Journal Series - Day 5

• If you’re just joining, I am doing a little journal series of our time in the hospital when Mr. Green had his open heart surgery to fix his heart defects that were discovered in utero. These are the thoughts, feelings, and emotions I had while there and the different situations we were in. I journaled every day we were there so I could look back and remember.

The nurse came in around midnight to do vitals and he slept through it all. Then he woke up around 2:15am hungry, so we called the nurse in for tylenol since he was sleeping when it was time for it. He felt a little cold to us so we asked if he could be put in clothes yet since he was no longer considered at risk. Nic changed his diaper, they weighed him, changed the sheets on his bed and wiped him down with some CHX wipes (chlorhexidine) - and finally little man got to wear clothes! Now after all that early morning craziness he’s sitting here nursing like he’s never eaten before. Then he woke up at 5 pretty cranky, but it was time for vitals anyway and to draw some blood - once that was finished he nursed for a while and went back to sleep. The nurse told us he will get a 2-view chest x-ray at some point this morning, potentially around 6 - they’ll put him in a wagon and wheel him down to x-ray. (up until this point the x-ray machine has always been brought to him). He’s also scheduled for an echo and EKG this morning - so much for a relaxed day! At 6:15 they came in with a little radio flyer wagon to wheel him down for his chest x-ray - he looked so darn adorable.

But I stayed back to try to get a little sleep while they were done, which unfortunately didn’t happen, but it worked out for the best since they were only gone about 5 minutes. Nic said Mr. Green was very pleased to be out and about and did very well. When they got back he just decided mom didn’t need sleep and he needed to nurse again and again. At 7:35 they came in to do an echo and he did mostly okay, he sure doesn’t like the cold gel.

Then at about 8:15 the nurse came in to give him his lasix and finally tylenol. Now hopefully we can all take a good nap. HA! So I went and got breakfast and then rocked him to sleep - but as soon as I laid him down he woke up and has just been pretty cranky in general. So I nursed him again, he pooped, and let a big ol burp - maybe that’s what he needed! The guy for the EKG came in at 10, it that went pretty quickly and Mr. Green did well. 

We went to rounds at 10:35 and they shocked us by telling us we’re going home today! They were discussing his progress and when they got to the part of care going forward - they turned to us and said, ‘How about going home today?!’. As much as we’re so ready to be home, we’re also a little nervous. He’s only been off oxygen 24 hours, chest tube hasn’t even been out 24 hours, it seemed very soon. Total time post-op it hadn’t even been a full 4 days! But - we’re so glad it’s going so well that they feel he’s ready to go home and not the other way. Once we got back to our room the nurse removed his central line to get ready to go home! Nic and I went and got lunch and hung out for a bit - then the care coordinator came and explained home care. Once she left Nic ran to the Rainbow House to get our stuff and check out. At 1pm our nurse came with his discharge papers while Nic loaded up the car - and at 1:30pm we were out of there! We decided to stay at home tonight to try to get a good night’s sleep before going to get the big boys. We figured we could get everything unpacked, relax, and get some good sleep - then head to Nic’s parents in the morning to surprise the boys! And boy did we sleep - Mr. Green slept from 8:45p-5:30a - the longest he has ever slept! Then we made our way to surprise big bros and they were so surprised and gave Mr. Green all the love (safely).