Update!

I've somehow managed to not give everyone an update last night, and I'm sorry about that! Things happen so quickly around here, let's see if I can remember it all.

Yesterday, everyone got to hold James to feed him. I was the last one to get the chance. I can't tell you how GOOD it felt to hold my little baby. I couldn't stop smiling.

I'm going to skip to the big news, and that is that we are out of ICU!! James no longer has a chest tube, and the only lines he has going in him is one arterial line for putting meds in, and one line in his hand just in case--a hep lock like the one I had during labor/delivery.

During a feeding in the night, James starting choking and sputtering a bit. It's pretty common with him, but to be honest we hadn't really worried about it. However, an Occupational Therapist came by this morning and gave us some thickener. He swollowed up 3oz of milk in 13 minutes flat! They will be conduction an official swallow study tomorrow to see if it's necessary to keep using the thickener.

And here's some crazy news: the OT wanted to make sure the test happened tomorrow--to get it done before we head home. Ack! I just can't believe it! That does NOT necessarily mean we're going home in two days, but there has been a lot of talk about getting him ready to head home. In general, his heart is doing very well. The doctor's two concerns before sending us home are 1) swallowing, which we will address with the OT tomorrow, and 2) fever. James has had a consistent fever since surgery, which is not abnormal, but it has continued to persist. James has been treated with Tylenol with codeine for pain, but evidently that doesn't give him a full dose of Tylenol (which would help the fever). So they pulled that med and gave him plain Tylenol. That was at the feeding when he spit up some, so he didn't get a really good dose of Tylenol until the morning. Though they haven't taken his temp since then, he's finally fallen into a good, good sleep--his first post-surgery. It's so good to see him sleeping soundly and looking comfortable.

That's it for now. More later! Thank you for your prayers!