Chapter 7: Our Journey to the Cath Lab

Alexander did well with the procedure yesterday. He tolerated the anesthesia without a problem. Some good news, they did not do the stent placement because when looking at the cath pictures the surgeon felt there is enough main pulmonary artery to do a full repair. We are tentatively scheduled for Wednesday. It was otherwise a pretty uneventful day. Alexander spent most of the day sleeping after the anesthesia. We moved from our private room to a POD. A little more tight quarters now, but now we can get sleep rooms at night and a locker. Enjoy some pictures!

Peek A Boo!

Tickle Tickle 

Our first attempt at a family photo lol 

Already to go to the Cath Lab

Ben's Decoration

Our new home for awhile

Thank you Catherine DePaulo for my awesome blanket. I love it!

Check out my bandage mom and dad!

Mommy and her peanut post procedure

An image of our life for awhile lol

"Hey Dad! I love being wide awake at 2:00 AM!"

Chapter 6: The Real Adventure Begins

Alexander has had a busy 2 days! He is staying warm and comfortable in an isolette, which they moved him into yesterday. He is still very sleepy and not interested in eating, but Mommy is hoping he will start to wake up more and eat soon.

The team made the decision yesterday to perform a cath procedure on Monday. Their goal is to place a stent to keep the ductus open in order for blood to mix appropriately and get to the lungs. The ductus normally closes shortly after birth. He is receiving a medication currently to keep it open, but he can't stay on the medication very long. If they are successful, then no open heart surgery right now. Once he is eating, maintaining his temps and otherwise stable, we would be able to go home and let him grow until he would be able to have the full repair closer to 6 months.

Big brother Ben was able to visit briefly yesterday and today. He was excited to bring him the pictures he made and the big card from his class. He was also very excited to get some new toys from the child life department!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Enjoy the pictures!

"Ma what's going on?" lol

Let's Go Cowboys!!!

Erica and her little peanut :)

As you can tell, Ben is just a little excited lol

Our littlest cowboys fan in the family

Ben loved making pictures to decorate Alex's new "bed" !

Staying warm and cozy

Bobby and his boys :)

Chapter 5: Welcome to the world Alexander Steven

Our little peanut has arrived! Alexander Steven was born at 2:51 pm today. He weighs 4lbs 2oz and is 16.5 inches long. He is doing very well and breathing on his own. The echo, he was given after birth, has shown what was expected. No surprises. We will hopefully learn more about the plan over the next couple of days. Alexander is already stealing the hearts of the nurses and doctors. We were able to hold him and Erica was even able to try to breastfeed! Stay tuned for updates over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy the pictures below!

Chapter 4: March Madness

Alexander sure does keep us on our toes. Just as quickly as we were going to weekly appointments, we are right back to twice a week because of the blood flow in the umbilical arteries. The doctors are hopeful he will make it to full term, but like with anything in life there are no guarantees. Like the doctor said at our appointment this week, Alexander will determine his birthday. We just hope he continues to grow and get stronger before he is born.  While he is still tiny, he continues to grow, now at 34 weeks he's almost 4lbs! He's already so much like his big brother and will probably come out with his feet in his mouth since he's still breech. The photos below are from a surprise shower at Erica's office. A big thank you to all of the staff for the wonderful surprise. Bobby especially loved the Alexander Hamilton theme!


Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. 

Love,

Bobby, Erica, and Ben

Chapter 3: Our Little Peanut

The last two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. At Erica's appointment last week there was some concern about the blood flow in the umbilical arteries. Erica had to start going twice a week to monitor the blood flow and get steroids to protect Alexander's lungs in case he came early. At the time they were thinking he may make an early debut, but at our appointment earlier this week we received good news that while he's still a peanut he's growing and the blood flow is better! So back to weekly visits for now! Very exciting for Erica as it was becoming a lot of early mornings and driving. Hopefully he continues to grow well! Thanks to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers. Alexander is already a very lucky little boy. We can't wait to meet him, but hopefully he will behave for a few more weeks! 

Alexander already made his first trip to NYC and Broadway when Bobby and Erica had a short weekend getaway last weekend!

Love,
Bobby, Erica and Ben

Chapter 2: An Interesting View

Time is flying by! Now at 30 weeks, we had another Echo to follow the development of the heart. Alexander's heart is growing well and the cardiologist is very happy with its progress. Alex has slowed down a little bit in his overall growth so Erica has to go back weekly so the doctors can monitor him closely. He is very flexible like his big brother, as you will see in the picture below. Both his legs and arms were surrounding his face so we couldn't get a great picture. But we figure, everyone would get "kick" out of it.  We will continue to give updates as we learn more.

Love,

Erica, Bobby and Ben 

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

In honor of American Heart Month, we wanted to update everyone about the pregnancy. As most of you probably know by now we are having a boy, Alexander Steven. At the same ultrasound that we found out we'd have another little boy running around, we also learned that he has something wrong with his heart. We have come a long way since then and have learned a lot. Alexander has what is called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia and will require open heart surgery after he is born. We are lucky enough to be so close to CHOP which is where Erica will deliver and where Alexander will have his surgery. So far, he is growing well and the doctors are very happy with how well his heart is growing. The doctors at CHOP are some of the best in the world, and we are so happy to have them caring for Alexander. 

On Feb. 21st, we will have our next visit, in which we will learn a good deal more about the procedure that will be done. Stayed tuned, to this blog, for updates often as we have decided to fully document our journey with Alexander. We will leave you with this thought: Some of you may know Alexander’s namesake. Bobby, being a history teacher, has always been inspired by the story of Alexander Hamilton in American history. His is a story of the unknown and the struggle to become the great man that he was. Above all else, he was a fighter who never gave up. Bobby only sees it fitting that his little man is being named after one of the greatest fighters to ever live.

Love,

Bobby and Erica