Home!

Caroline was released from Children's this morning and is on her way home! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and thank you Uncle Harold and Aunt Wynn for taking care of Parker while we were away.

Love,
Matthew and Lauren

Getting settled in

We tried weaning Caroline completely off the oxygen today with no luck.  She really hates the canula, but her sats sit about mid 60's when she's not on it.  Maybe she needs just a little more time.  Of course, she is on diuretics to pull the excess fluid off her lungs.  The problem with that is she's not eating enough to keep her electrolites up.  After all this time, we're playing feeding games again.  Her pain seems to be controlled by tylenol, but we have ready access to narcotics if she needs them.  
Mama is extra sleepy, and the nurse tonight needs to be watched.  I'll post more tomorrow when my brain is functioning a little better.

HKU bound...already?!

When we were here a few weeks ago for Caroline's cath., we spent more time in the CICU than we did for open heart surgery.  Does anyone else think that's just crazy?  They pulled all of her lines this morning in preparation of sending us to the floor, including her chest tubes.  She is still on a tiny bit of oxygen that should be weaned by the end of the day.  Want some bad news?  We're in the smallest HKU room there is, and since they're fielding a lot of CICU kids in the near future, we'll probably have a roomate.  We are on the "A" side, which means we don't have direct access to the bathroom, window, or table.  Even if we were on the "B" side, the room is too small for a couch that I'm used to sleeping on.  Hopefully we won't need to be here long.  Hopefully.

Chunky Monkey

Caroline finally got to eat about an hour ago.  We had to stop her (of course) from eating the whole bottle for fear that she would make herself sick.  Other than that, everything is the same and we are playing the waiting game.  Post Glenn babies usually have a hard time from a bit of swelling and headaches.  She is puffy and her lungs are a little "wet" from all the medicines and from being on bypass.  This causes her to be more oxygen dependant.  She is still on 2 liters of 60% oxygen.  The few extra lasix doses will hopefully help this so we can take that nasal canula off...or she'll do it herself.  She has only needed one half of a dose of morphine a while ago (before she was allowed to eat) to calm her because she was so upset that her sats were bottoming out.  She is sleeping a lot.  I am not complaining because it seems that she is dealing with the trauma this way.  Keep up the prayers that she will continue to progress.

Post Glenn

I listened in this morning for rounds, as always.  It is so nice to be considered "post Glenn".  Caroline was extubated around 8 this morning, and has been pretty grumpy.  I'm not sure that she is even in a lot of pain (who wouldn't be after open heart surgery?) but I know for a fact that she is starving.  No milk until 2 pm, so keep her in your thoughts as she waits it out.  They also took out one of her lines that went directly into her heart, we call it an RA line.  The other one will have to come out and her central arterial line before we can move to the HKU.  Not that I am in a hurry...I hate that place.  

Glenn...check.

We just got into the CICU to see Caroline.  It's scary seeing her hooked up to all that stuff, again.  She'll start waking up in a few hours.  Please pray that she can be successfully extubated soon so she can start eating.  

Update

All done with the surgery.  We just talked to the surgeon, and he seemed pleased with how everything went.  We're stalking the elevators to catch a glimse before they take her into CICU.  

Update

She's off of bypass.  Now we're waiting to talk to Dr. Sinha to see how surgery went.

Update

We just got a page telling us she's on bypass.  Keep up the prayers.

Lunch and a surprise

Matthew and I decided that lunch was a priority after Caroline was taken back for surgery. While we sat eating our lunch, you'll never believe who we saw.  Caroline's surgeon!  I know he has to eat, too.  But I was so shocked to see him in the cafeteria...instead of the OR.  Matthew and I just looked at each other like "are you seeing this?"  Let's hope that some bum isn't in the OR.

And it begins...

The team just took Caroline back for surgery.  She was a little angry because she was hungry, but we sent her off with a smile.  Please pray that all goes as planned.  

The Big Day

After our pre-op appointment yesterday, we were scheduled to be the first case of the day. In the evening, the NP called to say that a newborn needed our timeslot... We are praying for the other family that all goes well.  Now, surgery is scheduled to start around noon.  This is pretty terrible for us (I'm trying hard not to be selfish), because Caroline loves to eat.  She is already hungry and getting increasingly fussy by the minute.  Please pray that we can keep her calm long enough to get her handed off.  

Pre-Glenn Curse

I don't even know where to begin to update everyone on what is going on in the Duncan house.  Yeah, it's a lot.  We moved into our new house in Hampton Roads (that's just a fancy way of saying we live in the Norfolk area, along with the other million Navy families) over the Memorial Day weekend.  Getting settled is harder than it looks, and I find myself still surrounded by boxes full of things I'd never miss if they just got brought out to the garbage bin.  Matthew left Sunday for school in Rhode Island, and we are having a hard time trying to arrange a way for him to get to DC in time for him to see Caroline before surgery.  I have been fighting an uphill battle since Matthew left, and if it could go wrong...you'd better bet that it has.  I had to call a plumber on Sunday night because Parker ran the jogging stroller into the water pipes in the garage.  The water main had to be shut off, and I'm pretty lucky that I was standing nearby when it happened.  Parker thought it was great, he had "mud puddles" to stomp in.  Yesterday, we all went out in the evening for a post dinner walk. When we got home, I realized that I had locked the keys in the house.  So, without my wallet, keys (obviously), phone, diapers, juice...you get the idea, we went begging from the new neighbors.  I found someone that was able to lend us a phone and a phonebook so my very embarassed self could call a locksmith.  At this point, Caroline was really sweaty (not a good thing with a heart baby) and I was entering panic attack mode.  More than once I considered just breaking a window, if that tells you what kind of fun situation it was.  We all survived and the first chance I get, guess who is taking a monster fieldtrip to Home Depot to make some copies...me!  
While the hits just keep on coming, the one constant, looming always somewhere near is Caroline's Glenn.  She and I are leaving before the sun rises on Monday morning to make it to Children's for her pre-op appointment.  I was told that this "appointment" could take up to 8 hours.  After being subjected to every test known to man, Caroline gets to go stay at the Washington D.C. Ronald McDonald house with me.  I am stressing about this because like any home away from home, I have a hard time controlling germs and contact with anything that could potentially get her sick.  Catching something that close to surgery would make her recovery much harder, so I'm planning on being "that Mom" with a full tub of Clorox wipes and a suitcase of our own sheets and blankets.  Please pray that Caroline has no complications, and that we are able to get in and out without any major hiccups.