Welcome to the blog Graham! Graham was born at 40 weeks, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz. He received a diagnosis of duodenal atresia (an intestinal blockage) by ultrasound when his mom was 32 weeks pregnant. Duodenal atresia occurs when the first part of the intestine does not form correctly during gestation, leaving the stomach blocked off from the rest of the intestinal tract.
While this diagnosis put Graham at risk for a preterm delivery, he was born just days before his due date. He was able to have surgery to repair his intestine laparoscopically at just 3 days old! Unfortunately, because of this condition, Graham was unable to feed prior to his surgery and wasn’t able to begin limited feedings until days after his procedure. During this time, babies typically receive IV nutrition, but they are often unhappy about not being fed by mouth.
I got to meet Graham just a few short weeks after he was born, but he was already healing nicely and getting to enjoy some milk. 🥳 It was so nice to meet you, Graham!
