The community nurse came out to the house yesterday and were very happy with Alexander's saturation levels and with the top of his wound. For a normal baby their sats should be at about 95-100% but for his the cardiologist wants them between 75-85%. His will stay at this level until he has his big operation in 12-18 months. His sats were at about 87% yesterday. They are a little high and that is why they want him to gain a little weight.

Alexander's wound is healing very nicely as well. They are very pleased with him and he is off his antibiotic for his infection. He is happy about that. He would try to spit it out all the time...I finally had it down though. Now he is only on his aspirin and dieuretic. Yeah!

Also, he is alot more alert and awake than ever before. He looks all around and focuses on things. Today AJ is 3 weeks old! :)

The health visitor came out today and Alexander weighs 8 lbs and 12 oz. That is great news! They are keeping a eye on his weight gain because his shunt may be a little big right. It is not a big deal because he will grow into it but they want to make sure that he is gaining the weight he needs too.

Our baby's home!

Well needless to say our baby got to come home on Tuesday! We were quite suprised. We thought it was going to be Thursday or Friday. Well on our way to the hospital the nurse called just to make sure that we brought his carseat because he was coming home. Yeah!

It has been a little crazy around here ever since. On Wednesday his wound at the top wasn't looking so good so the nurse came out to the house. They put some sturry strips on it and it seems to be heeling much better. He is now on yet another medicine for his infection at the top of his wound (Only for seven days though). It is only a antibiotic but he hates it. Alexander also takes a aspirin aday (until his next surgery), a dieuretic and a pain killer if needed.

Everything he has gone through already he is doing great. He is two weeks old today and he is doing excellent!!!

He is our sweet little boy and everything we had expected!!!

Great news!

Today when we got to the hospital they had already taken Alexander's NG feeding tube out. Yeah! The nurses and doctors were extremely happy how well he is feeding. He is still on 0.1 of oxygen but today when we were there they turned that off for awhile. When they turned it off he was exactly where they wanted his saturation oxygen levels. The head nurse came in while we were there and she said that he would probably be home by the end of the week. John is excited for that. His birthday is on Thursday so maybe he will be home for Daddy's birthday! :)

Alexander John Brewster

Alexander John Brewster entered the world on November 24,2007 at 11:53 pm. He weighed 8 lbs and 8oz and was 21 inches long. As soon as he was born he was wide eyed for about 3 hours and loved his food.

The midwifes tested his oxygen saturation levels right after he was born and they were just fine and then they tested them again about 3 hours later and they had dropped quite low. The peditricians then monitored the little guy and decided to transfer him to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, where they specialize in hearts. So at 5am Alexander was transfered hospitals. They released me from the hospital about 10am.

So after we got to the hospital on Sunday we were told the doctors wanted to talk to us. At first we thought it was nothing then realize this is the same surgeon that is suppose to do his big operation in a few months. Well he went on to say that Alexander would need to have open heart surgery the next day and would need to have a shunt put in his heart to widen his pulmonary artery. This will help to have more blood pass through from his lungs to his heart. This will also extend his other operation until he is 12-18 months old.

Well now he is a week old and is recovering quite well. Alexander is only on 0.1 oxygen and he is feeding through his bottle. The NG feeding tube is still in but that is just for precautionary reasons. Also today we took him off the oxygen for awhile and his saturation levels stayed quite high, which is also a good sign. So fingers crossed he will be home very shortly!

Keep our little AJ in your prayers!

Head's Engaged!

John and I went to our Doctor's appointment with the OB today. We were really excited to find out that Alexander's head is engaged. Yeah! Now we just hope he comes soon! We are both ready and nervous all in one. I think we are all prepared for him though or as prepared that we can be.

On the way back from the hospital John and I agreed that I am getting well looked after over here. Not sure if it is normal considering Alexander's conditions but he is getting well taken care of. :)

Tomorrow is another appointment with the Down Syndrome health visitor.

Week 37

Well I am finally finished with work! YEAH! I just wanted to get out of there really. Most everything is prepared for Alexander John (AJ) and now we are just waiting for him to come. We have all kinds of appointments this week. Yesterday the midwife came to the house and we set up our birth plans. These are things that we would like to happen during delivery, which meds I want to take, if John wants to cut the cord, if I want the baby handed to me immediately or not, and so on. Today we have to go see the anethesist. This is basically to see if I can have the epidural. Since I already have back problems they are going to evaluate my back and see if this is too risky or not. Then on Thursday we are back at the OB and Friday the Downs Health Visitor is coming to the house. She is going to talk about what to expect when Alexander is here. So this week we have a busy week ahead of us.

I am feeling pretty good for the most part. Just some pelvic pain and some swollen ankles. That is common at the end of pregnancy though. We are just ready to be finished now!

Ultrasound 35 weeks

We had the ultrasound of baby AJ's heart today and he said that everything looked great. There was talk of having me be induced a week early but the doctor said there was no need for that. So we are hoping just to have him naturally. He is 5lbs and 15oz. today! I guess he will be about a 8lb by the time we have him. OUCH! :)

Baby's Heart

Yesterday, Tuesday, the heart health visitor came to the house. She let us be more aware of what to expect when Alexander is born and when to expect surgery. She said not to be alarmed if he looks a little blue after he is born. She also said his surgery would be in 3-4 months from after his birth. It will be at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. It is one of the best hospitals in the UK - especially for Pedeatric Cardiac work. Apparently the doctor (Dr. Atif Hasan) ,that will be performing the surgery has a 100% success rate for correcting the AVSD (Atrio Ventricle Septal Defect) that Alexander will have.

Paddy said that this surgery is pretty complex and that he will prob be in the hospital at the most 3 weeks and at the least 2 weeks. She said he will be in the NICU for the first week. They will give us a flat to stay in while the baby is in the hospital so we don't have to travel everyday, plus John will be at work still. It will easier to have him come straight to the hospital, since he works near Newcastle.

She was a really nice lady and pretty reassuring about everything. She knew what she was talking about. She brought a heart model and described everything really good to us. She said there are three things that they watch in a baby with this before his surgery. The watch his food in take, his weight and his cardiac failure ( basically his breathing). It will take alot of extra energy for him to breath especially right before the surgery.

We also have to be careful about germs. So if you have a cold - stay away from us. :) She said since its the cold-flu season, he could develop a bad chest infection. If this happened it could delay Alexander's surgery and most likely be put in the hospital.

Tomorrow is his last ultrasound scan! Keep Alexander in your prayers!

Busy week ahead!

Well we have a busy week coming up this week. I have a appointment with the Midwife on Tuesday- just a check up and to get my Anti - D shots for having Oneg blood. Then we have a home health visitor for the baby's heart coming. Then on Wed night we have a antenatal class that is suppose to be about labor and delivery. Then finally on Thursday we are having another ultrasound for the baby. It is to check the progress of his heart. He will scan his bones and do his weight too. It is so amazing that they can tell you how long his limbs are and how much he weighs before he is even here.