Getting it over with (13 days)

So those last few posts were kinda tough, so I am glad to be done with them. I forget sometimes how serious this procedure is going to be. I can jibe a little about how strange Piper might seem after surgery, but I don't think there is anything funny about it. Sometimes dark times call for dark humor. Don't get me wrong. I fully know what we've signed up for, and I am taking this seriously... just maybe trying to find that silver lining, you know?

The Intensive Care Unit:

So, once we are in here, it sorta signals that the worst is over. In some ways yes, in others no. This is the first bit of time what Piper will be "on her own", meaning not constantly monitored every single second, and won't have to attention of half a dozen people all the time. Still, we will be on our way to recovery.

She will still be very closely watched by nurses etc. This will be a room with a bunch other post-op patients as well. I don't know if anyone has ever been in one, but I imagine it to be very similar to the time we were there for her angiogram. Its a huge room with numerous beds and lots of stainless steel, lots of white bed sheets and lots of beige colored walls. The nurses scrubs are often nice and bright and chipper.

One of the big things in the ICU (just like the nursery, too, at SMH) is that here are one hundred beeping things going off all of the time. I know from all the times Piper has been attached to one of these monitors, there has never actually been a time when the beeping is legit. It is almost always beeping because of a lost contact, or something has fallen off. Anyways, you learn to tune it out pretty darn fast.

What will our child look like?:

This is when we'll see Piper for the first time after her surgery. What I imagine is her sleeping (sedated) with tubes up her nose (maybe taped?), and a large wrapping of gauze covering her chest (might look like a white tube top, maybe?), and a perfect little diaper on (the hospital always uses Pampers). She'll have an IV in her hand, most likely, maybe in her foot like last time. She might have some tubes out of her leg, too... not sure. Anyways, I know there will be lots of lines coming to and from her chest, and maybe I'll see some fluids coming in or out. I am prepared for that. We'll see what we get.

They say to be prepared to even see your baby's eyes, hands or face a bit swollen, too. I am guessing because of the fluids they are putting in them during and after surgery. I know I got some fluids put into me during the last leg of my labor and after, and my face puffed up like a marshmallow! My eyes were so tiny. Man, those photos are embarrassing. I am sure on Piper, it will just look cute.

They also mention that she might have a cooling blanket to control fever, which decreases the amount of work the heart has to do. They state that most babies get a fever after heart surgery. Something like an electric blanket for babies? Sign me up!

I also called the cardiology nurse today (have I mentioned before how awesome they are?) to ask a few other questions. I found more useful things out, like it is totally possible for us to give our own blood to fill the lines of the HLM, but there is a slight chance (0.01%) that her body will reject our blood, as it's too similar. The nurse said that the risks were much lower in using blood from a donor. Ok, the lower the risk, the better.

And that the first night after Piper's surgery might be good night to spend a night away (not sleep in the hospital). She said that in the ICU there is no room for a bed for a parent, so we would be stuck in a rocking chair. Yah. Not cool. Or else, to sleep in a waiting room. Again, not cool. So that night we will try to spend away, but close by. They said that they would call us if Piper woke up distressed, and we could just jet on over. Might look into that.

The nurse said that since she is a "pink" baby, she should do just fine with the fixed heart and the increased and better blood flow after surgery. She thinks she will only need one day in the ICU and then she should be moved up to 3M (haven't been there yet). She said once we are in 3M, we get our own room and it will be easier to sleep over there. They will have one bed (I think it's like the one's that the Daddy's sleep on in the maternity ward), but they said if we can find a way to get another one in there, we can both stay. We will see how things go and then see how often both of us are staying. Matt plans to still work as much as he can, as I don't think there will be much to do during the day, but we will play that part by ear. It could all depend on how things go.

Oh, and again, talking with the nurse, she asked if we wanted to see the surgeon early and have that talk with him about what exactly he'll be doing, the risks, recovery etc. This meeting we don't need to bring Piper to and so we can just soak it all in and not be distracted. The nurse was saying that this part of the meeting can be quite stressful, so it's nice to do it on it's own day. We will still have the pre-op meeting on the 1st of Feb, but maybe now it will be a bit shorter and not so "heavy". Here's hoping anyways. We booked an appointment for tomorrow at 2:30pm. Nice and quick! Then we'll have a whole week+ to really get everything together in our heads.

Wow. This is really happening.

Big breath.