2 Days post Op

Today had it's ups and downs, for me, emotionally. John is doing well and is recovering smoothly thus far. All the doctors are commenting that his swelling didn't get too bad and is now on his way down and a medication called Lasix to help him reduce his fluids and help his kidneys get it out. His fluid intake and output is now negative which means he's getting rid of a lot of the fluid they are putting in and then some, this is good.  He is on a lot of different medications for blood pressure, some straight to his heart, calcium, pain medication, sedation medication and a few more that I can not even remember. He also got two lines pulled today! The venus and arterial lines from his belly button were pulled. This was the difficult to see emotionally part for me. The venus line was easier as it was pulled gradually and seemed to be pretty painless for him. However when they pulled the arterial line, it was all at once and I saw his pain. The nurses increased his pain meds, but he twitched, pulled his legs and even swung his arms when they did it and was obviously crying, though no sound came out. It was the most difficult actually seeing him in pain and trying to cry it out and me as a parent could not do anything to soothe him. I even think I felt that pain physically.  The second hard part that seemed unfordable to him was when they adjusted his breathing tube. He was producing a lot of mucus and had to be suctioned out a lot from his lungs and they decided that the tube was now too far down as the swelling was decreasing and they had to readjust it.  But overall he is doing well. His sats are good and hes actually over breathing the machine at some times during the day. This is another good sign for recovery.

After Friday mornings' rounds the doctors will decide if John is ready for his chest closure. If he's not ready yet there are small chances that will be done over the weekend. If not than we have to wait till Monday.

Friday at 12:34 John will also be a week old. How fast time flies. It was a week full of emotions and tears both of fear and joy. We thank God for everyday that we have with our precious baby and for every good day and for many more to come.

An update on the family, I will get my stitches out tomorrow and am feeling overall well. The pain meds are helping and I will begin to wean myself off over the weekend.  Joe is doing better too, he's finally sleeping a little better. Emily is also adjusting. She keeps asking about her baby brother and when he will come home. She also is SO happy to see us when we get home from the hospital. She is helping us cope with this as well, seeing her sunshine smile makes each day a little better as well.