My new preemie nephew Jaiden Zachery Castro

My niece had her baby on Feb. 24, 2012. We knew he would be born early because they spotted some complications on an ultrasound and she was sent to Spokane for more testing. Her unborn baby had something called Duodenal Atresia. HUH? Was my first thought. Upon further researching online I came to realize it was basically a blockage in the intestinal tract making it impossible to have a bowel movement. This would require surgery soon after he was born. Thirty percent of babys with this have Downs Syndrome. It was a very stressful time for our family. Upon further testing it showed that the baby did not have Downs.

My niece was required to go to Spokane every week for her appt. At one of her appt they discovered that her blood pressure was super high. They ended up admitting her because she had Preeclamsia. Plus she had a large amount of amniotic fluid due to the fact that the baby could not circulate the fluid because of the blockage so it continued to build up inside of her. The nurse in Spokane said that a normal amount of fluid is 24-27 ml. But she had 47. YIKES. She looked like she was carrying twins and she was miserable.

So she was admitted on Feb. 6 and had to stay on bedrest. Oh the joys of that...ugh. I was so thankful for my brother and husband who gave her a Priesthood blessing. The dr. said she would continue to get sicker and sicker until they would be forced to take the baby C-section. Well that isn't what happened.

She didn't continue to get sicker and sicker. They were expecting to take it a couple of days after she got there. But although her blood pressure wasn't low it didn't get high enough to take him C-section. She was able to keep the baby inside her for another 18 days until her water broke and she was able to have a natural delivery. LOVE THE PRIESTHOOD. She isn't a member of the church and she was touched by the blessing.

After the baby was born he was taken away and checked and fixed with tubes and such. He weighed in at 4 lbs. 5 oz. A little smaller than they thought but still very good compared to what it could have been. PHEW. He had surgery a few days later. While inside they noticed that the intestine wasn't actually blocked like they thought. It wasn't even connected so they sewed it together. He is doing very very well. They have taken away the respirator and he is breathing on his own. He still has a sucking tube that goes through his nose down into his stomach that suctions out his stomach. They have also recently found that he has a heart mumur that probably won't heal on its own. They will probably have to do surgery on that when he is about two. But this little guy is a fighter and oh so cute. He is so small too. The pictures make him seem much bigger.

So grateful to all those who have had a hand in helping this little boy. Thankful for the surgeon who had the nurse call my niece to let her know that they were half way done with the surgery and that everything was going well. They called her every ten minutes after that to keep her updated. The surgery didn't last as long as they expected and that was great. Baby Jaiden gets a bit fussy and has just now started to be able to eat. He has taken a small amount of Pedialite in a bottle and just guzzled it down. Tomorrow is the big day trying mothers milk and maybe...just maybe might be able to nurse. Thanks to all the prayers and help and everything in our family. My niece had to stop working early due to bed rest and daddy hasn't been working for quite some time now. Things will work out. There have been some generous people. She is next on the waiting list to stay at the Ronald McDonald house and our family has collected MANY pop tabs that help with the cost of living for the parents of those staying at the hospital. Thank you so much for those who have helped with the pop tabs. If you would like to help with the pop tabs please leave me a note and I will give you more info. We have even received some from California. Thanks Sarah.