Nov. 21 1:05 pm

Yes, there is a baby in there!





Today Christian had the procedure to close his chest. While I do have a picture of the procedure (taken by an OR nurse) I will not post it here as it may be too much for most of you. I do have the picture of post closure and he looks wonderful!

They have begun utilizing "Beanie Babies" as props for his legs and all the tubes. It is pretty cute seeing him surrounded by toys. I think he may be comforted a bit also even though he is sedated. They are soft and warm not cold and hard like everything in his bed.

Dave, Kady and my mom are going to be here today to see the baby. I am excited to see them. I will be going home on Sunday so the postings here will slow down a bit. Hopefully you will all keep checking in.

I am going to go and grab some lunch. Bye for now...

Grandma Whee

Nov. 20 update 7:30 pm

Christian was a bit bloodier this morning as seen in the tube filled picture. Once he was taken off of the heart lung machine and the big huge tubes removed they cleaned him up a bit. He looks much better. Now with the tubes out from under his patch you can see that his chest is still open. They will close that hopefully tomorrow. It is a bit unsettling to see the two sides move when he breaths. YUCKY! But he is doing well. He is still on a ventilator which is the tube in his nose. The tubes in his chest are drainage tubes. He also has a catheter for his urine and 2 IV's, one in each ankle. Looks like an octopus, but a cute octopus!

Thanks for dropping in. I will post again tomorrow unless something happens tonight.

Grandma Whee

Nov 20 update 10:45

They are gradually weaning Christian from the heart/lung machine right now. He seems to be doing pretty good with it. If he does well for an hour they will be able to take out the huge tubes. Then he will just have the 3 chest tubes and less bleeding. Keep your fingers crossed!

Grandma Whee

Nov. 20th 6:15 am

Christian keeps the nurses busy, that's for sure! He is bleeding more than they would like to see, but nothing that is not "normal". Of course I think it is way too much, but that is me as a grandma. I made sure the kids went to the Ronald McDonald house last night for a good nights sleep. They left at a few minutes after midnight. Nicole called the room at 2:30 am checking on Christian. I am thinking she did not sleep as well as I wanted her to. I on the other hand slept off and on all night as the PICU has a bed in each room. Of course the lights were on all the time and there were people in here at all times monitoring the heart/lung machine. There were alarms going off all night so it was not restful for any of us. I will take more pics later when he is not quite so bloody. It really is unsettling. Check back later this afternoon or evening and see how things are progressing.

Grandma Whee

He is in his room now

Tubes are everywhere and there is a lot of visable blood going around. But he looks good over all. The kids are doing so good! Nicole cried a bit when she saw him the first time, but popped out of that. Bryan has been stoic through this although admitted it was the worst thing he has ever seen. I have been having mini-meltdowns but nothing 1 kleenex can't handle.

I will make sure to post as things progress.

Grandma Whee

Update 2:16 pm

Christian is now out of surgery and in recovery. He will be in his room in about 30 minutes. After they get him settled and the kids go see him I will take pictures. Remember, they will be a bit "much" for some people. The surgery was a great success and he had absolutly no complications at all. YES!!!! What a trooper he is!

Grandma Whee

update at 1:13 pm

The surgery is almost done. Everything is going along very well. They anticipate being finished within the hour. I will post pics and information then. If you are interested at all we will be in the PICU at Doernbechers. If you are in the area stop by and see us!