Super Logan is HOME!

We did it!  We made it out of the hospital on Tusesday July 3rd!!  Monday night was another struggle staying in the room.  I know it's a growing trend, but I will really lobby for SLCH to get private rooms for all patients some day.  It is TERRIBLE to share a room, especially with babies that don't sleep through the night and never wake up at the same time.  It was just very awkward.  This poor, young family came in.  They were scared.  They had a 2 week old son whose heart had been racing.  Their home hospital couldn't handle the case so they were brought to SLCH by part of the very same team that brought us there.  It was about 10 pm when the arrived.  They were scared and confused and I felt just terrible being the girl sitting on the other side of the dividing curtain listening to all of their conversations with the doctors and their tears as they worried about who would stay with him and their struggles to feed a baby that hadn't eaten in almost a day due to all of the tests.  It just wasn't fair to them.

Tuesday morning came along and everything was looking up for us.  Logan was gaining weight and seemed to be back to himself.  We had to wait until nearly 10 am for rounds to come through, but when they finally did, the Dr. said "How do you feel he's doing?"  FYI, we have come to learn that this is a good phrase.  A very goood one.  They are testing the waters to see if you are ready to take him home or if you need to stay another day.  We were ready, very raedy to get home.  HOME!  We asked if there was any reason we couldn't go home and the answer as just two doses of Viagra.  Yes, Viagra.  I believe it's originally intended use was to get blood moving.  Laugh if you will.  We did. 

So there it was, just like that we were on our way.  It took a few hours to track down the prescriptions we needed, followup appointments and pack all of our belongings but we were going home and were thrilled!  Logan was almost back to Logan.  He was eating more than he had pre surgery, he wasn't sweating anymore, he was smiling and laughing again and was completely normal.  We felt good.  His echo, EKG and chest x ray came back and in our minds, if cardiology said it was safe to go, we were out of there!  

5 days, just 120 after open heart surgery - cut you open, stop your heart, patch some holes, shock you back to life surgery - we were going home.  For the record - I am really glad that I have no idea what actually happened in that operating room.  There was mention that he had a few problems getting off of bypass but I am really happy that I don't know exactly what that means.  If we were close to losing him, I don't want to know.  I care about what is here and now.  No looking back, only looking forward.  Onward and upward.

Home is good.  Home is very good.  We are all getting back into the swing of things.  We are keeping everyone home for the most part to keep the germs away, but that's OK.  We sat on the couch and watched the New York fireworks with flair.  We kicked back with a beer, belted out Neil Diamond, whistled our respective band parts to Stars and Stripes and enjoyed being home with the boys.  Both boys.  Happy and healthy.

We have some recovery ahead of us.  We go back to the pediatrician and cardiologist in the next two weeks, but this should be it. Heart fixed.  Crying baby at the moment so I need to jet, but it's a very good sound to hear.  Even the screams are something to cherish.  Way to go Super Logan!

Eat, Sleep, Poop

It really is like watching paint dry, being in the hospital.  Eat, sleep, poop, wait.  Later, rinse repeat.

We were promptely kicked out of the CICU on Saturday and the change was incredible.  One day we were in the ICU, poor Logan had so many tubes in him that he had his arms teathered to the bed to keep him from tearing anything out.  By Saturday afternoon everything had been removed and that list included - his nasal canula of oxygen, catheder, 3 chest drains, a line in his corated artery, and two lines in his wrist.  The only things that remained were the feeding tube, pace maker leads and his monitoring devices, which all were there just in case.

We went from not even being able to hold him, to being almost 100% on our own.  Within hours we were changing his diapers, breastfeeding and putting him into regular clothes.  Nurses were coming to check on him every 4 hours instead of every single hour.  The change was amazing.  How he could be that good to go just 48 hours after surgery rather amazed me, but he's been doing great!

We've really enjoyed watching his personality come back.  Each day brings along more smiles and even a few giggles.  Yesterday they pulled out the pacer wires and the feeding tube.  We had a chest x-ray, EKG and echo.  Now we wait.  And wait.  We literally watch him sleep.  I think the only thing keeping us here is weight gain.  He lost a few grams the first night in the cardiac step down unit and he did gain some back yesterday, but we aren't sure if it's enough.  Everything else is good to go.  It is the one and only thing keeping us here.  Sigh.

We are holding up, but are a bit fragile at this point.  I'm pretty sure I almost killed Andrew this morning because he got to go sleep in a nice comfy bed with our host family, complete with clean clothes and a shower, while I spent the night with our new  roommate.  He accidentally took my pjs home with him and then returned this morning having lost my one clean shirt.  I am currently wearing the shirt that I wore a few days ago that was wadded into a ball in a bag and the pants that Logan threw up on two days ago because I have no other pants with me.  Home seems so very close, yet so very far away.

While boring, our stay on 7W has brought on some more fabulous nurses that I wish I could be friends with in real life.  We have also discovered a few new restraunts and officially never want to have to eat at Applebees ever again.  We miss Jake terribly and absolutely cannot wait to go home.  We are waiting on doctors to round and give us the scoop and you can bet we'll fight our case to get out of here ASAP!!