Monday, October 18, 2010

Caleb's surgery went well with no complications! He was in and out in a timely manner and they were able to close his chest (two major accomplishments for Caleb).

The surgeon ended up putting a few clips on his shunt to narrow it up. They would put a clip on and watch the monitors to see what it did to his oxygen saturation levels. They kept adding clips until the levels got where they wanted them. The surgeon said that everything went well.

Now we wait and watch. They will be watching his oxygen saturations, his chest x-rays, his blood pressure, etc. to see how everything responds to the new size. If they think it is too large or small, they will probably just open his chest back up at his bedside and make the necessary changes. So far, things look good.

They are talking about trying to get him off the ventilator tomorrow. That would be beyond huge for us because we can't hold him until he is breathing on his own. Because Caleb's two favorite things are being held by Mom and Dad and eating, we are going to have a very crabby little guy if it takes too long to get off the ventilator and back on milk.

This week might be very exciting for us. We should get an idea if "Goldilocks" likes his new shunt size. We've had too small and too big, now it is time for "just right". It will also be very interesting to see how long it takes us to get out of the PCTU. It is nice to see the People of the PCTU again, but I would rather just visit.

Caleb reached another milestone today. They increased his dry weight from 3.55 kg to 3.65 kg. This is the what they consider his actual weight, without the effects of his fluids. This is an important number because this is the weight they use to determine if he is retaining fluid and the weight they will try to keep him at as they work out his diuretics.

We realized that, as we expected, it is much harder to send your baby off to surgery when you have had nine weeks to get to know him, hold him and cuddle him. It was tough the first three times, but it was harder today. Luckily, it is a little easier when you know that the surgery might finally get us to a place where we can take him home.

Thank you for all of your prayers today. I was very anxious about this surgery (how many times can you open up a baby's chest without causing major problems) and knowing that people were praying for Caleb was so comforting!