It's a New Day

 Dominic's surgery ended around 7:30 pm and Dr. Sood came out to let us know everything went well, no complications and he was in recovery. We were finally able to see Dominic for the first time around 8:30 last night, right before he was wheeled up to the PICU. We then had to wait again to see him as they got him settled into his room. Finally, at 10:30 they let us back to see him in ICU. He was so precious and sleeping peacefully. I guess 10 minutes prior he was not a happy camper, so they waited until his dose of morphine kicked in before they let us in. I am so grateful they were able to take out his breathing tube and his vitals are strong. Prior to surgery, the anesthesiologist said he may have the tube for a few days, depending on if he was able to breath on his own. But Dominic is a strong little guy and has been breathing just fine. His hemoglobin was a little low last night and this morning it has dropped even more, so they are going to give him another transfusion. It's not uncommon after a surgery like his to need more blood, so we're not concerned. Other than that, he seems to be doing really well. The swelling hasn't gotten too bad yet, although days 2-3 are supposed to be the worst. He still has the two drains from his head - one from the incision site to drain the blood and another from inside his skull to drain excess fluid to reduce the swelling. He also as an arterial line, two IV's and a catheter, but we're hoping the catheter can come out today.

Mike and I ended up going back to our room last night. I was really hesitant to leave, but the nurses, Dr. Sood and Dr. Chugani all said to go back and get sleep. The first night in the ICU is all about pain management and would sleep the entire time anyway. He has a nurse that sits with him and monitors him the whole time. Plus, there is really no where to sit and you're not allowed to be asleep when you're in there. There are two small chairs, but he's sharing a room with another little baby. We didn't see any other parents in there either, so after awhile we decided to leave and try to get some sleep. Again, I slept surprisingly well, but when I turned over and saw the clock at 5:45 am, I jumped out of bed. I couldn't wait to get here this morning to see him. We got here around 6:30 and he's opened his eyes a few times. He was awake for a good five minutes and kept slowly looking back and forth between Mike and me with a look like "what in the world did you do to me?!" I am so grateful he's too young to remember this. Dr. Sood stopped by and said he looked great. His drains look good and hopefully one of them can come out tomorrow. He also scheduled a follow-up CT scan for tomorrow.

Out of recovery, heading into ICU

We're hoping once he gets more blood his levels will come back up and they'll be able to move him to a regular floor today. In the meantime, Mike and I are just sitting here, sipping coffee, reading the paper and waiting. I think "waiting" should be my new mantra. We always seem to be waiting for something - waiting for med after med to work, waiting for test results, waiting for the surgery to be over, waiting to hear any news, waiting for him to wake up, waiting to see if his levels go up, waiting to see if he moves his right side. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. After 8 months of it, I can't wait until I'm not living in a constant state of waiting.

Seeing him for the first time after recovery. What a brave little guy!

The Grandmas with happy tears!

All set up in the PICU

Good morning, Sunshine! Starting to swell...