Connor's CHD Journey
Our son Connor David was born on April 19, 2011. I went into the hospital on April 18th after my Doctors appointment I was direct addmitted & scheduled for a C-Section the next morning due to medical problems from Gestational Diabetes & Preeclampsia but little did he know Dr. Barton thought that he was going to be delivering a healthy baby . My 1st ultrasound had to be repeated they said they couldn't see the babies heart & that I might have to have a Fetal Echocardiagram but when they repeated it in 2weeks they said everything was normal. So after that all my ultrasounds & follow up's were normal & with no concerns with the babies health. On April 19th at 10:34am I gave birth to an 8lb 6oz & 20 in long handsome baby boy who from the looks of him appeared to be very healthy but as soon as they cut his umbilical card & started to clean him that is when our nightmare began our handsome baby started to turn blue in color & having respirtory problems. They called in the Pediatrician when she started to exam Connor she realized his heart was on the wrong side & she could hear a large murmur. She called UK & told my husband & I they had to transport him to UK for further check-up. I didn't get to see my baby but a very short period of time throughout the day. Around 11pm they let me go to the nursery to spend some time with him till UK got there to get him. About 12am they took him off to UK & wouldn't let me go till the next day. My husband & mom went with him & I never thought I was going to make it knowing he was that far away from me. My husband didn't want to upset me so he wouldn't tell me what the Doctors were saying about Connor so I had no clue what was wrong with my son. After EKG's, X-Ray's & Echocardiagrams Connor finally was diagnosed with multiple CHD's He has Dextrocardia, Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Arterial Septal defect (ASD), Transpostion of the Great Vessels, Single Coronary Artery, Double Outlet of the Right Ventricle, & Pulmonary Stenosis. He stayed in the NICU until he was 14 days old & on May 3, 2011 he was taken from the NICU to have Open Chest Surgury, He was in surgury for about 3 1/2 hrs. They placed a Pulmonary Artery Band on him to control his blood flow to regulate his oxygen. After surgury he was placed in the PICU were it took him almost 28 hrs to awake form his sedation . On May 6th due to him not eating well & he was loosing weight he was placed back into the NICU were he stayed there until May 12, 2011. Finally at 23 days old we got to bring our son home for the first time which was the scariest days of my life. His oxygen was running in the high 70's to low 80's . His lip's, nail bed's & eyelids were blue all the time. Otherwise he stayed healthy but poor weight gain. He was in the 5th percentile on his weight until he had his second surgury on June 5, 2012. March 20, 2012 Connor had a Cardiac Cath done to prepare a surgury plan by this time he was 11 months old & his oxygen was now running in high 40's to low 50's. The Doctors were concerned about his other organs being damaged due to lack of oxygen. So they had disscussed 3 different surguries plans with my husband & I. When Connor was taken in for his Open Heart Surgury on June 5, 2012 they had clue which surgury they would be doing on him. After being in surgury a little over 8 hrs they had repaired his Transpostion using Contegra Bovine Jugular Vein Conduit running them through the VSD & ASD closing them up the rest of the was using a small patch. When we got to see him it was such a releif. He went to the PICU after a couple hrs. they had his oxygen off & breathing tube out & he was no longer struggling to breath & his oxygen was running in the 90's. After 8 days in the hospital he came home. Them 1 month later Connor went into Congestive Heart Failure & had to stay 6 more days. He is 2 1/2 yrs old & they just told us that his cow veins are half way worn out & that his heart is not getting the right amount blood flow where they had to loop his valves to get them to run the right way when they done his last surgery but they said that they thought it would be enough to do him till he had his next surjury. This has been a rough road. We had lost many nights sleep watching our baby breathing, prayed many of prayers & shed many tears. Connor's CHD has slowed his developemental skills some. Connor never crawled till he was 13 months or walked till 16 months. Connor has been in Speech Therapy for 10 months & he will say small words but he just can't put his words together. He is very smart & a very special boy who is loved so much. children with CHD has struggles day to day & they have alot of sickness & have to go through more than anyone could ever imagine which is so unfair. But I beleive it makes them stronger in life. Connor is such a tough little boy & he is just such a blessing to us & we thank god each & everyday for our wonderful son. I hope that ready his story will help someone else on thier journey with CHD. On top of Connor being so ill Dec. 25, 2013 his father who he loved dearly was in a ATV Accident & Passed away then next day on Dec. 26, 2013. This has made it so hard for Connor to except.
Our son Connor David was born on April 19, 2011. I went into the hospital on April 18th after my Doctors appointment I was direct addmitted & scheduled for a C-Section the next morning due to medical problems from Gestational Diabetes & Preeclampsia but little did he know Dr. Barton thought that he was going to be delivering a healthy baby . My 1st ultrasound had to be repeated they said they couldn't see the babies heart & that I might have to have a Fetal Echocardiagram but when they repeated it in 2weeks they said everything was normal. So after that all my ultrasounds & follow up's were normal & with no concerns with the babies health. On April 19th at 10:34am I gave birth to an 8lb 6oz & 20 in long handsome baby boy who from the looks of him appeared to be very healthy but as soon as they cut his umbilical card & started to clean him that is when our nightmare began our handsome baby started to turn blue in color & having respirtory problems. They called in the Pediatrician when she started to exam Connor she realized his heart was on the wrong side & she could hear a large murmur. She called UK & told my husband & I they had to transport him to UK for further check-up. I didn't get to see my baby but a very short period of time throughout the day. Around 11pm they let me go to the nursery to spend some time with him till UK got there to get him. About 12am they took him off to UK & wouldn't let me go till the next day. My husband & mom went with him & I never thought I was going to make it knowing he was that far away from me. My husband didn't want to upset me so he wouldn't tell me what the Doctors were saying about Connor so I had no clue what was wrong with my son. After EKG's, X-Ray's & Echocardiagrams Connor finally was diagnosed with multiple CHD's He has Dextrocardia, Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Arterial Septal defect (ASD), Transpostion of the Great Vessels, Single Coronary Artery, Double Outlet of the Right Ventricle, & Pulmonary Stenosis. He stayed in the NICU until he was 14 days old & on May 3, 2011 he was taken from the NICU to have Open Chest Surgury, He was in surgury for about 3 1/2 hrs. They placed a Pulmonary Artery Band on him to control his blood flow to regulate his oxygen. After surgury he was placed in the PICU were it took him almost 28 hrs to awake form his sedation . On May 6th due to him not eating well & he was loosing weight he was placed back into the NICU were he stayed there until May 12, 2011. Finally at 23 days old we got to bring our son home for the first time which was the scariest days of my life. His oxygen was running in the high 70's to low 80's . His lip's, nail bed's & eyelids were blue all the time. Otherwise he stayed healthy but poor weight gain. He was in the 5th percentile on his weight until he had his second surgury on June 5, 2012. March 20, 2012 Connor had a Cardiac Cath done to prepare a surgury plan by this time he was 11 months old & his oxygen was now running in high 40's to low 50's. The Doctors were concerned about his other organs being damaged due to lack of oxygen. So they had disscussed 3 different surguries plans with my husband & I. When Connor was taken in for his Open Heart Surgury on June 5, 2012 they had clue which surgury they would be doing on him. After being in surgury a little over 8 hrs they had repaired his Transpostion using Contegra Bovine Jugular Vein Conduit running them through the VSD & ASD closing them up the rest of the was using a small patch. When we got to see him it was such a releif. He went to the PICU after a couple hrs. they had his oxygen off & breathing tube out & he was no longer struggling to breath & his oxygen was running in the 90's. After 8 days in the hospital he came home. Them 1 month later Connor went into Congestive Heart Failure & had to stay 6 more days. He is 2 1/2 yrs old & they just told us that his cow veins are half way worn out & that his heart is not getting the right amount blood flow where they had to loop his valves to get them to run the right way when they done his last surgery but they said that they thought it would be enough to do him till he had his next surjury. This has been a rough road. We had lost many nights sleep watching our baby breathing, prayed many of prayers & shed many tears. Connor's CHD has slowed his developemental skills some. Connor never crawled till he was 13 months or walked till 16 months. Connor has been in Speech Therapy for 10 months & he will say small words but he just can't put his words together. He is very smart & a very special boy who is loved so much. children with CHD has struggles day to day & they have alot of sickness & have to go through more than anyone could ever imagine which is so unfair. But I beleive it makes them stronger in life. Connor is such a tough little boy & he is just such a blessing to us & we thank god each & everyday for our wonderful son. I hope that ready his story will help someone else on thier journey with CHD. On top of Connor being so ill Dec. 25, 2013 his father who he loved dearly was in a ATV Accident & Passed away then next day on Dec. 26, 2013. This has made it so hard for Connor to except.