Day Four - Getting Closer

Today was a really great day as far as Quinn's recovery goes. He was awake most of the day and played, nursed and smiled a lot at the nurses who love him. There is another baby who had the same VSD surgery next door who has cried practically nonstop (literally) since we came to the floor, so Quinn being his pleasant, calm self has endeared himself to the staff.


We are looking to bring him home tomorrow, but will need to keep him on oxygen at home for they think a couple of weeks until we have our first post-op check up. We count it a blessing we can bring him home and know your prayers have helped make that possible. The experience has been overwhelming with love and support from our friends, family and neighbors. We know it's not something we can directly pay back, but look forward to service opportunities in the future.


Here's some highlights from today:

His legs are kicking in this one:

Day Three - On the Move

Quinn did much better today and later tonight, they moved him from ICU to a normal hospital room tonight (with a bed for mom - yeah!). They removed his neck IV and his chest tube in the morning and he started to get a little more active. They brought a few toys in and he responded well to them. He continues to eat well and with his chest tube out, is able to nurse, which is a little tricky with the remaining wires, but I'm getting the hang of it). His bp and oxygen levels are still a little irregular, so they are watching that up here.

An exciting moment was when Grandpa Doug and Lauren came to visit. Quinn perked right up seeing her. It was cute. She came in costume to do trick-or-treating at the hospital (siblings were invited). It was fun for mommy to spend a little time with her and she got lots of loot. They give mostly games and things rather than candy, so she will enjoy them for a while.

Hard to say how much longer we'll be here. Will keep you posted.

The surgeon gave us the piece of patch he used with the hole cut out. You can see how big it was in perspective to Quinn's fist (about the size his heart is).

The long white part on the scan is his patch for the VSD. The hole was kind of in the middle to lower area of his heart.

They changed out his bandages after taking out the chest tube, so we were able to get a glimpse at the stitches.

The hospital had a room of Halloween costumes for the patients came and took pictures. We chose this onsie for him. You can't see it well in this photo, but it has a red heart over his heart area. We thought it fitting, plus it could stay open at the bottom for all his wires.

Videos from Day 3:

See also the videos I added to Day 1's post.

Day 2 - The Road to Recovery

Quinn's doing much better today thanks to all your prayers. He moved to another part of the ICU tonight and they have removed a few of his IVs so he doesn't look quite as scary. He may move from ICU tomorrow. He still has quite a few wires. He's forgetting to breathe well when he sleeps and eats, so we're back on oxygen for now. All in all, much better.

He's been eating and sleeping well and is being a model patient. The nurse asked if I had taken some seditives because he is so calm and good that she thought I might be passing it through my milk to him! It was the talk Jay had with him before the hospital about listening to the doctors and nurses. I'll post again tomorrow night. Thanks for your continued thoughts.

The only smile we saw all day was when daddy came:(

Tonight:

This morning:

Hanging in There - A Few Hours After Surgery

Quinn's doing much better with some medication that is helping keep his heart rate and blood pressure stable. Thank you for all your prayers and concern. We've felt it!