Diagnosed with Tracheomalacia

Today went surprisingly very well! I couldn't of been more pleased with the amount of attention and great care we got from the staff at Saint Johns.
Since Will was going under he was not allowed anything to eat or drink after midnight, He ended up waking up on his own at 11:30 pm, must not of wanted to miss a meal. So I fed him right before the cutoff. I was worried what the morning would bring since he is so used to waking up and eating right away but with some help from the binkie he was a perfect angel! I pumped in the morning and we were off, left our house at 6 am! Luke's mom met me at the hospital, I was SO thankful to have her there. We were shown to our room and admitted. Everything went so smoothly, and Will didn't even mind his new little dress:

He was SUCH a good boy, I know I keep saying that, but keep in mind he hasn't eating since 11 pm and he is in a scary hospital, naked!

After talking with some nurses, anesthesiologists, and the doctor he was taken back. My full term, perfectly healthy, breastfed baby, was taken out of my arms and placed in a blanket in the arms of a doctor followed by two anesthesiologists and a nurse and they all walked away.... Mommy had a mini meltdown. Then the wait began, Kris and I checked our phones, since it was still so early there weren't many emails for me to check. We called my mom to update her, and I texted Luke updates and before we knew it (about an hour) the phone rang. Will did great and is in recovery! Soon after the doctor came in to discuss what he found.

He said Will would be waking up soon and I could go see him in a bit. He found that Will has what they refer to as:

Tracheomalacia Tracheomalacia in a newborn occurs when the cartilage in the windpipe (trachea) has not developed properly.

The way the doctor further explained this to us: Your trachea is supposed to be the shape of a tunnel (like you drive through) flat on the bottom and curved on the top. Will's is flat on the bottom and not very curved on the top, which in turn flattens even more when he coughs which creates his barky sounding cough..... furthermore, your trachea is made of cartilage the same type in your ear, in a baby it is not fully hardened for a while.

This is something that most babies grow out of and he said that Will did not have a severe case of it, most babies will grow out of it around a year or two.

Again SO great to have Kris there, another person listening to all of this information with me, and a nurse at that, she helps me keep so calm. :)

If Will gets a cold we really need to watch it and see how long his cough lasts, since his coughs cant get progressive (cough things up) common colds could lead to bacterial infections that we'll need to treat. Of course I'd rather this not even be an issue so we'll do what we can to keep the lil guy healthy. Which brings me to thinking I need to keep breastfeeding as long as possible. I know it helps so much with keeping babies healthy and fighting off bugs so if that is one step I can take to help him I will.

Will is on two reflux meds, one is supposed to help strengthen his esophagus and trachea he will stay on this one for a while.

They are testing the cultures taken out of his lungs and will make sure he doesn't have any current infections and will also test these to see if there is breastmilk in them which would mean he does aspirate, which would mean he does has reflux. We will get these results on Monday.

It felt SO good to have so many answers about my baby, we haven't known what was going on for a long time and we finally do, and there is a plan, and a solution!!

A little later a nurse came to get me to take me to recovery to see Will. Only one of us could go so I went to see my sweet baby. As we walked back the nurse told me how hard it must be to go through this so young... I thought she meant Will at first, then realized she thought I was like 17. A compliment I guess. Whatever, just show me where my baby is lady... ha!

Awwwhhhhhh There he was in his little bed, hooked up to monitors still, he was sleeping soundly and the nurse was imputing all of his information. I sat and stroked his hair and whispered sweet nothings to him and thanked God for our answers.

We went back to our room and to see Gigi, and after more nurses put in more information he finally got his iv's out and I held him....

My sweet sleepy baby back in my arms!

He downed some pediylite and we were out the door! I got home by 10:15 am feed him a little and put him back to sleep, it is 1:30 and the prince is still out like a light. He is going to be one hungry boy when he wakes up!

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughtfulness, care, and concern! So many worse things could happen I know, but it has been torture getting different answers and not knowing, and as hard as today was I am so glad we have an answer and some solutions. I really appreciate all the kind words, prayers, texts, calls, and thoughts today. God bless you all.