Baby William

William Richard Overberg entered this world on Monday, April 18 at 7:08 pm. He was born at 6 lbs, 1 oz and 18 -1/2 " long. He entered this world beautiful and our hearts filled again with the love for our child.

Before William was born, we were told there was a high possibility that he would have an Esophageal Atresia and a Trachea - Esophageal Fistula (T-E Fistula). After he was born, the doctors checked, and he had both. The upper portion of his esophagus ended in a blind pouch and the lower portion was connected to the trachea through the fistula. On Tuesday at 12:00 pm, William went into surgery to correct both and at 2:00 surgery was complete. We met with the surgeons and they told us surgery was successful and both ends of the esophagus were long enough to be connected. They had to pull the lower portion more than they wanted, but they were able to connect. The fistula was also repaired. Now we had to wait 1 week to have an esophagram (x-ray on the esophagus) to see if there are any leaks.
William has a Type - C esphegeal atresia and TE Fistua

During the week between, there have been many ups and downs, but William is a fighter and did well. He was breathing on his own before the surgery, but due to anesthesia, had to be put on a ventilator. He was also put on sedation level pain medicine. By Friday, the doctor's had worked to reduce the pain medicine and to remove the ventilator. It was removed Friday evening, and William had a few rough patches throughout the weekend. On Monday morning, he was put back on both the ventilator and the pain medicine to help him breathe and rest. The ventilator is a smaller tube, and he is on steroids to help with the inflammation from surgery and from having the larger tube in.

On Tuesday, we received blessed news that the surgery was successful and there were no leaks!! The doctor's are hoping that the smaller tube will not cause issues when it's removed and are going to more gradually reduce the pain medicine so William should have an easier time when it is stopped.

Our next step after the ventilator and the pain medicine is removed and stopped, will be to work on feedings. William is on a continuous drip for feeding, and that will gradually be increased. We're taking it one step at a time, and are blessed to have such wonderful doctors, surgeons, and nurses working with William.

We are also very blessed to have such a large support network and thank all our family and friends for continued support and prayers.
Proud Daddy Mommy and WilliamBeautiful baby boy
William after surgeryProud big sisters :)