Moving right along... 9 days to go

For some reason, this was the weekend that it really hit Matt and I what was happening. I don't know if it was meeting the surgeon and hearing really, unfiltered info straight from the source, or just that we finally thought about this surgery for the first time... I don't know. But it felt a little more real this weekend, for some reason or another.

This week I am trying to keep somewhat busy. This Thursday my parents come into town until Saturday morning, so that should be a good distraction, and my Saturday is really quite full. Maybe Sunday will be a "down" day, with not to much going on, and then Monday we'll spend a good amount of the day at the hospital getting info for Wednesday's surgery. Wow.

We've stopped bringing Piper to church, and to other parties, just to avoid germs. I know people just want to see Piper and get close, but I just have no idea what they could "have"... I feel better just keeping her out of highly peopled situations, so then I don't have to sound like a totally anal mother asking people to step away from my child! or asking them when was the last time they had chicken pox. Nope. We'll just keep her away. We still get out, just not really closed in spaces, or places with too many people.

Shaking her head and an arm-flap.

Anyways, back to this binder I am trying to get through. Next question:

Who will be caring for our child?:

I think there will be a load of people caring for Piper. A bunch a people from the ICU team, and they consult the cardiologist and the surgeon when they need to and then, with shift changes etc, I think we'll end up seeing a lot of faces.

When they do rounds in the ICU, there could be as many as 15 people coming to Piper's bed side... Yikes.

I remember just in our 2-3 days in the hospital with her being born, we met at least 5 specialists and about 20 different nurses, and they all cared uniquely for Piper. Yikes again.

How can we care for our child in an ICU?:

This ICU time I am a little worried about. I am worried it will be crammed with distressed looking parents, with harried nurses and sick/sad kids. I am worried I won't have anything to do and will be bored. I am worried I will be so emotionally drained that I am of no use to anyone, especially Piper. I know the space is limited there, and there will be a hundred things beeping and it might be hard to focus on my baby. I guess there is no way to really tell until we're there.

They do keep saying in this book that the "parents play an important role in helping their child recover". I do like feeling useful, and hopefully Matt and I can both feel so. They keep saying that we know the most about our child. Yes, that is true: we are the Piper experts. They might just be the Piper's-heart experts.

We can do simple things (not sure if right away or not) like changes her diapers, change her position, read her stories, give her hugs and kisses etc. We are experts at all of those things, too.

Making some rhythm

Visiting the ICU:

As parents, we aren't considered "visitors" of the ICU so we can stay there all the time, though sometimes there may be a crises in the ICU and all unnecessary people will have to jet out of there. Hopefully there won't be any drama like that, and not to our baby.

We would welcome visitors, too. Though at the moment I am not too sure when. We might just wait until we are out of the ICU... not sure yet. Maybe just family for those days. But I feel as though I would love to see some friends on the other days, when Piper is up on 3M (the recovery ward). I think I might need the fresh social interaction, and maybe just a break from thinking about Piper and how she is doing etc. So yes! That might be really nice, though don't feel obliged either. But knowing myself, I would love to see some friendly faces that aren't wearing scrubs :)

Of course, people should only come if they aren't sick (cough, cold, flu, fever) for Piper's sake and for all the other kiddies in there, too.

Bedside space:

There won't be much room in the ICU for things, like gifts, or toys or even my own things. I think I'll get a good book, maybe my laptop (and earphones) and snacks. Hopefully I'll have some space for that. I am sure there will be plenty of visual distractions going on... I think I'll bring Piper's sock-monkey blanket (lovingly made by Gram- my mom) and maybe a favorite stuffed toy or two. She really does love her Little People toys, but not sure how much co-ordination she'll have for little things. Hmmm...

So I put up a bunch of video's, as I hadn't in a while. And I know it looks like we only have fun in the kitchen, but I promise, we do roam around the house. The kitchen is a pretty fun place, though. Enjoy!

Piper helping me eat my apple...