Caleb Updates

Thursday-Happy Turkey Day!

Caleb chillin.

The boys arrived at the hospital late that morning. We were so grateful to the Greenwood's for driving them to us on Thursday. They made a four hour round trip just to bring us our babies!

Thank you!

Collin checking out his brother.

Caleb was still not himself yet, and more interested in watching TV.

It didn't take long before someone was in tears.

I missed having all my boys with me.

It was nice to have them again.

We went to Thanksgiving at the Stake Presidents house in Iowa City. It was very nice of them to have us, and it was just wonderful to have "real" food.

When we got back to the hospital Caleb was ready to be transferred out of the PICU.
I envisioned a rolling bed to go down from the 7th floor to the 2nd floor.

But no, here is the boy waiting to ride in his very own wagon!

How cute is he?

Sorry my picture is sideways, turn your head for the full effect of cuteness.

And they're off on the long walk to the pediatric hospital.

Waiting for our big elevator.

This elevator was huge inside, Talin couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the night.

It's so unreal to me, he's completely off all his IV's and only taking Tylenol. Kids are insanely resilient. The doctor's kept saying I would be surprised at how quickly he bounces back, but it's really been shocking to me.

In our new room we had yet to see a smile from this boy.

Until yesterday....

And the following photo frenzy is because I'm completely in love.

They are talking about releasing us tomorrow, but those plans might change because Caleb is having some severe reflux. Since five this morning he has not been able to keep down any food. So we are working with small amounts of milk in his drip-feed, hoping he'll not vomit it up. We're praying his little body accepts some food, or this will be a very long week indeed!

I held my baby this afternoon

And his ventilator was finally taken out.

He wasn't happy.
He cried, and cried and cried.
Then a miracle happened.
He drank an ounce of apple juice out of a BOTTLE!!

And then he stopped crying and slept.
And then Cyndee held him.
Isn't he gorgeous?

And then he drank another ounce of apple juice out of a bottle.

This time we weren't too shocked to grab a camera.

This phenomenon had to be documented!

And then he slept some more.

And then his dad held him.

He was happy.

He likes apple juice.

Do you know how many times I've attempted to feed him apple juice?

Too many to number.

After being held for four hours, we put him back into his crib and turned on the TV.

He's off his morphine, his belly is full of apple juice and he seems content to sit and watch Walle in his bed.

It's kind of surreal.

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

Coming into reality was hard for him today, and I've decided that no mother should have to watch their baby suffer in pain, EVER. So I'm so pleased he's calm and happy.

I have yet to see a smile.

Maybe that will be tomorrow.

Yesterday Morning

The day started early. We had to check it at 6:00.
This was my official SPT pic with Caleb.
A little late, and not wordless, but it will do.

Daddy carrying him into the hospital.

Waiting to be called back.

He was so cute and happy.

I can't wait until he's awake and smiling again.

Waiting with Grandma.

Finally in our room to check his stats and change him into the fabulous gown.

He's waving to everyone!

More waiting with Grandma Cyndee.

We're finally in the pre-op room waiting to go into the O.R.

We ended up waiting almost two hours in here. They had trouble with the ventilation system in the operating room and had been trying to fix it since five that morning. Finally they decided to change rooms.

It was difficult to keep this little bug entertained. He was exhausted, hadn't eaten since the previous night and just wanted his crib.

Then we got moved into another room.

He was happiest when I just laid him down and let him roll around on his own.

FINALLY!

9:00, I got to put on the scrubs and take him in.

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Fast forward to today.

This morning we got to take out his drainage tubes from his chest. It's nice to have two less tubes coming out of him.

We are working on getting his ventilator out of his throat, but there have been some complications.

It would have been taken out last night, but his airway might be swollen because they had to incubate him three times in the O.R., so they didn't take it out last night, and want to do it this morning. The only problem being that he won't wake up fully. For the past two hours we have been taking him off of all his pain meds to wake him up, and the stubborn little boy has been sleeping like the dead. Shouldn't he be waking up in pain? As much as I don't want him to, it has to happen so that we can take the ventilator out. He must be awake so that he will be conscious enough to breathe on his own once it's out.

So now we're playing the waiting game.

Hopefully the next picture you see of him will be with no breathing tube down his throat.

And as freaky as his chest scar looks, it will heal quite nicely and only be a thin line of a scar. And the black stuff is just ink, but it certainly adds to the gruesome appearance.

We have our boy back!

Everything went great.
The tubes are shocking, but we knew what to expect.
Still, this is MY baby, it was shocking.

The awe inspiring machines.

Yes, that is eight IV's going into him.

Crazy.

Pre-surgery pictures coming soon...

November 25th

I put on my scrub gown, my face mask and nifty hat, then I picked up my little boy and carried him into the hallway where his three teams of doctors; the surgery team, the cardiac team and the ICU team were waiting. They all gave a big cheer at seeing Caleb in my arms and ready to go, it was sweet. Then I carried him into the operating room where the staff was setting up and the anesthesiologist started his job. I held him while they gave him the gas that would put him to sleep. He got drowsy, I got a few giggles, and he stared into my eyes. Then I laid him on the bed, kissed his cheek and bravely walked out. Not before turning around and asking the group to "take care of my baby boy", and then thanking them. I feel at peace, I feel calm, I know in whom I trust. The Lord is taking care of my little man, and I'm okay with that.
More updates as they come....