First Day off the CICU

Liam's first day on the floor was a busy one. Poor Lauren didn't get much sleep last night because she was paired up with a baby whose monitors kept alarming...all night long. She didn't get much sleep at all. Then, at 6 am the EKG tech came. Then respiratory therapy came to help Liam get the last bits of fluid out of his lungs. Then the echo tech came. Then...well you get the idea. From 6 am until Noon Lauren had someone in her room seemingly at all times doing something to Liam. When they would leave, Lauren was left to the sound of the neighbor's alarm.Things are looking up tonight, though. Because we are parents who stay with their child at night, we were relocated to a single. 

I am happy to finally be able to write that there is not much to report tonight. Our only issue today has been constipation. The nurses all say that this is normal given all the drugs, sedation, and anesthesia that he has been under for so many days. He's working hard at changing this situation though. He grunts and groans and his head turns red, but so far no luck. Hopefully we get this all sorted out soon so that he will take bottles again.

Lauren and I are thankful that we are finally starting to worry about Liam as we worried about Caroline when she was a newborn. We don't have the fear of heart surgery looming over us, and our son doesn't wear himself out drinking a 2 ounce bottle. We finally have a kid who is growing - he's up to 9 lbs 4 oz as of last check - more than one pound heavier than he was 10 days ago! He didn't gain that much in his first eight weeks! Most of all, we are more relaxed now. We are closer to going home now.