Joshua Morgan

Joshua was born, at 36 weeks and 4 days, on November 25, 2017, at 7:55 pm. He was delivered early due to his dropping heart rate during my routine checkups.  Once Joshua was here, he was 3 pounds and 6.1 oz, and went straight to the Edward NICU. While he was there, it was discovered that he was breathing fast, so a specialist was called in to look him over.  The Cardiologist came to Joshua’s room and explained to me that he had a heart defect. The defect included ventricular septal defect, which was a large hole between the ventricles, patent foramen ovale, which was a small hole between the atria, and a narrow aorta. To get him to surgery, Joshua had to gain weight, grow, and be strong enough to withstand the surgery. Little man had some setbacks, but that didn’t stop him from coming out of the wonderful care of the Edward Team ready for the next step. After a month and a half, Joshua was transferred on Jan 16, to Advocate Christ for surgery.

On Jan 22, 2018, Joshua’s VSD & PFO was closed. On Jan 23, Joshua coded, and they had to put in a breathing tube in order to get him to breathing and his heart started again. I was so afraid for my son, but he showed me that he is a fighter.  It was such a blessing when Joshua went from a breathing tube to no breathing tube. He went home with a feed tube and new medication. 
The doctor said that as Josh gets older his Aorta will widen, and Joshua won’t need another surgery. Even so, Joshua sees his cardiologist every 3-6 months for checkups, to make sure his heart is doing well and to check on that Aorta. 

Although Joshua also suffered brain damage in the womb, he is now 4 years and continue to develop his motor skills and speaking with the help of his therapy team. He continues to work with a team of specialists to help him meet key milestones. Joshua love books, toys that make noise, his ABC’s, 123’s, colors, shapes, and Miss Monica on YouTube.