I went in to be induced on Tuesday April 18th at 1pm, thinking I was going to have a baby that day. Can I just say how much I hated begin induced? Anyways, after being on Pitocin for what seemed like my entire life she finally came into the world at 9:30am on Wednesday April 19th. When I delivered miss Holland there were 11 doctors in the room waiting. They had prepared me and said that she may come out blue, but she wasn't!! She looked amazing and even scored a 9 on the Apgar scale. Right then and there I knew she was a little champ. They let Devin hold her for a min, and he brought her over to me and laid her down on my chest and I got to give her a kiss!. It's amazing to me how calm I felt during all of this. Even after they took her to the NICU (Devin went with her) and I was alone, I felt so much peace and comfort. It's like from the second she were born I just knew that although this road was going to be a long one, that she was going to be fine. After a few minutes Devin returned since they were putting a few lines in through Hollands Belly Button for food. He told me how perfect she looked and how great she was doing! I was finally able to go down to the NICU and see her a few hours later. She looked amazing! We were able to sit down and talked with Dr Salem (Cardiologist) and found out that her heart was actually worse than they had initially thought. Both of us were in shock. It was so hard to hear especially when she looked so good! Her diagnosis came back as transposition of the greater arteries (switched arteries) with tricuspid atresia(non working tricuspid valve), pulmonary atresia(non working pulmonary valve), a large VSD(hole), a missing Septal wall, and an underdeveloped right ventricle. They sum all of that fanciness up by just saying Hypoplastic Right Heart.... Meaning the right side of your heart didn't really develop and doesn't function properly. We were absolutely terrified. How could our perfect looking little baby have such a broken heart?
Everyone when they are born has a small artery in their heart called the PDA that dissolves soon after birth. It is present in the womb to help mix the blood but is not needed after a baby is breathing on their own. There is a medication called prostaglandins that can be given that will actually keep this ductus open. So soon after birth they started you on prostaglandins to keep that ductus open to allow more mixture of your blood in hopes to keep your oxygen levels up. And it worked! While she were on the PGE her levels stayed up around 98. The only problem is, that this medication is only in IV form and has to be given continuously to work, meaning Holland would not be able to come home as long as she was still on it. After a day or two of being on the PGE and the Drs monitoring her we walked in one morning to find she wasn't on medication anymore! Amazingly enough after a second look at her heart they discovered she didn't have pulmonary atresia like they first thought! This was huge miracle for us because basically this meant that her pulmonary valve was working, and that there was some blood flow to the lungs, which would allow for blood to be oxygenated! And since there was blood flow going to the lungs, they wanted to see how high she could keep her oxygen levels up all on her own in hopes to avoid a surgery and get her home. This was amazing news! We were both ecstatic and appreciated that the Doctors were trying everything possible to keep her from surgery. It was also such a huge miracle to us... Just one of the many miracles we have seen in her life so far. She was off the PGE for two days and managed to keep her oxygen up all on her own before it started to drop. It was a Sunday morning... And we walked in to find Holland back on medication. It took everything in me not to break down and cry. We were so hopeful that she was going to be able to maintain it all on her own, and this meant she would have to have surgery. So this was definitely a hard day.
I remember that day being a very hard day for me. I remember feeling sad for my sweet baby in the NICU. I remember feeling torn that I couldn't be with both my kids at the same time. I remember crying because I wasn't able to hold my daughter. And I remember telling Devin how I hated trying to act so strong all the time when all I really wanted to do was cry. The next day was Monday and when we walked in the NICU we were fully expecting to meet with Hollands Doctors and make a plan for surgery... Except when we walked in, we instead found her off medication again! We met with her doctors and they wanted to give her one more shot off medication before jumping into surgery. We were thrilled! I remember laughing that day for the first time. And I tried my very first Fatburger that day. It was a good day!
The next week of our lives basically consisted of monitoring Holland off PGE to see if she could keep your oxygen levels up. One of us would sit and play with Krew and the other would be in the NICU with you, then we would switch. You kept your oxygen up all on your own a whole week before having to go back on PGE again. At one point they had even started to prepare us for discharge because she had been off PGE for so many hours and her levels were still good, but once again, they dropped and you had to be put back on medication. It was a Sunday again, and another really hard day for us.
On Monday we talked with Dr Salem who gave us two options for surgery. Either the standard open heart surgery, or a newer heart catheter surgery. Both with their own risks and benefits. Both of us prayed about it and felt the heart catheter surgery, although a little newer and not as standard, was the best option for us. We were blessed enough to live so close to LA where these types of procedures are being done, and we felt like that was for a reason, and that we needed to take advantage if it. Holland had your first Surgery on Tuesday April 1st to place a small shunt in your heart to keep that ductus open without needing any medication and she did amazing! We are so grateful for Dr Salem who performed the surgery and for our amazing nurse Nilda who got us through that day! It was a long day, but a happy day. Because this surgery was way less invasive (and because she is such a great eater) we were able to come home on Friday April 4th! We can't thank enough all the amazing friends and family who helped support us through these crazy weeks. And for the a Ronald McDonald house for allowing us to stay so close to the hospital and our daughter. I honestly left the hospital with such a full heart, I felt so blessed! I know our loving Heavenly Father was watching out for our whole family during time. And continues to watch over us and our sweet Holland. As of right now Hollands first open heart Surgery will be in the Fall when she is about 6 months old. This surgery will actually start to reconstruct and repair her heart.
Everyone when they are born has a small artery in their heart called the PDA that dissolves soon after birth. It is present in the womb to help mix the blood but is not needed after a baby is breathing on their own. There is a medication called prostaglandins that can be given that will actually keep this ductus open. So soon after birth they started you on prostaglandins to keep that ductus open to allow more mixture of your blood in hopes to keep your oxygen levels up. And it worked! While she were on the PGE her levels stayed up around 98. The only problem is, that this medication is only in IV form and has to be given continuously to work, meaning Holland would not be able to come home as long as she was still on it. After a day or two of being on the PGE and the Drs monitoring her we walked in one morning to find she wasn't on medication anymore! Amazingly enough after a second look at her heart they discovered she didn't have pulmonary atresia like they first thought! This was huge miracle for us because basically this meant that her pulmonary valve was working, and that there was some blood flow to the lungs, which would allow for blood to be oxygenated! And since there was blood flow going to the lungs, they wanted to see how high she could keep her oxygen levels up all on her own in hopes to avoid a surgery and get her home. This was amazing news! We were both ecstatic and appreciated that the Doctors were trying everything possible to keep her from surgery. It was also such a huge miracle to us... Just one of the many miracles we have seen in her life so far. She was off the PGE for two days and managed to keep her oxygen up all on her own before it started to drop. It was a Sunday morning... And we walked in to find Holland back on medication. It took everything in me not to break down and cry. We were so hopeful that she was going to be able to maintain it all on her own, and this meant she would have to have surgery. So this was definitely a hard day.
I remember that day being a very hard day for me. I remember feeling sad for my sweet baby in the NICU. I remember feeling torn that I couldn't be with both my kids at the same time. I remember crying because I wasn't able to hold my daughter. And I remember telling Devin how I hated trying to act so strong all the time when all I really wanted to do was cry. The next day was Monday and when we walked in the NICU we were fully expecting to meet with Hollands Doctors and make a plan for surgery... Except when we walked in, we instead found her off medication again! We met with her doctors and they wanted to give her one more shot off medication before jumping into surgery. We were thrilled! I remember laughing that day for the first time. And I tried my very first Fatburger that day. It was a good day!
The next week of our lives basically consisted of monitoring Holland off PGE to see if she could keep your oxygen levels up. One of us would sit and play with Krew and the other would be in the NICU with you, then we would switch. You kept your oxygen up all on your own a whole week before having to go back on PGE again. At one point they had even started to prepare us for discharge because she had been off PGE for so many hours and her levels were still good, but once again, they dropped and you had to be put back on medication. It was a Sunday again, and another really hard day for us.
On Monday we talked with Dr Salem who gave us two options for surgery. Either the standard open heart surgery, or a newer heart catheter surgery. Both with their own risks and benefits. Both of us prayed about it and felt the heart catheter surgery, although a little newer and not as standard, was the best option for us. We were blessed enough to live so close to LA where these types of procedures are being done, and we felt like that was for a reason, and that we needed to take advantage if it. Holland had your first Surgery on Tuesday April 1st to place a small shunt in your heart to keep that ductus open without needing any medication and she did amazing! We are so grateful for Dr Salem who performed the surgery and for our amazing nurse Nilda who got us through that day! It was a long day, but a happy day. Because this surgery was way less invasive (and because she is such a great eater) we were able to come home on Friday April 4th! We can't thank enough all the amazing friends and family who helped support us through these crazy weeks. And for the a Ronald McDonald house for allowing us to stay so close to the hospital and our daughter. I honestly left the hospital with such a full heart, I felt so blessed! I know our loving Heavenly Father was watching out for our whole family during time. And continues to watch over us and our sweet Holland. As of right now Hollands first open heart Surgery will be in the Fall when she is about 6 months old. This surgery will actually start to reconstruct and repair her heart.
