Now I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, but I'm just so obsessed with this little guy. I can't stop staring at him when he sleeps. I've taken so many pictures, its not even funny.
He'll be 5 months in two weeks and although this is my second child, it feels like its going by so fast. My first born is going to be 12 so its been a really long time since I've had the opportunity to nurture another life.
Isn't he just the cutest??
We've been very blessed. It has been a little stressful though. Not just the sleepless nights, which is the norm, but because of his condition. See he was born with a VSD, a PDA and leak in his little heart. If you're not familiar with those terms, a VSD is a Ventricular Septal Defect. That's a hole int he heart. Its a common heart defect that's present at birth (congenital). But his was detected about 8 weeks after he was born. The hole occurs in the wall that separates the heart's lower chambers (septum) and allows blood to pass from the left to the right side of the heart. The oxygen-rich blood then gets pumped back to the lungs instead of out of the body, causing the heart to work harder. It really sucks because this poor little guys breathes so heavy and fast and when you put your hand on his chest, you could feel his little heart beating really fast. In his case, its a small hole, but bi-weekly cardiologist visits are important so that he could be monitored with the hopes that the holes would close on their own and no surgery is needed.
Then there's the PDA a.k.a. Patent Ductus Arteriosus, an unclosed hole in the aorta. You see, before a baby is born, the fetus's blood does not need to go to the lungs to get oxygenated. The ductus arteriosus is a hole that allows the blood to skip the circulation to the lungs. However, when the baby is born, the blood must receive oxygen in the lungs and this hole is supposed to close. If the ductus arteriosus is still open, the blood may skip this necessary step of circulation. Hence, the open hole is called PDA. Thankfully, that hole is small as well. But it still needs to close and we're hoping, just like the other one, that it will close soon.
And last but not least, there's the leak in his heart. A leaky valve. The valves consist of flaps that open to let blood flow in one direction as it moves through the chambers of the heart. Then the valves close to keep blood from flowing backwards into the chamber it just left. Except the mitral valve, each valve typically has three flaps. The mitral valve has two valves. Any of the four valves can become leaky. This means that just after the heart squeezes and pumps blood forward, some blood will leak backward through the valve. Leaking through the valve is also called valve regurgitation.
At his last appointment, the doctor prescribed Lasix, its a diuretic. Its going to help with fluid retention and hopefully helps with his fast breathing and calm it down. This breathing fast doesn't help with his eating. He's a "little" little guy. Born weighing 5lbs 11oz and he's now just 11lbs. But lately, since taking the diuretic and the fact that the doctor suggested I supplement breastfeeding with some formula, I started giving him an organic one. I researched online for some really good formula and came across this article from Foodbabe's blog about choosing the right organic formula. The only one that had the least scariest chemicals and/or ingredients, was Baby's Only. He seems to like it and its been pretty smooth, so hopefully he'll start gaining more weight.
Besides all that stuff going on, he's such a little strong fighter. I'm so grateful for our little addition, and I'm looking forward to watching him grow. His sisters love him so much and they're so helpful. I try not to complain because complaining is so negative and although, what's going on with our son isn't the best thing happening, he's here, it could be so much worse, but it isn't it. You just have to play with the cards you are dealt with and make everything in your life the best that you can.
Thanks for reading.
