Right before leaving to go to the hospital-last picture as a family of 3!
Dylan Wilson Bowman arrived into this world bright and early on Saturday, June 16th at 1:49am naturally-yes, he came so fast there was no time for an epidural! He weighed in at 5 pounds 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. There was a team of 11 doctors and nurses in the room just for Dylan and they immediately began to work on him and whisk him off to the NICU where our Cardiologist was waiting to do an echo on his heart. Upon scanning Dylan, it was immediately apparent that we would need open heart surgery to correct his narrowed aorta.
First picture with our new addition.
We found out on Monday, June 18th around lunch time that a case had been cancelled and Dylan would receive his surgery in about 3 hours (we were thankful that we had such short notice-less time to go through all the worrying and "what-ifs"). We met with our surgeon, Dr. Mettler, and anaesthesia to discuss all the risks and sign our releases to do the surgery. As soon as the doctors left our room, Jeff and I both fell apart. In the section of Dylan's heart that needed to be repaired, is an intersection of the heart, vocal cords, and a vessel that sends fat from the stomach to the upper body. As Dr. Mettler said "the good Lord could have made it a little easier on us." Indeed...
NICU
We spent the afternoon in prayer and waited for our hourly updates from our surgical nurse. It was excruciating. When Dr. Mettler emerged after surgery around 7 to discuss in detail how things went, and we got a good report, there weren't enough thank you's in the world for that man. How can you ever express to someone how appreciative you are that they literally saved your child's life...someone who gave Dylan the opportunity to be a "normal" little boy and go on to do anything he wants in life...how do you ever say thank you to that?!?!
NICU
Soon did we realize, up until now, this was the easy part. When Jeff and I walked into the PC-ICU, to see Dylan after surgery, there are no words to describe the condition our child was in. We had spent so much time focused on getting through surgery, we didn't realize the recovery would be the most intense and difficult part. We spoke with Dylan's entire care team-his surgeon, his cardiologist, his critical care doctor, his nurse practitioner, his respiratory therapist, and his nurse. Dylan was hooked up to more machines than you can even imagine exist. Seeing the breathing tube, chest tube, and so many beeping machines....it's more than any person should ever have to see....
Intentionally, there are no pictures being posted from the PC-ICU
Luckily, Dylan only required about 30 hours in the PC-ICU before we were able to finish his recovery on the 7th floor in the Cardiac wing. Getting to the 7th floor was the best feeling in the world...to anyone who is in the heart world, it means you are stable and close to going HOME! On the 7th floor, we actually got to start participating in Dylan's care...and holding him, and snuggling with him, and loving on him. Up until the 7th floor, we had only been allowed to hold Dylan once a day, and it was such a process with all the machines and wires and cords (spaghetti-as they're lovingly referred to), that we really tried to plan it to be able to hold him for an hour (that's about as long as we could get before he had to be stuck or tested or checked). Having to touch your child through an incubator is not the way anyone expects to have to "bond" with their new baby.
Ty meeting Dylan for the 1st time-the day before we left the hospital.
Gloriously, we were able to leave the 7th floor on Saturday, June 23rd, exactly one week after Dylan was born. Oh, what a wonderful day! There are no words for what it felt like to be able to leave with our baby. Finally, he was ours! All the mornings of waking up on the postpartum floor and hearing the babies cry in their mother's rooms beside us, and my heart aching began to vanish. The visions of the child coding in a room across the hall from Dylan in the PC-ICU began vanishing. The constant sound of machines beeping, began to vanish. And although, I could ramble on and on about the difficult things we saw, I really want to convey that what we felt while we were there is so much more relevant. Many times Jeff and I looked at each other and said, isn't it amazing how many people are praying for us right this second. Prayers were felt, and we were blessed that every single person we encountered at Vanderbilt was an angel on earth. Anyone who works at Vanderbilt from the janitors to the highest doctor, they are the most wonderful, compassionate, caring people you could ever hope to meet. It is a very special calling to work there.
Leaving the hospital!
We are grateful and humbled by our experience. After all the things we saw, you will always hear us say it could have been so much worse and we are so lucky. Make no mistake our child had open heart surgery at 2 days old, and it was an incredibly difficult experience, an experience that even reflecting on still generates tears. But, we met folks whose children were waiting on heart transplants and getting their second pace makers at 11 years old and kids who were surviving with half a heart....you will quickly find that if you think you have it bad, you have it so good. If you ever need perspective, go sit on the 3rd floor in the children's hospital, that's the surgical waiting area....and I can promise you, you will gain perspective....
Brotherly love
Ok...as you can see, I could go on and on and on about what this experience was like. But, I will end with how appreciative we are for the power of prayer. People who knew us, didn't know us, or barely knew us, prayed diligently for Dylan. We spent a week constantly wrapped in prayer and love, how can we ever thank each of you for reaching out to us, for giving of your time and love....we can only say that we have been touched and we will pay it forward. Please keep Dylan in your prayers as we begin doing his follow up testing to make sure his heart is functioning correctly. We send as much love as you've sent to us, right back to you all.
