Camping with a baby

With Seth's birth, we didn't get to do any camping this summer. So after 12 nights in the woods last year, we were pretty s'more starved. We did our best to remedy the situation on Friday night. You can actually do some pretty good camping right at home.

Tinfoil dinners are easy in the oven and actually cook a little better, though nothing tastes better than slightly scorched potatoes under a pine tree. Afterward, you can roast mini-s'mores over a candle.

Finally, we set up a tent on the floor of the boys room. For some reason it was 10 degrees hotter in the tent than in the surrounding room. The boys kicked (sometimes accidentally) each other all night, and eventually made the transfer back to the bed about 4:15 am. At least no one used the "bushes" for a bathroom break.

Oh, and they cried when we put the tent away the next day . . .

Fall Drive

Every year we drive Payson Canyon to look at the fall leaves. It is one of our favorite family activities. Randy and I started the tradition when we were engaged. We take a picnic, find some acorns, hike around, and take lots of pictures. So here are the pictures from this year. We went with Randy's sister and her family, so we were able to get a family picture. That doesn't happen too often.

We also tried a new "hike" to Devil's Kitchen, which is like a mini-Bryce Canyon. We usually don't make it this far on the Nebo Loop. Instead, we turn around long before, but everyone was in a good mood so we pressed on. It was more like a 3 minute walk to look at some really red rock formations. We had fun though.

We are already planning another trip. We went early this year so we think we could go again and still enjoy the leaves. If anyone wants to come, let us know!

Seth only made it part way up the Grotto Trail. He was eating for the first half of the hike.

I love this family picture. Mark is cheesing, Dax is talking, Randy is making his regular "Natalie is making me take too many pictures face," Seth is squirming, and I'm just glad everyone is looking at the camera.

We love seeing the colors of fall!

"Hiking" out to Devil's Kitchen

Devil's Kitchen

Pictures of Seth's Insides!

Here are the pictures of Seth's coarctation. The top picture shows the recurrence of the narrowing. Look closely and you'll also see the measurements. The aorta before the branches is 7.49 mm wide. Down at the bottom of the aorta it measures 6.78 mm, which is normal after the branching. Up where the coarctation occurs, you can see that the aorta measures only 3.58 mm. In addition, the "color" of the aorta is important. The lighter it appears, the narrower it is. At the coarctation, it becomes almost invisible. 

You can see a couple of other things in these pictures. Three staples appear at the narrowing-- remnants of Seth's surgery. You can also see the tube they've inserted which has curled at the end into the aorta. The bottom picture doesn't show the measurements, but it's pretty clear that the narrowing in the aorta looks better.

Before the angioplasty

After the angioplasty

Seth is Home

Now that's our happy baby!

This morning we saw the doctor around 8:30. She said that everything looked great and it was time for Seth to head home. I asked about the blood pressure (the systolic is still 20 points higher than it was before admittance, but it's only 103), and she said it was well within the normal range.

Now we just watch for any infection around the insertion point. (The insertion point, where they inserted the balloon looks like a tiny snake bite-- two little holes and a bruise.) And of course, Seth has to go in for a check-up with his regular cardiologist in 30 days.

We also have the pictures of the coarc and a video to upload, but both are beyond my skill and must wait for Nat to wake up . . .

I finally woke up! Here is the video that Randy mentioned above. We are glad to be home and hope we can get back to normal life.

Seth's Recovery

Hey, this is Randy . . .

I just got home from the hospital. Not much was going on to be honest. Seth was groggy and whimpering when he was awake, but he slept most of the day. He was eating well, and his diaper output was good, too.

His blood pressure has remained high, but not dangerously high. Our nurse couldn't detect a pulse in his feet (this is critical as those of you who have been following along know), but the doctor found it. (I'm not sure our nurse could find her own pulse-- she's easily the least competent person we've had help us.)

So Seth would sleep, wake and whimper, eat, and sleep again. I kept telling him to stop being such a baby, but he never laughs at that, even though it's obviously hilarious. He did give us just enough smiles (2 to be exact) to let us know he still recognizes us and loves us. And though he appears to be in some pain, he didn't once complain that his aorta hurt-- brave boy!

We are happy to be through this part of the procedure, though I'm pretty sure Natalie is in for a long night!

Seth's Angioplasty

We just met with the doctor, and she said Seth's procedure went wonderfully. When they tested his gradient, they found a difference of about 30. (The gradient is a mathematical ratio that measures the pressure above and below the narrowing. Zero, of course, is a gradient with no narrowing.) Seth's initial gradient before surgery was 47. The doctor reported that the gradient is currently 5. She is very pleased with this number.

The doctor showed us photos and printed hard copies showing the coarctation before and after the angioplasty. We'll upload some images later, but it was interesting to see the balloons that they used to stretch the artery. First, they used a 6 mm balloon, then a 7 mm balloon. On the x-ray type images, it looks exactly like it sounds-- it's a tiny balloon.

Now we are waiting for Seth to wake up. His blood pressure was alarmingly high when we first saw him (174/100), but has dropped to a manageable 119/55. That's still high. They think he may be upset, though he's not showing any physical signs of discomfort. He is currently laying on Natalie's lap moaning as he tries to wake up. He was too "out" to feed yet, even though he is allowed to eat whenever he can.

Seth Goes to Surgery

Okay, technically "Seth Goes to Procedure" is more accurate. There are no actual blades or cutting with his angioplasty.

We just met with the doctor and anesthesiologist. The doctor was very informative and we learned some things about a coarctation that made a lot more sense. I'll discuss them below. We took a few pictures of Seth and sent him into the operating room. The procedure is supposed to take around 3 hours "from time he's in our arms 'til time he's in our arms." The anesthesia will be much lighter this time. He'll be recovered in 15 minutes rather than 15 hours.

Bye bye!

The doctor told us the reason for Seth's recurrence of his coarctation. (If you're not into detailed medical speak, you can stop reading here). When you're born, your aorta isn't being used. This is because it takes blood to your lungs, which aren't used in the womb. It also takes blood to your lower body, so while the aorta is shut off, you have a temporary valve called the pulmonary ductus artery (PDA) that bypasses the lungs and hooks on later. The PDA is made of elastic material which contracts in the first week of life as the aorta takes over. Coarctation is caused by (we were never told this before) some of that elastic material extending into the aorta. When it contracts, it contracts the aorta causing a narrowing (coarctation).

The surgery that Seth had a few months ago was set to remove that elastic material. The problem is, you can't tell the good stuff from the bad stuff. So the surgeon makes his best guess at what needs to be removed. Apparently, Seth still had some elastic material left in his aorta, so it continued to contract and re-narrowed the aorta. Obviously, it is less severe this time.

Now, we arrive at the angioplasty. They put a small balloon in his femoral artery near the groin, guide it up to the narrow spot, and expand it. The doctor used the word "cut" at this point-- "the balloon cuts into the narrowed material . . ." although I'm not sure how that works. Her explanation is that the wall of his artery is thicker and needs expanding. There is a very minor chance of breaking through the arterial wall, of course, and an even greater chance of having to do this again as Seth grows.

We were also told that if this procedure is unsuccessful, they'll repeat it. If it fails twice, it's back to surgery.

Of course, Seth took all this like a trooper. He was smiling, cooing, and oblivious as they took him into the operating room. We weren't quite so well . . .

Seth in his hospital outfit. Apparently, they think he's a 2 year-old and not a 2 month-old!