The Norwood Procedure

Today was D day. We went down to the NICU at about 5:30 this morning to be with him before surgery. They took him out of bed so we could hold him as soon as we got there. I was watching the clock, making sure I left enough time for DJ to hold him before surgey too. We asked the nurse to help us switch, and she said that they had pushed the time up on us, and we're on their way to get him. So DJ was not able to hold him prior to surgery. I just plain sobbed. I felt so terrible, like I had deprived him of time with his son. It wasn't my fault, I know, but I still felt terrible.

The anesthesiologist came, talked to us, and DJ signed the form. Then we put him into an incubator for transport. I was a mess the entire time. Sobbing, sniffling, dripping tears onto Wyatt, the whole 9 yards. We got to pre-op, where we waited for the surgeon to come in. He came in and talked to us, and gave us a Willow Tree person as a gift. Then, they took him. They wheeled him off, away from us, into the OR. Then came the outloud, absolutely devastated, sobbing.

Anticipated finish time for surgery was 2 pm. Cut time was 8:45 am, and he went onto the heart/lung machine at 9:45 am. At first, things were going fairly smoothly it seemed. But then, at 2 pm, the nurse came out and told us that they had tried to come off the heart/lung machine, but had to go back on because they had to work on his aortic arch again. Time kept passing, and no one was telling us much of anything. Finally, we found out that he had been taken off the heart/lung machine, and they were working on controlling bleeding. We sat for 4 painstaking hours, waiting to hear something.

We sat, wondering if he would come out of the OR. They were having a really hard time getting his bleeding under control, and I started to wonder how long they would try to stop it before they gave up. I was terrified that they were going to give up on my baby.

We finally went to the PICU because I needed to pump, and DJ asked if they had heard anything. They said that it should be about 30 more minutes, and they'd be bringing him up from the OR. Tears immediately streamed down y face. That meant they got the bleeding under control. That meant he made it. They had to administer factor 7 to get the bleeding to stop, but they did it.

They let us come see him for just a minute, touch him, and kiss him. Then they spent about an hour and a half getting him situated and stabilized in his room. They took lots of x rays, etc.

Now we are in his room. He has lots of nurses surrounding him constantly, and a doctor in here very often. They are trying to figure out what dose of each medicine he will tolerate that will keep him stable and keep his vitals in a healthy range. His blood pressure was really low there for a while, but that seems to have gotten better. His heart rate has been steady around 167 bpm. His blood pressure is 83/63, and they finally got his pulse ox to come down to 83. They want his pulse ox between 75 and 85. They are figuring it out.

It is odd to see him breathe so rhythmically, because he is intubated. The gaping hole in his chest is a sight, that's for sure. And it's going to take some adjusting to him not reacting to our touch, because he is out. But al in all, he isn't so bad to look at. I anticipated seeing him being a lot more painful. Hearing the alarms going off on his monitors all the time is really hard, but we know that the medical staff know what they are doing.

It has been a very long, difficult day. Way more difficult that I imagined it would be. But, we made it. Now we just need him to stay strong, and get through this very touchy 12-24 hours, and stay strong so he can come home!!!