Bad news

The small amount of extra oxygen they were exposing him to wasn't enough so they gave him a little tube for more oxygen.

This got his oxygen levels up to where they should be but his lungs weren't transferring enough oxygen to his blood on their own. It was too early to tell at this point whether this was because of a delayed transition[1] from the stress of whatever happened in the womb before this morning or if some of the meconium got into his lungs and was clogging the blood vessels. They continued to increase his oxygen flow during the day.

Later that day, the doctor said an x-ray of his lungs looked more like fluid than meconium but it is hard to determine from x-rays. The doctor said that normally babies in this condition improve but sometimes they can get worse and the first 24 hours is key. In case Nathan's condition worsened, he wanted to transfer Nathan to Mercy San Juan Medical Center where they have a Level 3 Nursery and, if Nathan's condition worsened, they would be able to handle it.

[1] In the womb a baby has fluid in his lungs and the blood vessels in the lungs are constricted since they're not needed for breathing. The birth process helps transition the baby from the womb environment to breathing air by expelling the fluid and with the first few breaths the blood vessels relax and open up to allow blood flow and the transfer of oxygen. With a c-section some, if not most, of this process happens after delivery and it can take a while for the blood vessels to open up.