Recovery...

Max's surgery went great. The surgeons were really pleased with how well Max's heart handled the procedure. After surgery Max was admitted to the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit and is now recovering. He is still heavily medicated but we are able to be in the room with him. Hopefully by tomorrow he will be off his breathing tubes and we will be able to hold him. He has his own nurse and she monitors and cares for him around the clock. Max is perfectly stable at this point. His cardiologist has already come to do an echocardiogram and said that the band on his pulmonary artery looks good and that the blood flow looks normal. Max's oxygen levels are in the range the doctors had hoped for and his blood pressure has remained at a normal level. Now we get to watch him get better and better each day.
This is a picture taken during his surgery. We had our case manager take the picture for us since we obviously were not allowed in the operating room. Max is in the middle of the huddle. In the room with him are 2 surgeons, 1 surgeon's assistant, 2 nurses and the anesthesiologist. We did get a few pictures of Max during the surgery but felt they were a bit graphic to post. Here is Max in the PICU.Believe it or not every wire and machine in this picture is somehow connected to Max. We are so proud of our little trooper. Max has done so well so far and we are just praying that it will be a smooth recovery.

Pre- surgery...

One of our nurses let us listen to Max's heart. It was amazing! First we listened to my heart to hear what a healthy heart sounds like and then we listened to Max's. It sounded very different. It was so a great experience to hear what the doctors hear when they examine Max.

A visit from Artie, the therapy dog.

At 3:00am Max got his pre-surgery bath.
Here is Max being wheeled down the the surgery waiting room.Dad looking at his little boy and hoping everything goes well in surgery. Spencer is wearing the same college t-shirt that he was wearing when Max was born. Last loves and kisses from mommy.
Max giving us a reassuring smile. He is one brave baby!
Max with his anesthesiologist, Dr. Kellers. The doctor carried him into the operating room rather then wheeling him in on a hospital bed- it was really sweet.
Now we are waiting for the surgery to be finished...

Surgery...

Tomorrow morning Max will go in for surgery. For this procedure they will be banding his pulmonary artery. We were anticipating that he would need this procedure done but we did not expect that it would happen this soon. The surgery will start at 7:30am and take about 4 hours. We met with Dr. John, who will be the primary surgeon for Max's procedure. Dr. John talked us through the whole operation and answered all of our questions. We will try to give updates when we can.

Being Monitored...

Max has been monitored at the hospital this week after his breathing problems on Monday night. Here he is all hooked up and relaxed...Here is his room in the pediatric ward. Doesn't he look so tiny wrapped up in his crib?

Mom looking comfortable in her new "hospital" sweats...

Dad trying to get a few minutes of studying done between talking to the nurses and doctors...

At the hospital...

Last night Max gave us a little scare. It was around 9:00pm and I was getting ready to feed him before putting him down for the night. All of a sudden Max stopped breathing. He sucked in a breath of air and did not blow it out for about 20-30 seconds. His eyes rolled back and his lips started turning blue. Instinctively I started trying to get a response from him by pounding his back and rubbing his chest. He then took a huge breath in but again did not blow it out. I ran into the bedroom to tell Spencer... the next few minutes are a blur. Spencer called 911 while I tried to keep Max stimulated. Eventually his breathing returned back to a regular rhythm just about the same time as the paramedics arrived. They did a quick examination of him and asked us lots of questions. Max seemed to be acting normal at that point but he was still taken to the emergency room in the ambulance. I got to ride in the back of the ambulance with Max to the hospital while Spencer stayed home with Morgen (who slept through the whole ordeal) until someone was able to come over to babysit.
Once we arrived at the hospital Max was hooked up to monitors, blood was drawn, chest x-rays were taken and he had an EKG. He was stable. Max's cardiologist came in the middle of the night to do an echocardiogram and to check on Max's status. Why Max stopped breathing is a little bit of a mystery. The doctors seem to think that he either had a gag reflex that caused him to not be able to catch his breath or he had a complication with his medication. Either way he is needing to be monitored at the hospital for the next few days. The cardiologist still is not sure what the best course of action should be but there is a high probability that Max will need surgery this Friday.
We will try to keep everyone updated as we learn more but that is all we know at this point.

3 weeks old...

It is incredible that Max has been a part of our family for 3 weeks already. I can not remember what life was like without him. He is a perfect fit for our family and has already brought so much joy to our lives.
Max meets with his cardiologist every other week. At his last appointment we and found out that Max had started to loose weight. This was not good news. Now we are needing to supplement every other feeding to help him gain more weight. An echo cardiogram was performed at this appointment and the doctor discovered that Max's lungs have too much fluid in them and is causing his liver to enlarge. This is happening because Max's heart is essentially working 3 times harder then it should and it is pumping excess blood to his lungs. This isn't necessarily causing Max any pain but it is causing him to have labored breathing so he is on a few medications to help- one is a diuretic and the other helps regulate his heart rhythm. Since his heart is working so hard we found out that Max will need to have one of his surgeries sooner then we thought. When he was released from the hospital the doctors thought we would be able to wait until Max was 3 months old before performing any surgery, now he will need surgery in just a few weeks. The surgery that he will need in February will band his pulmonary artery which will help decrease the amount of fluid that is passed to the lungs.
There is so much to learn about Max. Not only do we need to figure out all the baby stuff like sleep schedule, feeding and his different cries, but we also need to figure out his health. When I hear him squeak in the middle of the night I don't know if that is just a baby noise or if it is an indication that his breathing is more strained. If he is sleeping longer then he normally does I don't know if I should be excited that he is a good sleeping baby or if I should be worried that his heart has been working too hard so his body is exhausted. Every time we meet with the doctors we will learn a little bit more about Max's health and everyday we will understand a little more about his needs and personality. I will say that despite his health issues he is an amazing baby. He is very peaceful and lovable.
Being Max's mommy is a blessing but it is extremely hard. An infant is so fragile, pure and innocent. It is hard to imagine anything bad ever happening to something so perfect as a newborn baby but my baby is going to have to suffer through pain and other difficult things. It breaks my heart knowing that his heart is in so much need. I have faith that Max's spirit is strong enough to handle the physical pain he will go through. In between doctor visits and worry I am trying to just enjoy the sweetness that surrounds my little baby- the gentle sound of his breathing, the feel of his fingers wrapped around mine, the smell of his skin, his curious eyes gazing at mine... he is my baby and he is perfect.

Meet Mighty Max...

Max Craig Kelly was born on December 30, 2008 @ 12:03am. He weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz and was 18.5 inches long.
Here we are on the way to the hospital- round 2!
After Max was born he was immediately taken to the NICU for testing regarding his heart. Spencer was able to go with him and give me updates as I waited in the delivery room. After about an hour Max was able to come in and give his mommy some cuddles. This is Max about 8 hours old getting his first bath.While in the hospital Max was being monitored constantly. The doctors and nurses were checking his heart rate, oxygen levels, respiratory rate, temperature, weight, and amount of milk at each feeding. He also had an IV to receive glucose water and antibiotics. All the tubes and montiors made it a little tricky to hold him. But it was such a blessing that all of his vitals and stats stayed in the normal range the entire time he was at the hospital. Some mommy loves! Max is 2 days old in this picture. I love itty bitty baby feet. Ultimate relaxation with daddy.Max was born early Tuesday morning. I was released from the hospital on Thursday. Max had to stay until Saturday. Here we are getting ready to go home with Max for the first time. First family picture! Morgen was not allowed to visit Max in the hospital because he has had a cold all week. He was very excited to meet his brother for the first time. His favorite thing to do this past week was look at pictures of Max on the digital camera. Brothers!!!!Morgen already loves to hold Max. He has done a good job so far with being gentle- we'll see how long that lasts!Here is our sweet Max.We feel extremely blessed to have our Max home safe and sound. His heart condition will be a constant worry but the doctors have reassured us that he will be able to be a normal, healthy baby. Right now we are anticipating his first heart surgery when he is around 3 months. In the meantime, we are so happy that he is home and are excited to figure out how to have 2 little boys.