A Week Old But Many Bumps on the Road

Friday January 3, 2014

DISCLAIMER: You will need a box of tissues to read today's post.

Marcello Cristian

We were awoken today at 3:30 AM by a call from Dr. Stutey (Marcello's Neonatologist). They had been monitoring his stomach and noticed some discoloration that was alarming to them and so they did an x-ray. The x-ray had confirmed that there was air in his stomach. We were called because they were going to discuss with Dr. Kakaska, the Pediatric Surgeon, if surgery would be needed. It was thought that a possible small hole was in the stomach.They would not be certain until Dr Kakaska could read the results and make a determination. Of course, Mommy could not go back to sleep and eventually fell asleep an hour later.

Manuel Gabriel

We received the call from Dr Kakaska at 6:30 AM and he felt that our best option was to perform surgery and repair any damage that he might find. We tearily provided our consent for surgery and immediately got dressed and headed out to the hospital to be with him. Dr. Kakaska met with us after the surgery and explained that he had found a hole in Marcello's intestine.  He had to remove a small portion of the intestine just above the colon and gave him an ostomy bag. Right now the two critical factors that will be monitored are kidney failure and excessive bleeding. The next few days will continue to be critical to ensure that he is recovering properly from the surgery.

After the surgery was complete and the team was cleaning him up he actually peed. (we will take this as a SMALL victory). Dr. Kakaska was worried about Marcello's clotting factor and that he was not clotting as quickly as he would like to see. Therefore, he is receiving quite a bit of blood and blood products to replace what he had lost in the surgery and his incision site. His respiratory functions are currently stable as well as his blood pressure so those are both good signs. 

Manuel remained stable for us today and allowed his Mommy and Daddy to provide their attention to Marcello. He had to get a blood transfusion and his urine output was a little low. It is thought that he also has a PDA, like Marcello, and an ultrasound was ordered to check for the PDA. He also has a renal ultrasound ordered for the morning to ensure that everything else is OK. We had a BIG Milestone today for Manuel, as today he finally pooped (small victories).

Mateo and Macario with Manuel

Mateo and Macario were allowed to see their brother's today for the first time!!! Marquez was too small to go back to the NICU. They were just amazed at how small they were.and kept saying look how small they are. Both Marcello and Manuel kicked and moved for their brothers as if they were saying hello to them. Mateo and Macario handled the situation pretty well and we hope that one day they will be able to hold them.

Macario and Mateo with Marcello

Mommy and Daddy are scared. A parent should never receive a call that surgery is needed for your preemie, and today has been such an emotionally draining day for Mommy and Daddy. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful network of supportive family and friends. The boys received three prayers today from the Hospital Chaplin, Pastor Currao, and Pastor Lepley. 

Daddy met a grandfather named Alvin (Moose) who had a grandson also in the NICU and he came up to me this morning out of the blue and said that God placed it in his heart to do something for our boys. He then handed us two children's bibles (one for each of them) and Daddy about lost it in tears. Daddy tries not to show too much emotion but that gester just touched his heart.

We continue to pray for Marcello's recovery and pray that his kidneys continue to function and that his clotting factor's improve. We are so grateful for the prayers that we have received. Right now recovery is in God's hands and we continue to pray for a positive outcome.