Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Cuddle time!

William finally got in the cuddle time he needed today, with both mommy and daddy.  Aaron also had good snuggles with mommy.  They both did really well!  While I don't want them on the ventilator, it definitely has helped to make both of them more stable.  Just watching the monitors during cuddle time, both boys' heart rates dipped down (in a normal range) when they're with me...this is a good thing, as it meant they were super calm and loving it :)  The 1/2 pound weight difference between William and Aaron was obvious to me today - William is a solid little boy!

Today was good, but we kept being thrown curve balls with the scheduling of William's surgery.  Stephen arrived at the hospital right after work this morning, and texted that they were going to do his PDA surgery TODAY instead of Friday.  I was ultimately okay with this, although it gave me little time to mentally prepare.  The surgery was set for noon.  Sometime shortly before noon, the cardiac surgeon was called away for an emergency, so it was moved back to tomorrow at 8AM.  While this surgery is done frequently and we expect no issues, major prayer requests for this one (and Aaron's), as it is heart surgery for our baby boys. 

Aaron's surgery may be Friday, if his blood cultures come back negative.  His spinal fluid came back clear (thank goodness...no meningitis), and his specific bacteria was identified.  In case the infection is still present, his antibiotic was switched to one that can pinpoint just that strain.

The anesthesiologist spoke with me a bit about the surgical procedure, which will be applicable for both boys.  They will receive anesthesia, then the surgeon will make an incision about an inch or so long on their left sides.  This sounds tiny, but may look big on their itty bitty bodies.  The skin will be pulled apart, the lung moved to the side, and the duct will be clamped shut.  The incision will be glued.  Staff will be on hand in case a blood transfusion or any other assistance is needed.  (On another note, both received blood transfusions on Monday, which I left out in that post with everything else going on).  The boys may or may not get a chest tube as well - if the chest tube is in, recovery will take a little longer.  Without it, recovery should take anywhere from 2-5 days.  Once recovered, we'll be able to hold them again, and hopefully they will be off of the ventilator again.

It sounds like a lot...and maybe it is, but it's supposed to be a fairly easy surgery from which they should recover well and then progress more quickly, so I don't want to get stressed about it.  They will both do well!

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