What can I say, I'm just so thankful that things went so well for Zachary. We arrived in Michigan on Tuesday (July 28th) and spent Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday doing blood tests, an EKG, echo, surgical releases and a cath. Zach (at 5 months) weighs 14lbs and is 26 inches long. We were supposed to be first case on Friday, but Dr. Bove had quite a few babies waiting and another more critical HLHS baby had been waiting too long. So we had a weekend with a baby in a hotel room that we weren't prepared for! After a quick run to ToysRUs, we managed to keep Zach happy with a new swing and bouncy seat (which we donated to Mott's when we left). The hospital provided formula, diapers and wipes for us. The surgery didn't get started until around 8:00 AM on Monday due to Zach's blood match expiring the night before. So they had to wait until they put him out and drew more blood to be matched for the heart lung machine. Because Zach has two superior vena cavas Dr. Bove performed a bi-directional glenn on the right side and a hemi-fontan on the left. The procedures were completed by 11:30 AM or so, and we saw him in the PICU around noon. He spent the rest of the day in the PICU, and at 6:00 AM on Tuesday, he was extubated on the first try. (It took three tries for his last operation!) He was moved out to Moderate Care (nicknamed the Zachary Ward due to the THREE heart baby Zacharys being there) by 9:00 AM. He spent another 24 hours in Moderate Care having his oxygen, chest tubes, pacer lines, artery line and catheter removed before heading to the General Floor. We spent two days there, weaning him off the morphine and removing his last iv's. I just can't believe how fast babies recover from these surgeries. Dr. Bove's main nurse, Louise, said that the kids usually fly through the hemi and glenn recoveries, but the fontan recoveries usually take a while longer. Zach had a tiny bit of a plueral effusion, but they were not worried about it. We were released Friday morning, and we flew home on Saturday morning. The plane was hot before they turned the fans on, and Zach was a bit fussy. We did get some of those "Looks" before he fell asleep shortly after takeoff. His sats are now in the high 80's while he's at rest, so they said he did not need oxygen. We did use oxygen on the flight up since his sats were around 70. Since being home, I've noticed that Zach is eating more than usual, and sleeping less! I was expecting him to be sleepier, for some reason. I guess not! He's as squirmy as ever. His chest incision has no external stitches, just steri-strips, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him in the least.
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