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ENLARGE
Nathan Jenkins takes care of his son Ayden, 2 months, at home in Myrtle Creek on Monday. Ayden was born with heart defects and has had two open-heart surgeries.
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ENLARGE
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With a feeding tube in his nose, Ayden Jenkins , 2 months, at home in Myrtle Creek on Monday. Ayden was born with heart defects and has had two open-heart
surgeries.
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MYRTLE CREEK — Everything seemed perfect at first.
Ayden Liam Jenkins was born naturally, on his due date, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces with soft bluish-gray eyes. His grandmothers held him. His brother helped give him his first bath. He fell asleep bundled up in his mother’s arms.
Then a nurse at Mercy Medical Center thought she heard a murmur in his heart. She said it was probably nothing, but they needed to run some tests. Then they ran more tests.
Twenty-one hours after his birth, Ayden and his mom, Jessica Jenkins, sat in a plane on a Life Flight to Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland.
“He was beautiful and perfect, and he looked beautiful and perfect, and I thought they made a mistake,” Jessica said. “And then reality set in and I began crying.”
Ayden had two congenital heart defects, a hole between the bottom two chambers of his heart and an underdeveloped aorta. The pressure in his heart’s top two chambers wasn’t balancing, and the left ventricle of his heart stopped functioning.
Ayden was 4 days old when he underwent his first open heart surgery and his second operation followed nine days later.
After five weeks in the hospital, Nathan and Jessica Jenkins brought Ayden home along with a saturation monitor, a feeding machine and oxygen tanks.
“It was almost overwhelming,” Jessica said. “We were exhausted.”
The couple check Ayden’s oxygen levels every day, carefully administer his daily medicine regimen, and take him to a barrage of doctor’s appointments.
At his Myrtle Creek home, Ayden smiles a lot, watches SpongeBob SquarePants with his 9-year-old brother, Ryan, and his parents can’t get his blond mohawk to lie down.
A red and white T-shirt covers the three-inch scar that trails down the middle of his chest. Tiny X’s on his abdomen mark the places where tubes once entered. A yellow feeding tube runs from his left nostril.
Jessica said the hardest part for her is having to leave Ayden while she goes to work as a corrections officer for Douglas County. She and Nathan, who works in security at Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort, trade off staying home.
Family and friends have helped the family cope with all the changes at home. Ayden’s grandmothers help care for him, clean and cook. Ryan plays with him and has even changed a few diapers.
Ayden is scheduled for one more open heart surgery at the end of September, and the medical bills have begun to arrive. Jessica said she tries not to look at them.
She said it was especially difficult weaning Ayden off the cocktail of drugs he needed after his first surgeries, knowing that he will most likely be back on the medications soon.
Next week, Ayden will undergo more tests, and eventually he will have an operation to get his left ventricle functioning. If the ventricle works, doctors expect he will see a fairly normal future. If the ventricle doesn’t work, he may not be able to play sports.
His parents have a lot of questions to be answered in the coming months. But for now, they are happy to have Ayden home.
“The most important thing for me at this point is just to make sure that he’s comfortable and happy,” Jessica said.
You can reach reporting intern Desiree Aflleje at 957-4211 or by e-mail at daflleje@nrtoday.com.
Ayden Liam Jenkins was born naturally, on his due date, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces with soft bluish-gray eyes. His grandmothers held him. His brother helped give him his first bath. He fell asleep bundled up in his mother’s arms.
Then a nurse at Mercy Medical Center thought she heard a murmur in his heart. She said it was probably nothing, but they needed to run some tests. Then they ran more tests.
Twenty-one hours after his birth, Ayden and his mom, Jessica Jenkins, sat in a plane on a Life Flight to Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland.
“He was beautiful and perfect, and he looked beautiful and perfect, and I thought they made a mistake,” Jessica said. “And then reality set in and I began crying.”
Ayden had two congenital heart defects, a hole between the bottom two chambers of his heart and an underdeveloped aorta. The pressure in his heart’s top two chambers wasn’t balancing, and the left ventricle of his heart stopped functioning.
Ayden was 4 days old when he underwent his first open heart surgery and his second operation followed nine days later.
After five weeks in the hospital, Nathan and Jessica Jenkins brought Ayden home along with a saturation monitor, a feeding machine and oxygen tanks.
“It was almost overwhelming,” Jessica said. “We were exhausted.”
The couple check Ayden’s oxygen levels every day, carefully administer his daily medicine regimen, and take him to a barrage of doctor’s appointments.
At his Myrtle Creek home, Ayden smiles a lot, watches SpongeBob SquarePants with his 9-year-old brother, Ryan, and his parents can’t get his blond mohawk to lie down.
A red and white T-shirt covers the three-inch scar that trails down the middle of his chest. Tiny X’s on his abdomen mark the places where tubes once entered. A yellow feeding tube runs from his left nostril.
Jessica said the hardest part for her is having to leave Ayden while she goes to work as a corrections officer for Douglas County. She and Nathan, who works in security at Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort, trade off staying home.
Family and friends have helped the family cope with all the changes at home. Ayden’s grandmothers help care for him, clean and cook. Ryan plays with him and has even changed a few diapers.
Ayden is scheduled for one more open heart surgery at the end of September, and the medical bills have begun to arrive. Jessica said she tries not to look at them.
She said it was especially difficult weaning Ayden off the cocktail of drugs he needed after his first surgeries, knowing that he will most likely be back on the medications soon.
Next week, Ayden will undergo more tests, and eventually he will have an operation to get his left ventricle functioning. If the ventricle works, doctors expect he will see a fairly normal future. If the ventricle doesn’t work, he may not be able to play sports.
His parents have a lot of questions to be answered in the coming months. But for now, they are happy to have Ayden home.
“The most important thing for me at this point is just to make sure that he’s comfortable and happy,” Jessica said.
You can reach reporting intern Desiree Aflleje at 957-4211 or by e-mail at daflleje@nrtoday.com.
