Amber was admitted to the OB triage. She and the baby were both monitored for a few hours. She was already at 2cm and some contractions began and were getting stronger. She was actually really close to being discharged when the baby's heart rate dropped for about a minute. That bought her a ticket to an overnight stay. There was discussion of a c-section at some point. The contractions continued to get stronger and just as she was going to be moved to a room, they noticed she was further dialated. At this point her doctor decided to do the c-section.
Due to a placental abruption, Milo was delivered at 36 weeks of gestation on May 7th at 7:15pm. He was whisked away to the NICU before we really got a chance to meet him. At first they thought his lungs were just immature, but it's been a roller coaster since then.
On May 8th, he wasn't getting better and began a course of antibiotics. He also had to be intubated and put on a ventilator. We were both able to hold him and Amber was even able to get some kangaroo care time in. We thought that things would be over soon.
On May 9th, things took a turn for the worse. Things were not improving with his lungs and it was suspected that he had pneumonia. They also found he was having circulatory problems. He had lines put into the blood vessels in his belly button in lieu of his IV. This meant we would no longer be able to hold him. He also had a couple of echocardiograms to find out what was going on with his heart. The results were an enlarged right ventricle and high blood pressure issues in the pulmonary arteries. We had a lot of information but no definitive cause. It was a really scary and bad day.
On May 10th, they did more echocardiograms and we got some more information about the circulatory problems. It was found that he had a coarctation of the aorta. It is a narrowing of the major artery supplying the body with blood. They also discovered his aortic valve has two flaps instead of three. This meant he would have to have surgery soon. It explained a lot of his problems but not why his lungs were doing so badly. Pneumonia was still suspected but was not explaining everything. Last night he was put on an oscillating ventilator because the oxygen levels were getting worse.
Today was a pretty good day. Now they suspect that amniotic fluid was inhaled at birth causing inflammation in the lungs. This is much less scary that an infection like pneumonia and should resolve itself within a week. It was determined that the coarctation needed surgery next week and will probably be scheduled for Friday, May 18th. His oxygen levels are improving slowly and he had the best blood gas measurement tonight! It seems that the doctors are on the right track. Every one of the doctors, nurses and technicians have been incredible! They are both extremely knowledgeable and very caring.
We are going to try to update this blog daily with his progress. Any good thoughts sent his way are greatly appreciated. We love our little Milo and can't wait to have him home with us and his big sister!
Ryan and Amber
Viv better watch out.... she has one tough little brother! I'm so sorry for this horrible time you and little Milo are going through... but in my heart, I just know he'll be fine and he'll be in your arms in no time! Love you all.
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