to have a feeding tube inserted in order to get the food into his stomach.

Good Day...

Matthew had a very good day on Wednesday and finally got to eat a little. He has an arterial line set up through his belly button so he's only allowed a little over 1 tablespoon of food every 3 hours. We're hoping to talk to his surgeon today to find out what our game plan will be.

He's Here!!

Matthew joined us at 11:01 a.m. yesterday after a long 14 hour labor. He weighed a whopping 7 pounds and 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. Amy is doing very well and Matthew looks absolutely incredible. He immediately brought tears to our eyes. A few hours before he was born our nurse came in and very seriously warned us that Amy would not be able to hold him and that when Matthew was born he would most likely look blue, he would be weak and limp and probably wouldn't have the energy to cry. Well, as you can see here, he came out as pink as he could be, took a deep breath and let out the loudest cry as if he were letting us know right away that he is here and he is going to be a fighter. Amy did get to hold him a few minutes before they took him to the Neonatal ICU. She will not get to hold him again until he gets off of the ventilator after surgery.

We were disappointed to find out late yesterday that Matthew's heart diagnosis was confirmed. He just looked so good at first that we thought God had granted us our miracle. Our little guy will likely have open heart surgery on Monday. Based on his roaring entry to this world it sure looks like he has enough fight in him to get through this surgery and get home with his Mom and Dad where he belongs.

Thank you for your prayers. They mean more than you could ever know. We'll update you again very soon.

Love, Craig & Amy