Micah's birth - a heart-wrenching experience

Three months ago I gave birth to my fifth child. My entire pregnancy was considered to be normal and every ultrasound that they did came back with results that were "great" and the baby looked "perfect." I remember several times, specifically, that the nurse would say "his heart looks very strong."

Waiting to hear him

My world stopped the evening that he was born. He wasn't breathing the right way. I still cringe when I think about it... I can hear him struggling with each breath. I can still see the room if I close my eyes.

At first they thought that his only problem was some trapped fluid in his lungs that weren't pushed out at birth (since I had a c-sec instead of a natural birth).

Nope.

I didn't get to hold him... He was rushed out of the room when she couldn't get it to clear up. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in a room, with no baby... My husband sends me this pic:

 

The first picture I got to see of my boy

We were told that there was a problem with his heart after they did an echo cardiogram. They transferred him to a hospital that could better handle his condition when he was 5 hours old... and as I was waiting in my room at the hospital, trying to get transferred myself, I got the call from the cardiologist that he was born with a major heart defect and that he would require THREE surgeries... THREE! :( He was born with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome and Tricuspid Atresia (Hypoplastic right heart syndrome is a condition where the right atrium and right ventricle are underdeveloped. Tricuspid atresia is a type of heart disease that is present at birth [congenital heart disease], in which the tricuspid heart valve is missing or abnormally developed. The defect blocks blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle). The following is a picture of one of his defects... but HRHS is so rare that I couldn't find a diagram of it.

Basically... if they hadn't caught his defect, Micah would have died between 4 and 10 days old when the hole (that all babies are born with) would have naturally closed. He was put on a medicine immediately that kept the hole open.

He was kept in the NICU until he was 10 days old and was transferred the day before his first open heart surgery.

Forgive how terrible I look... but here I am holding him at 3 days

At 11 days, he was operated on. We had so much support and love and prayer that my husband and I slept peacefully the night before, woke up in great moods, and were at complete peace during his entire surgery. My husband and I made the decision that we were going to leave it in God's hands and trust him... and that we were going to accept whatever the outcome. God is good. I didn't start crying until the surgeon came out with a huge smile on his face and said that the surgery went perfectly and that he was doing very well. I let it all out at that point :)

4 days post-op

Most babies are in the hospital for 2-3 weeks to recover... but not our boy! He was recovering at such a quick pace that they had to slow him down! He was off the ventilator, oxygen, chest tube, and some blood pressure stabilizers within 32 hours. Some of them he was off within a day.

Two days after surgery, finally able to hold him

 Micah was out of the hospital in SIX days. Our son is so strong.

The day before we brought him home

Out of respect for my husband, I haven't posted any pictures of his face. He prefers that we keep our children's faces off the public internet. Let me tell you - I'm dying to show off my kids lol but I will respect your wishes, honey.

Anyway - My baby boy is almost 14 weeks post-op now and has been home for almost 13 weeks. We just took him to his monthly cardiologist appt and found out that his next surgery will be this year (instead of Jan like we were expecting). He is going into the hospital this coming Tuesday to get a catheter put in the main artery in his groin and it will go up to his heart so they can take pictures and make sure that they are fully prepared for his next surgery (no surprises). We are a bit nervous because it is a bigger deal than we anticipated - they will be putting him under anesthesia for two hours and then will require 4-5 hours of recovery.

I will give updates as they come. And to those who pray - I would really appreciate them.

Our son is strong. Beyond strong. And we thank God for that. His name means "who is like God" - and I have to agree - he is a blessing and gives us hope and strength. Thank you, Jesus, for this miracle baby.