Recovering

Shanna was released from the hospital today. She is doing well and is with Henry as I write this. Shanna has access to a sleep/rest room near Henry's unit so she is able to switch easily between visiting with Henry and laying down to get rest.

Henry is in the cardiac ICU and will most likely be there for the next week. He has a full time nurse and gets constant attention from the doctors in the unit. The team here is terrific and I can't see anything more that can be done to keep him comfortable and recovering well.

The doctors decided not to go forward with the Norwood procedure but instead did a less complex procedure. This was great news as it meant that his heart was on bypass and stopped for a shorter period of time. This was a small miracle in itself. His surgery was pushed to later in the day as a result of this change. They perform surgery in the order of complexity and this pushed him to the #2 slot. There were 4 surgeries of this type performed on Monday.

They left Henry's chest open to accommodate the swelling of his heart. This is normal and they plan to close his chest Wednesday or Thursday. He is also on a ventilator and that is expected to come out a couple of days later.

Shanna and I have access to Henry 24x7 and we are staying across the street from the hospital. Ben and Will are with Grandma and Grandpa and are doing well also. Thanks everyone for your thoughts, prayers, and wonderful support.

Steve and Shanna.

Surgery Day

Henry went to surgery today at 12:15 pst. Everything looks good. Surgery is expected to take 3-5 hours.

Henry is out of surgery (4:30 pm pst) and is recovering. The doctors are very pleased with Henry's results.. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. Sorry for the brief notes, I'll expand on the days events as soon as I get the chance. Steve.

More Pictures

Last night Henry was baptized by Father Steve Sallot. Below are some more pictures. He is doing great. Henry's surgery will be tomorrow morning.

Welcome Henry !!

Henry was born today at 10:04 am PST!

Shanna and Henry are doing very well. Shanna has been moved to room 706 of Hollywood Presbyterian.

More to follow. Steve.

All Set

We spent the day yesterday at CHLA meeting with various specialists and making final preparations for the delivery on Friday. An MRI and EchoCardiogram confirm that Henry is doing well and he should be well prepared for his surgery next Monday.

Henry's full name will be Henry George Schattmaier. His middle name is in honor of his Great Grandpa Grossman.

Shanna's parents John and Jane are on their way from Oklahoma and will arrive today. We are all looking forward to their visit.

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.

Shanna and Steve.

Catch Up

To start, and this is Steve writing by the way, I'd like to apologize to anyone that has not been kept up to date up to this point. And I realize this is most everyone. This blog should help. As we move through the next month I will post regular updates.

Baby Henry will be born the morning of September 26th around 10:00 AM PST. He will be delivered by Dr. Gumm by C-Section at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles.

Baby Henry has a heart defect that was discovered during a routine ultrasound in mid-May. Describing the heart defect gets pretty technical pretty fast. In short, the left side of Henry's heart is underdeveloped.

Aside from this diagnosis Shanna's pregnancy has been relatively normal. Baby Henry is in good shape as Shanna's heart has been helping Henry out. Aside from his heart Henry has been developing as any normal baby would.

On the 26th, after Henry is born, he will be taken to Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. This hospital is adjacent to Hollywood Presbyterian and it has one of the best pediatric cardiac units in the country. After transport to CHLA Henry's heart will be examined by a team of doctors and he will be prepared for surgery. The operation will be performed the morning of September 29th by Dr. Starnes. Most likely Dr. Starnes will perform the Norwood procedure (for those that would like to learn more).

We expect Henry to be in the hospital for 2-3 weeks after his surgery.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted.

Steve and Shanna.