Children's Hospital stay

Tomorrow is departure day. That came up quickly.

Many people have been asking what G's recovery will look like. Here's the plan. Keep in mind that every recovery is different, and we will take it at the pace that G heals.

Tomorrow we travel to Vancouver and check in at Easter Seals House. Thank you to Variety for funding up to 30 days of our stay. Hopefully we are only there for 2 weeks.

On Tuesday, G will have a bunch of tests, including an ECHO to look at his heart, an ECG to learn about how hard his heart is working and its rhythm, a physical exam, blood work, and maybe a chest X-ray. We will meet with the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse practitioner. It's an all day affair, lasting 5 to 8 hours.

The next day is operation day. I think that G only has to fast for 4 hours because breast milk is digested so quickly. We will find out for sure on Tuesday. The operation will probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 hours (will update when I know more.)

After the operation, the baby will recover in the ICU for a couple of days. He will probably be attached to a lot of tubes and wires, especially at first. I have been told that the doctors try to remove them as early as it is safe to do so, because comfortable babies recover more quickly. Dad and I will not be able to sleep there with him, but we are not considered visitors either so we can stay as long as we want.

After the ICU, G will stay on the cardiac ward for about a week. I will be able to sleep beside him! Most babies don't have many activity restrictions because they are not playing contact sports yet. We do have to pick him up with support under his head and bum (like a newborn ) instead of grabbing underneath his arms until his breastbone heals, probably in 3 weeks or so.

Once his is discharged, we will all stay at Easter Seal for a few more days. We need to be close to the hospital until his follow up, about 2 weeks after surgery. Once we get the all clear, we will come home to the Island.

There are a lot of little rules that we need to follow, like no baths until the incision is well healed, and be vigilant about watching for infection. But it sounds like the babies bounce back pretty fast. Our cardiologist said that after the surgery, G will get sicker before he gets better. Fair enough. The heart has to adjust and repair itself. This will be tough for me and dad. We are used to frequent smiles and cuddles. But in a few weeks, we will be back home with a baby whose heart goes thump thump thump instead of swish swish swish.