Day 30

(Pic taken earlier this week)

Yes, day 30 of Owen's life. It has been a busy day for Owen and his nurses. There are constant adjustments in his 9 IV drips. Changing his vent settings often. (ventilator-the breathing machine.) On a positive note they have been able to decrease his O2 through his vent to less than 50% which is a first for Owen. Owen is very swollen at this time. Post operative patients will always have swelling and Owen sure does. Poor thing looks like a heated up marshmallow. They said it will get a little worse then start to decrease. Overall he is nowhere near stable it has been minute to minute with him a times.

Medical section- Owen is on drips to keep his blood pressure increased and has been low throughout last night. He is on med that keep him sedated called fentanyl and (VEC) Some will know what vec is. Owen is also on heparin, dopamine, milrinone, epi and others. These are normal medications for post open heart kids, I am told. He was given a blood transfusion as well since he has had so many blood draws with other things have lowered his blood count. Also had some Lasix to get some fluid off his body. Owen has a collapsed right upper lung which they see commonly when pts are on a vec drip. Vec is a muscle paralyzing drug. They are working on correcting this so that Owen does not develop an infection. The respiratory therapist is giving Owen a tapping massage on his chest. They are trying to get stuff moving around better.

Chelsea and I are doing good, There is not much Chelsea and I can do while here except kiss him and hold his swollen hands for awhile. We are doing okay with keeping ourselves busy while we are here from surfing the net, reading, ipod games, facebook, magazines, and of course our frequent loves on Owen. We would get more touches in, but almost every square inch of the front of his body is covered in some sort of medical probe. I am running out of things to keep myself busy. We can only do the same things for so long everyday. It seems that we are making progress with Owen but it is scary all the time while being here. There is something always going on with him right now and it is not fun to watch but we won't leave his side. We have chosen not to post any pictures of Owen now we will wait until he has a little less going on. We don't think anyone wants to see him like this. It is not an easy sight to look at if you are not used to it. He has a breathing tube in, 3 chest tubes, 2 pacer wires all ready to go if needed, a oxygen sensor for his brain, a foley catheter, a sternal incision dressing, a scalp IV, and other IV's in both hands, as well as in his groin, an oxygen sensor on his toe, and then the menagerie of medication lines running from those 4 IV sites. He has the type of bling that we really can't wait for him to get rid of. If he remains on the vent another day, we are hoping he gets another tube-a feeding one. Per Chelsea, aduls usually go 2-3days post-op after heart surgery and we would assume kids are about the same. (as long as they are stable...)

Back on the love for your child-I know that other parents would understand but there is something about the smell of your child. It is like a drug. I would continue to smell him as much as possible it is very intoxicating. Even with all of his medical garb on I would still eat him.Last night was the most exhausting night I think of my life for sure. I have been tired in the past from long hours of child birth-coaching, long working hours etc but never like I felt last night. People had commented on Chelsea and I last night saying that "you 2 look exhausted". Chelsea is still a trooper no matter how tired she is she is still up at night pumping with no difference. Chelsea has decided to push her birthday forward 1 month. Her birthday is on Monday and all she wants is an extubation. She might get one if Owen keeps progressing in the right direction. He continues to do well but we are still on the rocky road to recovery.

-Chris