Birth of Cannon

Yesterday morning, Brandon and I went to the hospital to bring our newest addition of our family into this world, little Cannon.  He was a scheduled c-section. We did all the paper work, got ready for surgery, and then headed in.  The surgery went well.  They held up baby cannon at 7:41am and I could hear him make some gurgly sounds.  Brandon left with Cannon while they finished stitching me up.

Brandon said he was following them, and then all of a sudden they said, we can't find a heart beat and started doing chest compressions on him and headed for the NICU.  They told Buddy to go take care of his wife and that everything was going to be okay. Brandon came back in the room with me and the second I saw him, I knew something was wrong. He had tears in his eyes. He said, "they just took Cannon to the NICU. He stopped breathing."  The nurses said, he will be ok.  They took me to my room. My legs were still completely numb.  My nurse came in and asked me if we were LDS. I said yes.  She said, your baby won't be coming in here with you.  He needs to be life-flighted to Primary Children's Hospital. They believe that two of the ventricles in his heart are reversed.  Know as: Transposition of the great vessels (TGV). She asked if we Would you like to have him given a blessing?  There wasn't going to be enough room in the NICU for my bed to be wheeled in, so they lifted me into a wheelchair because I couldn't feel my legs and wheeled me into where Cannon was.  Brandon and his Dad gave Cannon a blessing.  I was not able to hold him, but I was able to put my hand on his chest.

They then took me back to my room while they prepped him for his helicopter ride.  After they prepped him, they brought him back in my room so I could see him one more time.

Then they took him.  I watched from out the window of the life-flight taking off.  Brandon was able to go to the launch pad and help them get him in the helicopter. 

So here is cannon's heart:

Transposition of the great vessels is a congenital heart defect in which the position of the two major vessels that carry blood away from the heart - the aorta and the pulmonary artery - is switched (transposed). This defect is classified as a cyanotic heart defect because the condition results in insufficiently oxygenated blood pumped to the body which leads to cyanosis (a bluish-purple coloration to the skin) and shortness of breath.


This is what it is suppose to look like:

When he got to Primary Children's, the oxygen levels in his blood were 20 and they need to be at least 70.  So they got him on a respirator to help his levels get up higher.  They did a minor surgery where they went in through an artery in his leg and went up to his heart with a little balloon to open up the camber to let oxygen into the other chamber.  Brandon and his Dad went to see Cannon and be with him.  That surgery went well.  After the surgery, his levels went from 20 to 80.  We are so, so happy.

Brandon and Dad came back to Ogden Regional that night to be with me. I have to be in the hospital for a few days because of the c-section. 

The next morning, today, the Primary Children's called us and told us that we had a few scares last night.  Having a hard time getting little Cannon to regulate on the ventilator machine.  They got everything under control though.  He's doing better now.  His oxygen levels are 90.

Brandon went back to Primary Children's to be with Cannon. Here are a few pictures of him this morning.

The Doctor called and said that we are going to have open heart surgery on Cannon tomorrow at 7am.  They will be stopping his heart and putting him on a bypass machine.  They will then swap the two arteries.  After the surgery, they will have to keep the cut open because he will swell a lot.  So they will have an open bandage for a couple days before they can close it.  Please lots of prayers for our baby boy.

We are having a family fast tomorrow.