It is sounding better and better

Close up of Dylan

Video of Dylan opening his eyes and hiccuping. Also shows his size relative to my hand.

The tests keep coming back and it is sounding better and better. There are still some unknowns, but we could not be happier with where we are at right now. There were four conditions that had been diagnosed before he was born:

Tetralogy of Fallot-Yesterday they did the echo on his heart and found that he does indeed have tetralogy. However, on the scale of severity, his is mild. The heart and lungs are working together just fine and are able to provide enough oxygen to the body. This means there is no immediate action needed, but he will still need surgery at 3-6 months to fix the defect. In terms of heart defects, tetralogy of fallot is one of the most common (actually the most common in Utah) and the success rate is very high for correcting the problem. If you have to pick a heart defect, tetralogy of fallot is the one to have.

Hydrocephalus-They were able to look at the size of the ventricles in the brain and found that while the two side ventricles are slightly enlarged, they are within normal limits for 34 weeks.

Duodenal Atresia-They have confirmed that he does not have this condition. Food is moving just fine through his digestive track.

Posterior Urethral Valves-The ultrasound they did yesterday showed that his bladder is slightly larger than average, but still within the normal limits. In addition, he has been able to urinate with ease. They also don't see any damage to the bladder, kidneys, or ureters that would be caused by this condition.

In addition to all this good news, he is processing food just fine and so they are going to start him on breast milk today. That is a big milestone for any premature baby.

The last big unknown is whether he has some type of chromosonal disorder. DiGeorge's Syndrome is still a possibility but too hard to predict at this point. We will definitely let you know when we find out.

So in summary, three of his four conditions are gone and the heart defect is not severe. This truly is a miracle and we are so grateful.

Jenn is recoverying nicely. She was finally able to get some much needed sleep last night. The nurse was nice enough to create a plan for the night to consolidate the number of visits she had to have. There were still a lot, but much better than it would have been otherwise. Jenn was also able to walk to the end of the hall and back. She is still in pain, but doesn't complain too much. :) Her appetite has been healthy and she has not experienced any nausea. She is very excited to go over and see Dylan today in the NICU.