Bryce's CDH actually had a good prognosis. He had a left-sided hernia, but the liver had not protruded into the chest cavity. He had a full left lung and even part of his right lung. He spent his entire life in the NICU at St. Louis Children's Hospital. He was on a ventilator for the first two days and then went on the oscillator to help him breathe. In his isolette, he had an air bed, as these had shown very good results for CDH babies, according to his primary nurse. Our goal was to help him grow big enough to have the hernia repair surgery. He was only 2 lbs 8 1/2 oz and 13 1/2 inches long at birth, and this was at 36 weeks! He had a bit of bleeding in the brain, which can happen with premies, but our doctors weren't too concerned.

Had the CDH been Bryce's only problem, he may have been able to fight it. After two weeks in the NICU, however, our battle with his kidneys finally won and we let him go. He had an unidentifiable problem with his kidneys that probably caused his intrauterine growth restriction, making him so tiny. It is unknown if the issues were related.