We had a wonderful night with him where there was lots of cuddling and loving. However, the next morning he was really breathing hard and fast and so was taken in for evaluation and then admitted to the NICU in the hospital I delivered him in. There he was diagnosed with pneumonia (perhaps?) or aspiration of amniotic fluid. Either way they couldn't get his oxygen levels to stay up. About 7:30 pm our home teacher came over and helped Dad administer an anointing and priesthood blessing. It was a wonderful blessing and very direct on the issues at hand.
Shortly after the blessing things really got rolling. The doctors here decided they were no longer able to treat Zach's symptoms and asked to have him transferred to Fairfax Hospital which has a larger and better NICU. However, since I had a c-section (and was not really giving myself the tender care needed to recover) I needed to stay put and could not be transferred with him. Although it was hard to see my little boy go and have Nathan go with him we both felt like it was best.
Upon arriving at Fairfax, he was reevaluated and it was decided that he needed to have oxygen tubes put directly into his lungs to help him breath (an oscillating ventilator I believe it is called) however Fairfax felt that due to Zach's other symptoms it was too risky for them to do it so they wanted to transfer him to CNMC downtown so Nathan just barely made it to Fairfax Hospital in time to watch them move him to CNMC via ambulance - sirens and all.
The transfer took place around 1 am and was rough. During the transfer his lung collapsed and they had to administer a pneumontheroax - a very serious and risky procedure where they stick his lung with little needle from the outside to blow it back up. He was able to make it to CNMC and there they were able to put in the ventilator and stablize his vitals by early morning and then spend the rest of the day trying to assess his situation.
Soon he had a chest tube put in to release air that has been leaking from his left lung into his body and causing an airsak to form and press against this left lung and heart. His left lung is the main concern and if they can get the airsac out they are hoping it will reinflate and heal itself. His vitals are good and he is still strong - in fact he is still fighting so hard to breath even though he does not need to since the ventilator is in - they need him to calm down and let the machine do the work.
Overall we feel that it has been a huge blessing that he is at Children's National. It is a education hospital and he is the only full term baby there so he is surrounded by doctors, residents, and medical students who all want to learrn about him :). Nathan is able to sit in on all the rotations/rounds and listen and learn - in fact he is recording them on his Iphone and emailing them to me. We truely feel that the blessing prompted the doctors to take aggressive actions and get him in the right place. It has been a blessing to have my mom here so she can take care of me and Nathan can go to the hospital. Then we have Nathan's sister so close to help with Addy. We are well blessed.
I am recovering well now that I am staying in bed and expected to be release tomorrow (Monday 11-14-11) around noon so I can go see him.
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