Prostaglandin

Link has been on and off of Prostaglandin two times thusfar. He was off it yesterday but in the middle of the night his oxygen stats got too low so they put him back on it. He's resting today then they'll take it off tomorrow, etc. throughout the week. Babies have high pressure in their lungs which usually drops the first couple weeks of life. With lower pressure it's easier for the heart to pump blood to the lungs and throughout the body, therefore, our cardiologsit told us that she wanted to wait til he was around 2 weeks old before determining whether he needs the BT shunt. So he'll go on and off Prostaglandin til this next weekend. If he keeps his oxygen high then he'll be done but if it continues to drop when he's off Prostaglandin then we'll do the shunt.

Link

Link's oxygen saturation got too low yesterday so they put him back on Prostaglandin last night. They are going to leave it on for a day or two and let him rest then they are going to try to take him off of it again. If his oxygen stats get too low again we are looking at open heart surgery- the BT shunt. For now... we wait.

Lincoln James Ferry

Lincoln and his Daddy. Russ loves his little boy SO MUCH! He is so cute with him!

Our little guy!

Update...

During Lincoln's surgery, the surgeon tried inserting a catheter up the artery in the right leg. After several tries, he still wasn't successful so he went up the vein in his left leg. Lincoln was on a lot of blood thinner so his right leg took forever to stop bleeding. It was a tricky balance between getting his leg to stop bleeding and at the same time try not to get any clots in his leg. The bleeding did stop but his leg was swollen. You can see in the picture in the last post, when he was wheeled out of surgery, how purple his leg was. The next day they did an echo on his leg. He has some clots in the femural artery in his right leg. They can find a pulse in his leg but have yet to find a pulse in his foot. He is on blood thinner and they will keep him on that until the clots go away. The doctors believe that with the help of the blood thinner, it shouldn't travel to his heart and should be resolved.

Yesterday, they took Lincoln off Prostoglandin (the medicine that has been keeping the PDA open). An echo (ultrasound) was done today and they found that his PDA is slightly smaller but hasn't closed all the way. Once his PDA closes, they will be able to see if the surgery was successful and if his heart can work on it's own without the PDA open. (FYI: The PDA allows a different route of blood flow in newborns but closes shortly after birth. With the PDA open, Lincoln has been getting sufficient oxygen. Once the PDA closes, his heart has to take a new route (that's the same as all of us). This route goes through the Pulmonary Valve which was just operated on). The doctors say that it will take a few days for the PDA to close completely which will give us a better idea of his condition and if he requires further surgeries. We're watching his oxygen saturation closely to monitor his progress.

Thank you again for all of your love, support, and especially your prayers. We truly believe in the power of prayer and in the priesthood. We are so grateful for the gospel in our lives and especially for the Temple and the knowledge we have that families are forever.

Thank you!!

Baby Lincoln's Surgery

Today was Lincoln's surgery. The surgery consisted of a catheter being inserted into a vein in his leg and brought up to his heart. An electric wire then burned a hole through the pulmonary valve. A balloon was then inserted and expanded causing the valve to open and allow the correct blood flow through the pulmonary valve. After the surgery, the surgeons took us back and showed us x-ray videos of the surgery. It was incredible! The doctors were so accommodating and we are so grateful that everything went well. They will now take him off of Prostoglandin which will cause his DA to close and see how his heart does with this new flow of blood. It will take a week or two to determine whether he requires another surgery.

Here are some more pictures of our little guy...



Our family right after delivery on Saturday at the U of U NICU.



Mommy and Baby at Primary Children's PICU. We were so excited that we were able to hold him!



We love our baby!



The cutest baby ever! (We are a little biased).



This is the operating room. We were told it was only a year and a half old. How incredible it was to have such new high-tech equipment available to help our little guy.



Lincoln being wheeled out of surgery.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers today. We could feel your love and support.

It's A Boy!

We are so happy that our new baby is here. Lincoln James Ferry was born January 16th, 4:11 a.m., 6.11 lbs, 20 1/2 inches at the University of Utah Hospital. We love him so much.

Immediately after he was born, he was taken to the NICU, cleaned up, then transferred to Primary Childrens. He is waiting there now for his upcoming surgery early next week. Before he was taken we got to see him for a few minutes and took some pictures which are posted below. Whitney was so good during her 32 hours prior to his delivery. She will be a great mommy.

We want to thank everyone for all that they have done for us. We are so blessed to have family and friends who gave so selflessly for our little family. Thank you so much for your help and prayers in our behalf. We could not have done this without you.

Here are the pictures we took of baby Lincoln while we were at the UH's NICU and Primary Childrens PICU.

Baby Lincoln

Proudly giving the Kinsmen Call.

Heart to heart...

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect, comprising about 1 in every 100 births in the United States. Our little guy has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect known as Pulmonary Atresia. The pulmonary valve is closed, blocking outflow of blood from the heart to the lungs. This also causes the right ventricle to become smaller, stiffer, and leak blood the opposite way.At our 20 week ultrasound, the ultrasound tech told us she didn't quite see everything she wanted to with the heart. She referred us to a specialist at Davis Hospital who informed us that our baby had a heart defect and then referred us to Primary Children's Hospital. We've been going to Primary's for the last few months to get fetal echos to monitor his heart. Here is the plan from Primary's: I am going to deliver at the University of Utah hospital (I'll be induced there on January 15) and right after delivery, the baby will be taken to Primary's. They will put him on medication to keep the ductus arteriosus open (which typically closes shortly after birth). After a few days he will receive surgery where a catheter is inserted into an artery in his leg and brought up to his heart. A balloon will then open up the pulmonary valve. Even though there will now be an opening in the pulmonary valve the right ventricle hasn't been able to pump for 9 months so his heart will require a few more surgeries. Within the next week he will have open heart surgery called a BT Shunt which is another valve in his heart. At that point it's up to him to see how he does. He will most likely need another open heart surgery (the Glenn procedure) at 6 months old. This procedure makes his heart into a 1 1/2 ventricle heart where the right side is only having to do half the work. Depending on how he's doing, he'll possibly need another surgery at 3 years (the Fontan surgery) which makes his heart into a 1 ventricle heart and the right side is completely bypassed.

We've had quite the last few months.

Russ and I continuously count our blessings. We are so grateful for an ultrasound tech who caught this early, for the amazing medical care we have received and will receive at Primary Children's hospital, for the education and preparation they have provided us with, for all of you and for your concerns and prayers, and mostly, we are so grateful for our little guy and are so excited to meet him in a couple weeks!

All I want for Christmas is...

...to see my husband!! Russ is such a hard worker and he got a temporary job this Christmas season working at the Post Office in Salt Lake. He works from 5 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. every single day! Then he comes home, sleeps, and goes straight back to work! If I get to see him during the day, I see him for a few minutes at a time! I'm so grateful for such a hard working husband but I miss him like CRAZY! I am so excited for Christmas this year because I get my husband back!

I'm fat!

My favorite comment from this week:

"Mrs. Ferry, Priscilla didn't think you were pregnant. She said sometimes bellies just get fat."

Kids make me smile! :)

Beck Family

My family was all together for the first time in a long time! My little brother just got home from his mission and my sister was in from California for Thanksgiving so we took FAMILY PICTURES!!