Arcanis wrote:The good:
Well the latest kraken spawn has entered it larval state. Karleigh Jean Trahan popped out in only a half hour of pushing just before 5:30 tonight. She weighed in at 7 lb 13 oz and was 19.25 inches long.
The Scary:
When we were moving from the delivery room to our post delivery room my fiancee & I's roommate stopped me as they carted my fiancee away. She told me that they had been looking at Karleigh and took x-rays and that they took her BP on all 4 limbs with one side being lower than the other. This short blurb was enough to make my heart sink. I immediately had a thousand thoughts of what it could be and the heartache one of our fellow OOers went through only a few months ago. I had to suck it up because i knew my fiancee had just been through hell and was in tons of pain and would panic at any bad news.
The Bad:
After they had settled my fiancee in the room while i waited outside the NP went in and was about to talk to her. They realized i was outside and let me in but not anyone else that was there. The NP informed us that she has a heart murmur and low oxygen count. When she was coming out the cord was wrapped around her neck and they think that is the cause of the problems and not to be worried. They moved Karleigh to the NICU to be able to observe her as the normal nursery would be inadequate with its higher baby to nurse ratio. So now I'm sitting here waiting for an update on what is going on with our little girl and haven't really slept in about 2 days. My fiancee is in pain from her epidural (back pain like a slipped disk), my little girl is having heart problems, and there is nothing i can do to help either of them. The country song about tough little boys growing up to be dads turn into babies is so true.
Since i know i'm really not going to sleep much tonight i'll try and post some pics and any updates i hear.
Arcanis wrote:thanks for the well wishes guys. I know there is nothing i can do and that i really shouldn't be that worried, but its my baby girl so i'm gonna worry.
But now Pics:
first family photo:
Arcanis wrote:as i hit submit on my last post the NICU doctor came in and told us there is something wrong with her heart. we won't know anything more for a while. the cardiologist is on their way.
miltonite wrote:Just talked to Brian (Arcanis). There is a hole in her heart and if I understood correctly the Aorta and Pulmonary artery are switched.
They are transferring her to the children's hospital in New Orleans now. Me Brian and his fiance are going to be heading that way as soon as mom can go. Keep Karleigh in your prayers and pass the word along if you can. The more prayers the better.
miltonite wrote:Update:
Just got a text message from Arcanis, the prognosis is a "double inlet left ventricle".
I'll try and post updates to her condition here so that we don't take over the Fathers thread. I wanted to this early in the morning but i barely remember walking into the room before i was asleep and today has been hectic.
Last edited by Arcanis on Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:36 pm, edited 3 times in total.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."--George Orwell
Karleigh has the double inlet left ventricle as well as pulmonary stenosis. The articles are thanks to a friend of ours that works in the hospital we are at now. She also has a hole in her heart but that is a good thing right now. They said the hole is keeping the blood from flowing in a small circle and preventing the back flow from the stenosis from causing problems.
Today they took her off of the heart medication she was put on before they knew what was wrong. With that she was able to come off of the ventilator, the heart medication interferes with her breathing. Tomorrow they will try and feed her rather than everything being done by IV. My fiancee is recovering well and will be released in the morning. From the looks of it we will be headed to New Orleans for lunch time and hopefully have a room in the Ronald McDonald house.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."--George Orwell
My thoughts are with you and your family. Good luck to Karleigh.
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You have a beautiful child. I hope you and the lady can enjoy sometime with her and hopefully the hospital can give her the care she deserves. Be strong and take care in these times.
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I skimmed through the reading links, and it seems as if there is hope and it looks like it can be corrected and she can lead a normal life. Good luck, best wishes, and hope it works out for your family.
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Thanks again for all of the well wishes and prayers guys. We are fortunate to have my family and so many friends just waiting for us to tell them what needs to be done. There is hope and i'm feeling really good about Karleigh being able to be a happy healthy child once her heart is fixed. It should be 2-4 surgeries. The only limitation i see is that she likely won't be able to play sports so i can deal with that.
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As I said before We're thinking of you, your Fiance, and of course Karleigh. Having a diagnosis and know what you are up against is always a big step, now plans can be made to fix/manage the problem.
BTW, Karleigh's gorgeous! Grats and Level UP!
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Congratulations to you, Arcanis, and your fiance on your new baby! I hope this is but a minor obstacle for her and all of you and that she continues to make progress.
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Congrats on the new baby Brian and thanks for updating us. I will be sending positive thoughts your way, it sounds like things are hopefully moving in the right direction now.
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the little woman and I are on our way to NO now, the benefits of being a geek allow me to post while on the road . Karleigh ate on her own today and knocked out 10 cc of formula and should be eating another 10 cc now. They have removed her umbilical IVs so we now officially have a cordless baby and my fiancee can hold her again, she was really upset because she only got a few seconds to hold her before getting sick and needing someone else to take her.
We just found out we will be able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house for our stay there as well. The fears and stress have subsided enough that we can finally relax some for now. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and prayers, Karleigh has to be the most prayed for individual in the world right now.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."--George Orwell
Missed this the first time, thanks for posting the update. Best of luck to baby Karleigh, who is very beautiful! Take care of yourself and your fiancee during this time of stress, and know that we're all thinking of you and sending good thoughts and prayers your way.
The good vibes, well wishes, and prayers are getting things done. It looks like we will be taking Karleigh home Saturday. She will still need surgery in a few months once her heart can't keep up with the O2 demands of her body as it currently is and a 2nd surgery a couple of years down the road as well to repeat the process.
In short the will bypass her heart for blood to get to the lungs. Normally after blood makes the round trip through the body it goes though half the heart to be sent to the lungs and then returns to the other half of the heart to go to the body. In Karleigh's case all of the blood is going to the chamber that goes to the body but the hole between the chambers has allowed it to flow out to the lungs as well. After her surgery they will have one of the return flows of blood go strait to the lungs and close off the flow to the lungs from the heart and allow the oxygenated blood and de-ox. blood to mix and head out into the body. On her second surgery, which will be around 2-3 years, they will bypass the 2nd main return to the lungs so all of the blood is being oxygenated. It won't be the most efficient system and she will get tired pretty easy but should be fine.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."--George Orwell
Excellent.....the time of infant corruption draws nearer.
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Congrats on the good news. My brother's baby had to have surgery at around 8 months, and my wife had surgery when she was about 2. Different conditions for each of them, of course, but while surgery's always scary but FWIW it's not all that unusual (and also FWIW both were fine).
Despite my best efforts i couldn't get them to throw in bionic hearing, sight, or super strength. Thought it may be a good idea to leave that last one off until after the terrible twos.
and here is one i figure you guys will like:
what can i say when it is nap time it is nap time.
for those who are interested in lots of pictures, or who have wives who just want to see baby pictures, our web site has a link to the photo albums. BandKricket.com at the bottom of the page is the link to all the pictures we have so far.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."--George Orwell
. Karleigh ate on her own today and knocked out 10 cc of formula and should be eating another 10 cc now. They have removed her umbilical IVs so we now officially have a cordless baby and my fiancee can hold her again, she was really upset because she only got a few seconds to hold her before getting sick and needing someone else to take her.
