The Barnetts and Johnsons celebrating Field's arrival!
Whitfield Edward Johnson was born on June 14, 2010 at 5:42pm. He weighed 8lbs., 8oz. and was perfectly healthy and happy. The delivery was perfect and we couldn't believe he came on his due date and on Flag Day! What a blessing!
On day 2 of his life, the nurse was doing a routine check of his vitals. She couldn't remember if our pediatrician ordered an oxygen check, but she went ahead and checked his levels anyway. A true miracle that this nurse "happened" to check his oxygen level even though it was not actually ordered by our pediatrician. His oxygen level was in the high 80's and should have been in the high 90's so this was a concern. They took him to the nursery to monitor his oxygen levels for a few hours and they did not get any better, so they moved him to the NICU and the neonatologist ordered some tests to find out the issue. They found some inflammation of the lungs and elevated levels in his blood that all pointed to an infection. So they started the 7-day antibiotic protocol and moved him to Intermediate Care.
There was also a heart murmur that wasn't of too much concern until a few days later when he still had the murmur. So they ordered an echocardiogram to see what was causing the murmur.
During the echocardiogram, they found that his heart is different from a normal baby boy's heart. He has a congenital heart defect. The doctor's term for it is double inlet left ventricle. In normal people terms it means he has three heart chambers rather than four. There is no wall separating the bottom two chambers, which has created one large chamber. His heart is still very strong, but will need some replumbing in order to work properly.
It turns out that Field could or could not have had an infection. We aren't really sure as all of the "issues" that led him to an extended stay in the hospital could have been from the heart condition and not infection.
Field will have to undergo 3 surgeries...the first one taking place at 4 weeks of life. The first surgery will be the most minor of the three, and will help stop the excess blood flow to the lungs. They will place a pulmonary artery band around the artery to help restrict the flow. The second one (Bi Directional Glenn Shunt) will be at 6 months, and this one will be open heart. They will reposition arteries in order for the blood flow to be sent to the proper places The third and final surgery (Fontan Operation - named after the doctor) will be at 3 years old. This surgery will finish the positioning of the arteries so that his heart will function as a three chambered heart. After the third surgery, Field should have a normal functioning heart (even though it's still only 3 chambers rather than 4) and he should live a normal, healthy, long, and happy life.
We know he is special anyway, but now we know his heart is special too.
The proud new mommy and daddy
