T-5 Days

I can't believe it's almost here.  The day we've been dreading for months.  I've read every possible article, blog, and chat board on "VSD repair" in addition to watching You Tube videos of babies in recovery.  I *think* I know what to expect, but then when I really think about it, I have NO IDEA.  How does one prepare for this?

Dex's open heart surgery is scheduled for August 2nd at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.  His surgery will be performed by Dr. Charles Fraser, surgeon-in-chief of congenital heart surgery. His team has performed over 10,000 surgeries and he is known to be one of the best in the country.  We had the pleasure of meeting with him back in May and I know Dex could not be in better hands.  This is my favorite article about our surgeon.

Nanny and Papa arrive tomorrow (Friday) to watch after Jake and Maddie.  Mark, Dex and I will drive to Houston on Saturday so Mark can donate blood for the surgery (which is needed exactly 3 days before).  We will do all of the pre-op stuff on Monday and his surgery will be on Tuesday.  In total, he should be in the hospital for a week or so, then we have to stay in Houston until the follow up visit which would be some time during the following week. 

Every time I contemplate the reality of what is about to happen, I can't stand thinking about it for more than a few minutes and then I have to distract myself with a separate thought.  The words that continuously flash bold in my mind are "the surgery will be about 6 hours"..."he will be on bypass for 90 minutes" and "expect to be in ICU for 2 days".  How do you wrap your head around that when it's your 5 month old baby?  I can't.  I've tried.  And until we are living it, I don't think I'll even begin to understand it.

Oh this sweet baby.  Of course in the last week or so he has completely started sleeping through the night.  When I say completely, I mean like 7:30 pm - 5:30 am.  And then he usually eats and goes right back to sleep until almost 7 am.  His daytime sleep is starting to consolidate too.  He's taking fewer and longer naps that are much more predictable.  I've started putting him down completely awake and he goes to sleep on his own.  He has been the most content, adorable creature on the planet recently with his bubble blowing, cooing, giggling little self.  He has no idea what's about to happen and when I think about him being in pain...in recovery...it DEPLETES me. 

Sweet Jesus, please hold us up as we go through the next few days and weeks.  Wrap your arms around our baby's heart and our surgeon's hands.  Help us find strength.  Help us find patience.  Most of all, help us find peace...when we are counting the minutes until Dr. Fraser emerges from the operating room and tells us everything went perfectly. 

Dex's 4 month stats and Baptism!

4 months have already flown by, even though the days have been long.  I am relieved to say that Dex is a happier baby these days.  He's "talking" up a storm, smiling ALL the time and really working hard at becoming more mobile.  I really love that he is so alert and attentive.  If he's sitting in his bouncy seat in the kitchen, he'll track and watch me walk all over the place.

His 4 month stats:

Height:  25 inches (38%)
Weight: 15 lb, 2 oz (40%)
Head:  41.2 cm (33%)

His height measurement is greatly debatable. Now that we go see a cardiologist every 3 weeks, they also measure his height and weight and their measurements of height are almost always an inch more than what the pediatrician's office says.  Mark regularly gets out his own measuring tape and agrees with that the cardiologist says :)  Those measurements above are from the pediatricians office -- it really doesn't matter as long as he's growing at the right rate!

A little more about Dex at 4 months:

• He's trying SO hard to roll over from his back to his tummy.  He has done it a few times but not consistently all the time.  He can roll both left and right and loves to sleep on his left side.  As far as rolling from tummy to back, we have a ways to go there.  He hates to be on his tummy so he doesn't get a ton of practice.
• He LOVES to blow bubbles!
• He coos and "talks" all the time
• As long as he is fed and rested, he is a super happy baby.  Smiling and flirting with anyone that will give him attention.
• He really loves the bouncy seat and just kicks up a storm so that it bounces up and down.
• He's starting to like his baths!  He loves to kick and splash in the water now!
• We've taken him in a pool a few times now and he seems to like it.  He just chills in our arms and then is usually wiped out after that.
• He is now grabbing for toys and he just started bringing his hands together and also grabbing his feet!
• Still HATES the car.  It's getting better, I would say, but not great.  :(
• He still only poops every few days.  We had an incident recently where he went over a week and ended up screaming and straining in pain for FOUR long days.  Now that we got him unblocked, we need to give him prune juice daily and up the probiotics so that it doesn't happen again.  I don't know if I can survive that happening twice!
• His naps are horrible.  Always 30 minutes.  Lately we've been able to get him back to sleep after feeding him more and walking around for a while but it's hit or miss.  Most of the time, he wakes up happy after those 30 minutes so there is no getting him back down for sleep (even though all the books say 30 minutes is NOT restorative!)
• Night time sleep isn't too bad.  He goes down around 7:30 - 8:00 pm and he'll wake up any time between 1 and 4 (we never really know what kind of night it's going to be).  Then he'll go back to sleep again until some time between 5:30 - 7:00 (again, we never know).

On July 2nd, Dex was baptized at St Theresa.  We were so blessed to have so many people come down to celebrate with him on his special day.  Amy, Sean and the kids  and Nanny and Papa came from Kansas.  Eric and Kelly and the boys came from Chicago.  My Dad, John and Misty came from Houston -- it was such a fun week/weekend.  We rarely get to hang out with cousins so it was a huge treat!!   We are so thankful everyone could come to visit and we miss having all the company already.