Post-Fontan Night 4

I was a bit worried about how tonight was gonna go down. First we lost our PCICU nurse to a floater from another unit. In pediatric cardiac intensive care, that's not what you want when it's your child's care at stake. Then, we're asked to give him his daily aspirin along with a dose of Aldactone. Keep in mind we've been trying desperately since his Oxycodone-induced vomit fest Saturday night to convince him that we were finished giving him meds that would upset his tummy or make him throw up again.

Literally less than 5 minutes later the boy was puking his guts (and meds) into a bowl. I. Felt. Horrible! I want him to trust us but he had to have thought we were big fat liars! Luckily it was all contained this time and he seemed to feel better after. But it was so defeating in that we had spent hours trying to get him to take the tiniest sip of water or juice and eat a minuscule corner of a cracker, only to have what little was on its way to his tummy end up in a barf bowl. Fail!

He seemed extra sweaty/clammy all afternoon and I decided to give him a "bath" with the hope that it would help him settle down and sleep for a bit, as he hadn't slept much more than a few minutes here and there all day. He wasn't a big fan of it, but was SUCH a trooper! I was able to get him cleaned up, slathered in some baby lotion and even washed (most of) his hair with a no-rinse shampoo I picked up at Sally Beauty Supply last week. Then it was into his Toy Story hospital gown and socks, a fresh sheet and blanket on his bed, and a few minutes of Netflix on the iPad.

Not long after, he started to nod off into slumberland. Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer! He slept for a good hour -- maybe more -- before waking up around 1 AM for a potty break. We got him situated on the potty chair and he not only peed but also had his first poopy since his surgery last Friday!!! This is a huge milestone and means we won't need to give meds to help with this. Way to go, Chase!!!

Once he was situated back in his bed, he was able to fall back asleep relatively quickly and is now getting more much-needed rest!


He had his chest x-ray at 2:15 AM and then the nurse took his BP and stripped his chest tubes before I got him tucked back in with the hope that he'd get a few more hours of solid rest. And that's exactly what he did! It's now 5:30 AM and we just finished another BP and chest tube strip. A half-dose of morphine is on the way since he hasn't had any pain meds for several hours, so again I'm hopeful that he'll grab a few more hours of much-needed rest.

The docs will round in about an hour or so, and I'll be curios to hear their thoughts for today.

I should take a moment to mention what troopers LO and E have been through all of this past week. Let's face it, LO is getting lots of quality time with THREE grandparents. What's not to like about that!? And E... well, let's just say that as long as there is food involved -- and lots of it -- he's just gonna be a happy camper. Throw in a nap or two, and he's golden! I honestly am so thankful for my in-laws for taking such good care of my littles. It helps me to focus on Chase's care when I know the other two are so well loved and cared for.

But on the other hand, it's so hard to be away from them! I've been spending every night at the hospital, only to come home mid-morning, visit with the kids for a few short moments, take a solid nap, shower, then head back to the hospital by late afternoon and repeat! I just wish I could clone myself so I didn't feel like a horrible mommy for neglecting my kids. I know they're getting loved on, but I just miss then terribly! Praying for some progress in getting us home!