malachi=2 months + 2 days; emerson=2 years!!

4:30 we got the call. Malachi is back in SVT (supraventricular tachycardia--a.k.a. super fast heart rate) and is unresponsive to the usual medication. The fellow that was on overnight was working on him at the bedside. they gave a few doses of adenosine which didn't help for longer than a few seconds. The also attempted a vagal response maneuver to trigger the diving reflex (practically suffocating him briefly with an ice bag to his face--horrible to think about). This too helped, but only for a brief amount of time. Procainamide was once again started. He received 3 boluses and then was put on a drip IV for the rest of the day.

The SVT came on all of a sudden around 3:00 a.m. with a heart rate spike to 270. From just looking at the monitor, our nurse assumed that he was TICKED! When she looked at him laying in his bed though he was fast asleep. She immediately knew that something was wrong. I came into the hospital around 7:00 a.m. assuming that the cardiac cath was still going to go on as planned. Anesthesia even came by this morning to get my consent. At about 7:45 the cardiologist who was going to have been doing the cath came to visit Chi at the bedside. He made the decision that it would be best to wait and let the SVT resolve before pursuing the cath. Not only would it be a riskier procedure from an anesthesia standpoint with the SVT, but they would also get a more accurate picture of what his heart looks like "normally" if they waited. So today... we waited. Slowly, he his rate made its way down and he is no longer in SVT. The cath has been postponed until tomorrow morning (12/30).

I was very overwhelmed at Chi's bedside this morning. I was really looking forward to hopefully getting some answers this morning. I can be patient and I can wait another day. I just want the doctors to figure out my baby. I want him to be better. I want to bring him home. I was very much focused solely on myself this morning and was thankful that God snapped me out of it. I was fighting the mommy guilt bigtime today in regard to spending time with my sick baby at the hospital and spending the day with Emerson. Today was her 2nd birthday! Thankfully, things started to settle at the hospital and I was able to be there for rounds from cardiology and NICU. I made it home by like 1:30 this afternoon and laid down with Emma for her nap. I was just going to lay with her until she fell asleep, but we BOTH ended up taking a THREE hour nap. It was much needed for both of us.

We had a birthday party today to celebrate Emerson's #2 and Elyssa's #3 (Emma's cousin). Hopefully I can get some more pictures up of that in the days to come. For now, I need to get to sleep.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMERSON!!

I went back to the hospital after the party and spent some time with Chi. He needed to be retaped and the tubing of his ventilator needed to be changed, so that was quite the ordeal. I hate seeing him turn this awful pale shade of gray color. Thankfully his color in his face came back pretty quickly, but his hands and feet took a while. After results from a chest x-ray came back a little while later, I was able to hold Malachi. He was super comfy and relaxed in my arms. That sounds great, BUT he got too comfortable and as his heart rate decreased, so did his oxygen saturation levels. Because of the low sats, he needed to be moved back to his bed. As soon as he was back up there, his sats were fine. What a stinker!