SO much has happened since Wyatt was born that I have honestly been putting off updating on the blog. This is going to be a long post- so settle in.....

Our sweet baby boy was born on 9.12.12 at 9:37am. There is a little discrepancy on his birth weight that his Daddy and I are debating about - in the OR, he weighed in at 9lbs 10oz. When they got him out the dr and nurses were saying "Oh my gosh! He's a toddler!" BUT....when he got to the NICU, he weighed in at 9lbs 5oz. I go with the 9-5. Jason, of course, is sticking with the 9-10. :) He is so proud of his BIG boy! At any rate, one thing is for sure- he was 21 1/2 inches long. Shortly after he was taken to the NICU - the Neonatologists came to see us in recovery and said that his initial echo looked great and they saw no reason to keep him in there. We were ecstatic and in shock as this was never an option given to us. We spent the next 3 days snugglin' and lovin on our sweet little boy and thanking God for allowing him to be with us.

To make a long story short- he had 2 additional echos before we left the hospital - all of which looked OK given that his duct had not fully closed yet. They felt confident enough that they sent him home with us on Saturday knowing that we had a follow up appointment scheduled for Thursday. Again, we were over the moon! He has settled right in - nursing like a champ, sleeping great and is so alert when he is awake. To top it all off, Lacie Rae is the best big sister ever! She is such a good helper and loves to "just kiss him on his head"

Wyatt had his follow up appointment Thursday with our cardiologist that we've been seeing since I was 18 weeks. He could not come to the hospital b/c he works for Presbyterian and I delivered at Carolinas Medical Center. ANYWAY- Wyatt does indeed have aortic coarctation (where the his main artery - the aorta - narrows significantly in one little spot which restricts the blood flow to the lower part of his body). The blood pressure in his legs was 30 pts lower than the blood pressure in his upper body. It should actually be equal if not a little bit higher.

The doctors at the hospital did not do anything wrong - they knew there was a slight narrowing but until that PDA duct closed all the way - there was no way to tell just how significant it was. Yesterday it was finally closed all the way so we had a definite answer....Dr. Ohmsteade said yesterday that it was "moderate" (on a scale of mild, moderate, severe). We also found out that he has an Atrial Septial Defect ( a hole in between the upper chambers of his heart) that we had no idea about. Dr said it was small and he wasn't that worried about that- we could just monitor it. Sometimes they get smaller and even close on their own.

So- he sent us home with instructions to keep a close eye on him over the weekend for signs of "distress." We go back Monday morning at 11 for another echo. If it is worse, we go straight to Levine to check in for surgery (through the side procedure). If it is the same, we come back home and follow up again. He WILL have to have this fixed - the question is just when.

Jason and I have went back and forth about whether or not to "share" this on Facebook but at this point- my thought is-the more people praying for our baby, the better. We have known about the possibilities since May so it is not a surprise to us but the roller coaster of good news, then bad news...has been exhausting. We appreciate all prayers and well wishes more than you know!

I will post more tomorrow after the appointment.

Thanks again for your continued love and support -
Jason, Melia, Lacie Rae & Wyatt

PS- If you are new to the blog- you'll have to scroll to the bottom and read up for the full story.