Elijah Daniel Porta

Our boy Elijah was born February 20, at 9:55 am. He weighed 4 lb, 14 oz, and was 18 inches long. Megan did a great job pushing but he just didn't want to come (the umbilical was a little too short) so they had to do a quick C-section (I got booted cause the epideral wasn't working and they had to put her under).

Mom is recovering, it's a painful recovery but she's an amazing woman and is doing well all things considered.

Elijah had some tests run and we got some more specific information about his condition. The full name of his heart defect is Tetralogy of Fallot/Pulmonary Atresia/Mapcas (you can look that up if you want the full details). It's a more rare type of Tetralogy but the good news is that we will be able to bring him home before surgery and have him gain some good weight. He'll have check-ups every two weeks and if they go well he'll have another Angiogram (a procedure that goes into the heart to look at it) at the 4-month mark to see how his heart and arteries have grown. After that test we'll know when surgery will be needed and have an idea as to how many operations will be needed. If things go as good as they possibly can (a slim chance but at least a chance) he might be able to have just one surgery. Most likely though he will still require several surgeries before everything gets repaired. Obviously more surgeries mean more risks so we are hoping for as few as possible.

Thank you all for you prayer and support. Megan should be discharged this Saturday and Elijah will be able to come anywhere between a week and 3 weeks.

Please continue to pray for Momma (for a quick recovery) and the little guy. Elijah could use prayer for the pulmonary arteries to grow, for his kidney to start functioning properely (his right one didn't develop and as yet his left hasn't been working well and allowing him to urinate enough), for good reactions to medications/treatments, and just overall health and happiness.

He's a wonderful, beautiful person...just like his Ma!

ps. We've taken several pictures and will try to have them posted soon.