The Plan As We Know It Today

Today has gone considerable well for Dana and Finley.  Dana has been dealing with slight discomfort around her incision but a significant amount of pain in her back (leftover from anesthesia/gas bubbles...ouch).

Finley has been a rock star today.

We started the morning off meeting with Dr Schwartz (our cardiologist) and got a report on how Finn was doing.  Everything that he saw and reviewed from overnight and into the morning basically showed he was doing excellent and he was very comfortable referring Finley as a complete repair candidate!   BUT, the cardiologist needed to chat with the surgeons to make sure they too agreed and everyone is on the same page.

We walked down to the NICU to see little man and got the run down from the nurses and they lowered the amount of medicine he is getting that keeps his ductus open b/c he is getting enough oxygen naturally.  They removed the air tube incoming at this nostrils too as he doesn't seem to need that either now.  Lastly, they removed the tube going into his stomach as well.

Over the night they fed him Dana's milk and then topped him off with formula.  It was great that he took the bottle right away but it didn't all stay down.  It's most likely due from his stomach not liking the formula so we had a chat with our nurse in the NICU and we all agreed that we didn't want anymore formula being used as it was just to much for his gut right now and all he needs is mom's milk.

While visiting with Finn in the NICU, one of our surgeons Dr Maxey rolled by to check on Finn and he introduced himself to us and we got to talking about the plan for Finn.  Dr Maxey said Finn isn't like other kids in the NICU meaning he is stable and in good shape.  Finn also doesn't have additional things wrong with him.  His kidneys are good, his brain is good, there isn't anything else in his body thats wrong....just the a heart that isn't plumbed right.  Because he doesn't have anything else going on, that is why he is stable, content and being a good little boy.

This means the surgeons too have confidence in him that he is strong enough to handle a complete repair procedure and they don't think it's necessary to have to do a temporary surgery now and then another surgery 3-5 months from now.  This was amazing news and exactly what we've bee hoping for.  The only thing left is scheduling the procedure.  As of right now they haven't officially given us a date but it sounds like it'd be Monday...possibly Tuesday.

Lastly, we were lucky enough to get skin to skin contact between Finley and Dana.  This was the first time Dana got to hold Finley and it was something special to see.  Finley was upset as ever getting taken away from his warm cozy bed but moments after resting on Dana's chest he calmed down as if realizing right away this smell, the sound of the heartbeat was all too familiar and he was with Momma Bear again.  In seconds...he passed out, laying there with his mouth wide open....he was in heaven, and so was Dana.