Surgery Day

I didn't sleep well last night. Can you blame me?

The thing is that I wasn't even really that worried, just nervous. Like, butterflies in my tummy. And my mind wouldn't stop going all night.

I went into NICU early in order to spend the last couple of hours with Dominic before his surgery. So I was into the unit shortly after 5:30am. I was told the night previously that although I had voiced that I wanted to hold Dominic right up to the time he goes for surgery, his numbers (Carbon Dioxide and Oxgen mostly) were still unstable and that they were uncomfortable moving him around more than absolutely necessary. I had come to terms with that, and went in assuming I would just be sitting at his bedside, stroking his forehead and holding his hand. But when I arrived, they had one of the nice chairs for holding him set up next to his bed, and asked if I was still interested in holding him. I got really choked up, and in a few minutes I was holding Dominic for the last time before he went in for surgery. His nurse apologized that I wouldn't be able to hold him for longer than half an hour because they needed to get him settled before he went to the OR, but I would have accepted a one minute hold if that was all they would give me. But it was a great half hour.

They came to get him for surgery almost exactly at 7:00, which I appreciated. I like it when things are on schedule. I got to walk him right to the OR room he would be in, and I gave him so many kisses it was kinda like I was using them as punctuation for my questions and everyone else's statements. Then I watched him get wheeled in... and I went back to the hotel to cry and sleep. In that order. I basically cried until I fell asleep. I knew it was good, I knew he needed this surgery and he would then be on the road to recovery, but it is still tough to watch your baby be wheeled into an operating room to go under the knife. Anyone would worry.

After getting about an hour of sleep, Roland and I headed back to the hospital to wait for Dominic to come out of surgery. The day prior the surgeon had said that he would be out between 11:00 and 1:00, so we took up our post just after 11:00, but of course he wasn't done until 12:50. I was a bit anxious waiting, but another thing the surgeon had said was that if it took longer it didn't mean anything had gone wrong, it just meant that it took longer. The surgeon came out with glowing reviews: Dominic had done well, everything went according to plan, no surprises, his size made him a good patient (often they work on babies half his size and that is more difficult), and he doesn't expect Dominic to have any complications with his recovery.

We got to see him about 45 minutes later after he had been released from the OR and settled into the Pediatric Cardiac Recovery unit. He had a LOT of tubes and wires coming out of him and he was still completely unconscious from the surgery drugs, but he was there and alive and we were assured he was doing well. Roland had a tough time seeing him like that, but I was just happy he made it through the surgery and now the recovery could begin. We only stayed for a bit and then headed back to the room to give Roland a break from the hospital and so that I could take a nap. And did I ever nap! I think I was out within 30 seconds of walking in the hotel room door.

When I went back at 5:00, his stats were still a bit all over the place and they were just trying to figure out what they needed to do to keep him stable but still try to let him do what he could on his own. I think that is pretty standard for after a surgery. He was awake and making efforts to move around, probably because he had been sedated for so long he was craving movement, but what they really want him to do at this stage is sleep. He needs sleep to recover, and moving around too much after any surgery can lead to problems, so they were planning on having to sedate him a bit more again. But I got to see those big beautiful blue eyes again, so that was nice for me. By 9:00 when both of us went back he was pretty stable, he was still more awake than they wanted him to be, but he was less active, so Roland still got to see his eyes, but we just tried to sit down with him and do what we could to help him relax. What we were doing seemed to work... that, and more of his meds started to kick in. ;)

So let the rest of the recovery begin!

Thank you so much to everyone that has sent their well wishes and prayers our way! Your support means so much to us and they really did help us through this, knowing that we have so many people in our corner, rooting Dominic on to get through his surgery and move through his recovery. THANK YOU!!!