Saturday, July 28, 2012

Emma's Heart Surgery

Emma had Open Heart Surgery to repair a VSD on March 14th, 2012. Here are some pics to tell the journey we had. She was in the hospital for 3 1/2 days. We were amazed at how quickly she was able to come home and how well she did once we were home.

In the waiting room before surgery

In the pre-op room

In her pre-op gear


Getting snuggles from momma before they took her back


Immediatly after surgery


Her Hello Kitty Hat from the surgeon


After they removed the breathing tube, she got moisturized air in this tent



All the meds she was receiving


Day 2...they removed the tent


Day 2 post op

First taste of food 2 days post op



Full belly





love daddy!

Got to hold her and nurse her!

just what the dr. ordered







Going home day! 3 1/2 days post op!

Car ride home
Home Sweet Home

4 days post op
It was a scary and crazy experience. Not one I'd wish on anyone.Here is a link to my Caring Bridge Journal to see what I was feeling those days !  I'm just glad Emma's heart is fixed!

Here are my post from Face Book on the days she was in... I updated there more frequently then the Caring Bridge Site...

Day 1 Surgery Day 3.14.12

Well I hardly slept at all...imagine that...1/2 hour til we have to be over there...hopefully they get her right in...she's going to be a hungry baby soon and I can't feed her...ugh...

Waiting in pre-op...luckily miss Emma is sleeping...about 20 minutes for anesthesiology to come get her :(

Wow, that was one of the hardest things I will ever have to do! She was still sleeping when I handed her off...Omg...my poor baby!

She is through most of the surgery...she's off the bypass machine...her heart is back to beating on its own...Dr is "watching" it right now...should be an hour to hour and a half til we get to see her as long as everything goes well w/ the "watching"

We should see her in a half hour!

She's out and heading to the PICU! She did great!

Emma is on her way to waking up...next they will remove the breathing tube!

They're removing the breathing tube!

Emma's doing great! All her numbers are just right...she's on a little morphine for the pain!

Day 2 3.15.12

Emma is not happy this morning! She's on tylenol and morphine for pain, but she's hungry! Some of her blood levels need to change before they'll let her eat! Hopefully by this afternoon!

Emma will be able to have a little pedialite to start off w/ then they will move to breast milk in a bottle...hopefully she'll take a bottle...we all know how stubborn she is...I still can't hold her because of the central line in her groin area...they're saying tomorrow for that...one thing at a time!

Emma did great today! Tomorrow we hope for her to be off 2 of the meed shes on and then they can take the line out of her groin, then I can hold her! The drain and catheter might come out too! She was pulling to try and sit up today when Tim and I were holding her hands! She such a strong little girl! I'm really amazed! The cut in her chest is already healing..shes on tylenol every 4 hours...she only had morphine twice today! I'll update more in the morning!

Day 3 3.16.12

Emma's being a stinker and not drinking a lot from the bottles (go figure) but I will be able to nurse her at some point today! Pray she does well w/ nursing or they will put in a feeding tube :(

Guess who I'm holding! And nursing! One happy momma here!

So today all summed up...Emma had the drainage tube, pacer wires, main line in her leg, chest drain and catheter all removed today! She is down to 1 med coming in through the main iv in her neck. She is on blood pressure meds orally and is getting her lasix every 12 hours...I'M ABLE TO HOLD HER AND NURSE HER! Doc said she MAY go home this weekend!

Day 4 Going Home Day 3.17.12

Went to the Ronald McDonald House for a 4 hour nap! Walked back to the hospital...FYI ... That takes around 8 minutes...

Looks like we're breaking out later today or tomorrow morning!

Going home! Going home! 3 1/2 days post-op! Woo Hop!




1 comment: