Beckham is Born 8/1/2007 @ 11:54am

This website was previously used to update our families how life is going in Iowa. Due to the overwhelming response of all of our wonderful friends and family, Kim and I are going to now use this website to give updates on our new little guy and the adventures our family will now face . We want everybody to know how much we appreciate every phone call, email, text message, prayer, and moment of caring. Events like these really help us to realize how great our lives are and how great the people around us have always been.

Because everybody is receiving this information at different stages in the process I will begin with (logically) the beginning and try and explain how our little guy is doing.

Baby Beck was born at 11:54am on Wednesday the first day of August. The labor process went well and Kim did great. All seemed well and they handed us our baby boy to cuddle and woo which was a bit different from the Gwen experience as Beckham weighed 8 lbs. 11 oz. and is 20.5 inches long. Our little peanut Gwen was a whopping 7 lbs. 2 oz. (she continues to be a little peanut) and so we were proud of a new big boy.

We held Beck for about an hour before I decided to go home and pick up big sister Gwen to see her new little brother. It was as I was readying to leave that I received a call from Kim informing me that in a matter of no-time, the nurses had detected a heart murmur and Beckham was rushed to the NICU at Blank Children's Hospital to be further evaluated by pediatric cardiologists. I rushed back to the hospital without Gwen (who was being watched by our wonderful friends the Giles) in time to see him in that NICU as they were planning to transfer him again; this time to Mercy Medical Center's NICU where they are more equipped to handle cardiac patients.

Beckham has a congenital heart condition called Mitral Valve Stenosis. It is a rare cardiac anomaly in which the mitral valve is narrowed, stiffened, and in his case even incomplete. It is very serious and the pediatric cardiologists told us that the situation is grim. (The picture on the right is a diagram of the heart you can use to reference terms)

As you can see from the picture on the left (taken from the Mayo Clinic website) the hardened mitral valve (also referred to as the bicuspid valve) doesn't allow blood to flow properly from the left atrium to the left ventricle. Two major complications arise from this - 1) Blood backs up in the left atrium and eventually enlarges the heart. 2) The left ventricle is the last stop for blood before it goes to the rest of the body so when it isn't there to be pumped the body isn't getting the needed blood or oxygen. This obviously leads to many more problems.

To relieve the pressure in the left atrium they did a little procedure (an Atrial Septostomy) in which they sent a balloon tipped - catheter (deflated) through his umbilicus...up through the inferior vena cava...into the right atrium...through a little whole in the septum wall that separates the right atrium and the left atrium (which is found in newborns)...and into the left atrium. Once there they inflated the balloon and gave it a tug to try and increase the size of the hole in the atria. Cardiac demolition? By doing so they hope that the pressure within the left atrium could be somewhat alleviated. Due to a hardened septum wall they broke 2 balloons before successfully pulling the third one through. They then removed the catheter and waited until the following morning to do follow up testing.

This morning our pediatric cardiologists (3 different ones) visited us today and did more X-Rays and a very thorough echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). They found that the procedure had done its job and there was less pressure in the left atrium. They also found new problems in the process. They now found that neither of the valves on either the right side or left side of the heart are working properly. There is valvular leakage found on both sides. They rate the severity of the leakage on a scale 1 - 4 and Beck is at a 4...most severe. That causes problems in that blood doesn't flow to the body delivering oxygen to his extremities and organs. It also means that blood is backing up in the left atrium...potentially all the way back into the lungs. That has happened with him though they are giving him medications (Lasix) to alleviate that issue. It is called pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) and can make breathing very difficult if left untreated. Beckham is currently on a ventilator that breathes for him, but he is a little bruiser and he has been trying to breath by himself over the vent.

Now we just wait and see how he grows. He is too small to receive a mitral valve replacement at this time without a huge risk to life; though if push came to shove it would be attempted. Hopefully his heart will grow and mature a little bit more and be able to provide just enough flow that we can get to the point of a safer surgery. There is no chance for things to fix themselves...he will need surgery of some sort someday. We will know a bit more in the days (weeks?) to come. If he doesn't grow and his heart doesn't provide the needed flow then they did mention that there could be the need for a heart transplant. If so, they don't do that in Des Moines, and there would be a whole slew of new information and decisions.

As for his current condition a good description would be 'critically stable'. His condition is critical, but he is stable for now...it is the future that remains uncertain at this time. We will continue to update his condition as we know more and as we can. I just wrote everything above while sitting in his room trying to remember the day's events...I can't guarantee that all the medical information is presented 100% correctly (and I'm too lazy to reread), but it is presented with my mind's best effort (which was nothing to write home about in the first place). If you want to do more research on your own there are great websites such as the Mayo Clinic website.

I hope the above helps, but most importantly we need to give thanks to everybody that has helped us and prayed for us over the last two days. Our wonderful friends from church, my work, Kim's work, school, and our friends and family in Utah have been amazing. The response has been unbelievable. I wish I could thank everybody in name, but I admittedly haven't even always had the presence of mind to know who I was talking to during supportive phone calls. There are a large group of people that deserve a special thanks for going above and beyond for us these last two days in many different ways (If you read that and thought "Are they talking about me (us)?" the answer is yes).

We rely greatly on our Heavenly Father at this time and we are eternally grateful for the spiritual support that has been offered on our behalf from our friends at church and from our wonderful friends of different faiths...it is amazing how a cause like our Baby Beck can unite so many beliefs into one. We have had many visits from Bishop Pence and are grateful for how Waukee Ward has offered us so much support and given us so much.

While we don't know what the future may hold, we do know that if we do our part this experience will make us better and stronger people...regardless of outcome. Our Baby Beckham, though small, has already helped us to learn many of the most important lessons in life.

Our ward will be holding a special fast this Sunday (8/5) for Beckham, we invite all of our friends and family to fast and pray for him on this day.

Love,
Nate, Kim, Gwen, and Beckham