Post-Op Day Three

Post-Op Day Three


        This was a very eventful day for our sweet little trooper. His sats weren't great but he was hanging in there for most of the morning. They decided to go ahead and take him off the vent. We were so ready to see our boy without that breathing tube. We were excited about the possibility of him being really awake for the first time since surgery. 
          At 9:33am they pulled the vent tube out of his throat and he got put on heavy flow oxygen. They also pulled the NG tube out at that time. We got to see his precious little mouth for the first time in a few days. His mouth was super dry so the nurses gave us these tiny little sponge-on-a-stick things that we would dip in water and let him suck on. He liked it sometimes and got mad as fire other times. Believe me, if he didn't want it, he'd let you know. 
           As soon as they pulled the vent tube out he started to try to cry but his little throat was too sore to make any real noise. He could only get out faint whispery crys at first but they grew louder and stronger throughout the day. We let him suck on a passy for a while and let him chew on his favorite teething toy, Ernie G. Raff. :) He really went to town chewing on Earnie. He also started really opening his eyes for the first time. It was wonderful getting to see our boy again. We had missed those beautiful eyes. Later they came back and took out both of his pacing wires. Then he also got to get one drainage tube, his catheter, and his head monitor off. What a BIG day! 

         That evening, as Jack started to wake up more and more, he really started to grow more and more fussy. He started to have little episodes where he would wake up and thrash around in his bed. He would cry his sad hoarse little cry and open his foggy eyes as much as he could. He was having headaches related to the pressure change in his head caused by the surgery. As a result of the BD Glenn, the pressure in Jack's head suddenly became the equivalent of a normal person hanging upside down for several hours. This is because his lungs are used to working really hard to pump and now they aren't having to work as hard. Now they are tensing up and pumping blood to his head. Dr. Borisino said this is a normal side effect of the Glenn and would resolve itself when Jack's lungs get used to the pressure and relax. Until then he will have really bad headaches. 
          Although the pressure headaches are normal and expected for Glenn babies, Jack seemed to react much worse than most babies. And because his sats are already low, he doesn't have much reserve for when he gets upset. Meaning, most Glenn babies whose sats are in the 80s might get upset and drop their sats to the 60s. But because Jack's sats are starting in the 60s, when he gets mad and his sats drop, its dangerous. So, besides worrying about how much pain he was in and doing our best to console and comfort him, we were also watching the monitor and worrying about the numbers. It was a tough night for all of us. 

"Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:17