Tag: Isabel’s Heart

If you missed any of the previous posts about Isabel’s birth you can check them out here:

• Isabel’s First Days
• A Stressful Trip To Denver

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Isabel’s has had an exciting first 3 days of life including a trip on a private plain. It was going to be a few days before the Heart Catherization because of the New Year holiday and finding time in the schedule. They placed a Nasogastric Intubation (NG) tube and started her on IV nutrition in order to make sure that she was getting everything she needed. She was eating but not as much as the doctors and nurses would like with everything that was going on. We had a few doctors stop by the room to make sure that we understood everything that was going on with Isabel and to give us the opportunity to ask any questions. Jen and I are both the kind of people that like to know everything possible so we always had a few questions.

By the 4th day we started to realize that all we had was what Jen packed in our baby bags expecting to stay maybe 2 nights in Gunnison. The hospital was amazing and gave us a taxi voucher in order to get to Target and buy a few things we needed. It gave us a great opportunity to get out of the hospital for a few hours and walked around Target. Isabel was eating very well and was off IV nutrition by mid afternoon and was able to be off the NG Tube before the new year. We rang in the new year with the amazing nursing staff at and for the first time in days a baby that didn’t have any tubes taped to her face.

We spent the next few days in a holding pattern waiting to find out when they would be able to schedule the Cath. The hospital had different people stopping by our room letting us know what the hospital has for parents and they gave us a weeks worth of Gift Cards for the cafeteria. This is also when I started talking to the financial aid consular. She helped get everything organized with our insurance company so we didn’t have to hear anything from them or the insurance company about money for a while. I know I have said this a few time before but the people we worked with at every level during the process went above and beyond any of our expectations.

On January 2nd we found out that the Cath was scheduled for 8:00 am on the next day. We were happy to know it was scheduled but it also meant she was going to be put under and have a pretty major procedure done.

Yesterday I gave you a quick run through of Isabel’s birth and what went on in the first couple of days. If you didn’t get a chance to read it check it out here. Now to continuing on with getting Isabel to Denver.

The Life Flight Team was at the hospital by 4:05 am on December 29th. It was amazing to watch them work and breakdown all the information the Gunnison nurses were providing them. They ran tests and transferred Isabel to their machines. They did great job explaining to Jen and I every thing they were doing and they were able to answer any questions we had as well. After a short time making sure Isabel was stable they were ready to head back to the airport. We were lucky that they had an extra seat on the plane for Jen because it was going to be a hard drive to Denver that night with it snowing the majority of the way and running on very little sleep. We decided that I would head back to Crested Butte and start driving to Denver the following morning. After the quick flight to Denver and a short ambulance trip Jen and Isabel arrived at The Children’s Hospital. They immediately took them to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where a team a doctors where waiting to check on Isabel. After a few test they diagnosed her with Congenital Heart Disease. Jen almost immediately called me and told me I needed to be on the next flight to Denver. During my flight to Denver Isabel had her first ECHO and they waited on me to arrive before transferring her to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Truth be told, I was so overwhelmed that I needed to opt for cbd vapes online just to release some stress.

Once we arrived in the CICU the doctors started her on a medicine called Prostaglandins in order to keep her Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) functioning. The PDA allows blood flow between the Aorta and Pulmonary arteries. They were very worried that if they did not keep the PDA open blood would be unable to flow to her lungs. That night one of the doctors sat down with us and showed us pictures explaining what exactly was wrong with Isabel. He told us that they suspect she has a Ventricular Septal Defect with Pulmonary Valve Atresia, also called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia, and we would need to have a Cardia Catherization in order to confirm her condition.

It was a very busy first 3 days of life for Isabel. There is still a lot more to the story so stay tuned tomorrow for more.

Before I finish up I want to thank Jen’s mom, PJ, for everything she did for us. She came into town for Christmas and the birth most likely thinking she would be helping out for a few days with Addison while we were in the hospital. I know she didn’t expect to spend more than a month in Crested Butte alone with a 3 year old. She also put up with all the crazy that I can put out while I was so stressed and didn’t let it bother her! Thank you PJ.

Today is nurse appreciation day. I figured this would be a great time to talk a little bit about everything that has gone on with Isabel because we have gotten to know so many nurses over the last few months.

Isabel was born on December 27th at Gunnison Valley Hospital. We got to the hospital around 2:30 pm and she was born at 7:21 pm. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz, was 19 3/4s inches long and had almost a full head of blond hair. She had some fluid in her lungs that was suctioned out but the nurses said that was normal and was no reason to be alarmed.

Isabel was acting just like any other day old baby. Early in the morning we were able to give Isabel her first bath and our nurse mentioned that she was very red and made a note to check her color before the end of the shift later that morning. When she came back she noticed that her lips and hands were looking blue and she had the local pediatrician look at her. His suggestion was to put her on a small amount of oxygen to see if that would help. Then slowly ween her off once her stats (pulse rate, oxygen levels, ect…) were back to normal. He mentioned that sometimes when there is fluid in the lungs at birth they need a little bit of help to regulate their oxygen level.

The next day we spent time cuddling and getting to know Isabel. She met her big sister and MaMaw. Her color was getting better but she didn’t seem to like being weened off the oxygen. The nurse that found the issue came back for the night shift and was worried that we were still unable to get her off the oxygen. By midnight the second night we were having to give Isabel more oxygen then they started with that morning in order to keep her stats up. At that point the Doctor said that they were not equipped to test for other issues that might be going on and we would need to be transferred to either Grand Junction or The Children’s Hospital in Denver in order to make sure that we have the best care possible. The Children’s Hospital could get to Gunnison the fastest and was the one the doctor told us he would send his kids to in this situation.

I am going to stop the story there for this post and pick it back up tomorrow. The main thing I wanted to share with this was that we had multiple nurses look at Isabel when she was born and even had a few tell us we should be heading home that second day. There was one nurse that walked back in for her shift on the second night and immediately started getting the doctors involved. If it wasn’t for the level of knowledge and care of the nurses Isabel might have been overlooked and we could have been sent home. We were later told that there was no telling what might have happened if we would have been sent home but it wouldn’t have been good.

My family and I will forever be thankful for all the nurses we have gotten to know over the last few months. They have been some of the most amazing people I have ever met.