Update.....SVT

So Berrett was in the NICU for swallowing muconium and an infection. He couldn't hold his temperature and his glucose was low. The first few days he had a feeding tube, oxygen, and an IV. We were there for 8 days and about to be discharged in one hour and his heart rate shot up to 300. That is like 5 beats per second! The alarm went off the doctor kicked me out of the room. I watched through the window as all the nurses rushed over. I heard the Dr say get me the cardiologist and ice! Then they covered his entire head in ice. He was screaming and I was freaking out. Then I heard the dr say his chest collapsed! It took 30 minutes to get his heart rate down. But luckily the ice worked . If it hadn't they have a medication they use.

The reason this occured is because of a disorder called (SVT) Supraventricular Tachycardia. It is when the electrical current in the heart that makes it pump gets messed up and makes the heart rate go up. The scary thing is that you can not tell that it is happening. When he gets older it will be easier to notice and he will be able to tell me his heart is racing.

Sometimes with SVT there are heart defects that are causing the SVT, but the ekg and the echocardiograph came back negative for any. So that means Berret's is because he has more than one pathway for the electrical current to travel on. And you should only have one.

So I have to use yhe stethoscope every few hours and check his heart rate. If it is up to high I go right to the ER. If he has one more episode they are going to put him on the medication. I will have to administer it to him 4 times a day. With SVT it is completely random. He might not have another episode for a week, a day or twenty years.

If an episode goes unnoticed and I don't catch it after 8-12 hours he will start to go into heart failure. This obviously causes death, brain damage, liver and other organs start shutting down. They told me he will start to turn grey, tummy will swell, tired, out of breath, ect. Pretty much things that are difficult to notice in an infant. Those things show up if they have a tummy ache or anything. They said if I am even questioning it I need to come in.

 Needless to say I am very nervous. I really want to buy a monitor but the dr said it would make me more nervous beeping all the time and I will be fine with the stethascope. WHATEVER! If he has one more episode I am going to get one.

Today he was hooked up to a computer to monitor his heart for 24 hours. Normally in this situationI would be a walking disaster but I can literally feel the spirit and everyone's prayers getting me through. 

So thanks to everyone that is praying for us. Please continue to pray that he won't have any more episodes.