The Foxden

Alexander Lee Fox was born at 6:47 Tuesday morning. I have recieved several congratulations from many people, and I wanted to thank you all.

However, there's more. Not long after birth, some problems were noticed. It turns out that Alexander has a very serious heart defect. The pulmonary valve, which controls the flow of blood leaving the heart for the lungs, is completely closed. In addition, because there was no blood flow during heart formation, that side of his heart is smaller than it should be.

Newborn babies have a few extra arteries around the heart to allow blood pumped from the other side of the heart to reach the lungs. This helps keep them healthy in the womb. In Alex's case, this is keeping him alive. Since these normally close within days of birth, Alex is on some drugs to keep these open. For now, this is providing enough flow to keep Alex healthy and happy.

Wednesday night, Alex had catheter surgery to explore the structure of the heart. They were able to puncture the closed valve, allowing some blood flow there. However, Alex will require at least one (possibly more) additional surgery to correct the problem. There are no surgeons who can perform complex infant heart surgery in Seattle, so we will be traveling to USC Medical Center in Southern California tomorrow.

I ask only for your prayers and thoughts as we make it through these difficult times. With your help, we will make it through.