Belly Closed Even More

Today Mason went through his second belly-closing procedure. Last time, the surgeons performed the procedure at his bed in the NICU, but this time they took him down to the operating room. Overall the procedure went well. The doctors were able to take off approximately 8mm of material from each side of his patch. It is hard to tell for sure how many more procedures will be required to fully close his belly, but it will be at least two more. His belly is now looking more and more normal, although it is quite obvious that things are packed in there pretty tight right now.


As of this evening, Mason is recovering quite well. His vent settings did not change much at all. When we left the hospital tonight, the only change from this morning was that his oxygen went up from 21% to 23%. With that said, it looks like they might increase it slightly more as he was having a hard time maintaining a reasonable oxygen saturation level this evening. Compared to the effects from the first belly closing procedure, these small vent changes are fantastic. The doctors expect to perform the third belly closing procedure sometime around the middle of next week as long as his vent settings continue at the levels they are at tonight.


There were two other significant events today for Mason. First, he pooped for the second time ever. Also, he was flinching when one of the nurses clapped her hands (she was laughing at a joke and the hand clapping was a result of her laughter). Although these may seem like insignificant items, these are both great signs for Mason as it shows that his digestive system is starting to "wake up" and that he is hearing things (a lot of CDH babies have some degree of hearing loss).