Post Op so far

Since coming out of surgery yesterday, Liam has been amazing with his recovery. We actually left after we first saw him to get lunch late yesterday. Mostly because he was completely out and still under, but he was moaning this awful sound. I couldn't handle seeing him in pain and not allowed to touch him, even to soothe him. Also, we couldn't talk because if he heard us and wanted us, he may have gotten upset because we just simply couldn't hold him. My parents, Alex's dad and Alex and I ended up grabbing a bite to eat across the street. Then Joe went home and my parents and Alex and I headed over to check into the Ronald McDonald house. Its truly an amazing place and I can't say enough about them.

We left for only about 2 hours and when we were back, nothing had changed. We stayed until about 10pm just sitting by his bedside reading, going out to the waiting area to call family, etc. The last 2 hours before leaving was tough because they had a drop in his blood pressure. Now, the interesting thing is that all of his pre-surgery vitals were never healthy vitals, so the blood pressure change could have just been what his true BP would sit at. The doctors said that sometimes BP will drop when they are sedated too much so they actually turned off the sedation completely. The nurses kept telling us to leave and get some sleep because he wouldn't be out of it until tomorrow, Thursday and he would need us then and it would be a rough few days. So we decided to leave, grabbed a bite to eat at the RMH and went to sleep. We literally just passed out.

I woke up early today to head over to pump and see Liam. So overnight, he surprised everyone at CICU. First, he woke up 10 minutes after we left demanding food. Most kids don't eat that soon but he is our chunky monkey. And then, I guess he fell back asleep but at some point, woke up fussing. When we got in, all of the toys we had packed in a bookbag were strewn all over his crib. They were trying to entertain him and calm him down. He apparently was not entertained so decided to instead pull out the art line. Whats that? Oh, the wire directly inserted into an artery. Thats my boy...

He ended up eating right before I got there so he was fast asleep. The doctor came over to me right away and said she had news, so of course, I'm having a slight freak out internally. Turns out, he did so well, they were removing all the tubes, including the chest tube that drains the blood. Then they were kicking him out, no more ICU. Most kids tend to go to the step down 2-3 days after surgery and they moved him at 10am, 20 hours after it. Pretty amazing, I am still in shock as I write this 6 hours later.

We were moved down the hall and now have a new nurse, who watches 2 kids instead of 1 on 1. The real difference is in ICU, the nurse is bedside while ours is moving around doing stuff. He only gets vitals every 4 hours rather than every 1 hour. Liam's heart rate and sat levels are constantly monitored though.

He woke up around noon and ate a little bit from us. It was nice to feed him, and really, just touch him. It was only holding his head up a little bit but its something. He was staring so intently at Alex while I fed him, I think he is trying to figure out what is going on. Liam must be so confused and probably pissed at us! He hasn't eaten very much, but he is eating which is great.

Alex's parents arrived around 2:30 to check in and say hi. The three of them are downstairs having lunch and I'm waiting for Alex to head back up so I can go eat. Its amazing how hungry you can be after feeling the relief that your little guy will be ok. Liam is sleeping, mostly quiet with a few sighs and grunts here and there. Strong kid, must come from good stock.