One Strong Boy

We have one strong, fighting little boy!  We found out yesterday that he has a heart murmur, so they did an echo-cardiogram to look at his heart and determine what was causing it.  Right now he has two small holes in his heart, one of which all babies have, it just normally closes when they are born.  Because he was so early and is so small, this hole has not closed yet.  This is common in preemies, and often causes the baby's body trouble because it is sending non-oxygenated blood out to the rest of the body.  This is not causing any problems for my son (in his heart or his breathing), however, and should close on it's own within the next few weeks.  The other hole is between the two lower chambers of his heart, and is also not causing any problems, so the doctors suspect it will close on it's own as well.  It may just take a few months.

He is also now completely off IV fluids (the IV is what is in his left arm in the picture above), and eating 24 ml of milk every three hours.  They have also started fortifying my milk with certain nutrients that he would have received during the third trimester (but obviously missed out on), as well as some extra calories to help him grow and gain weight.

Right now, we just have to be patient and wait.  We will get further results on his hemorrhage next week.  Hopefully this will not cause him any problems either.  I am so proud of my strong little man!