THE Big Day

The big day.

Holly's heart procedures to fix her PDA and Pulmonary Valve Stenosis.

Monday, August 25th - 6am

St. V's - Toledo Ohio

Our day started at 4:15am!

At first its not too bad being up that early.  But a few hours later it hits you.  Hard.  Just ask Holly.

It was torture getting blood pressure, O2 stats, put into a hospital gown...  So traumatizing.  But then...

The happy juice came and she no longer cared about a thing.  

They took her from us and began their work around 7:30am.  We were updated along the way by the nurse.  It was all smooth sailing and by 10:45am, the nurse came out and said the doctor was just finishing up.  When he called us back for the consult, he showed us a video of his work with the balloon to open the valve and the placement of the plug in the hole.  It was all so fascinating to watch.  In a weird way I wish we could have gotten a copy of it.  At that point in time he explained it would be another 45 minutes before she got moved to the PICU but we could head up there to wait.

And that we did.

For one hour.

Jim went back to remind them we were in the waiting room waiting to see Holly but we were told she was not awake yet.  "Go have a seat and we'll come get you when she's ready."

So we waited.

For another hour.

This time I went back and was told a different story.  Holly had to lay flat until 4pm!  It was only 1pm - another three full hours to wait to see our daughter.

So we went and had lunch, played around on Pinterest, watched Frozen, started playing some cards when... they finally said she was ready to be seen!!!   

OH HAPPY DAY!!

That is until we saw her....

She had just gotten another EKG and diaper change when we got to her room and she was not a happy camper.  Her throat was so sore from the breathing tube.

She was still so groggy...

And not happy about all the excess baggage on her body.  

Before we could leave she still needed a few more tests done to be sure everything was still where the surgeon left it - another Xray and Echo.

And then it was time to E-A-T!  The first time in almost 24 hours.  She was quite the piggy eating yogurt and pancakes... until the doctor walked back in the room.

He had reviewed the tests and was happy with the results.  She was able to eat and drink and keep them down so we were good to go home - a mere 12 hours after arriving there and only 7 hours after the procedure was done!

All that's left to do is follow up with him in two months and the cardiologist in six months and in the meantime, keep her from jumping off couches and trampolines.  

Should be easy, right?

The most interesting part of the day is hearing both the doctor AND the nurse say that they have received phone calls from parents asking them to UN-do the procedure.  See until now Holly was getting too much non-oxygenated blood in her lungs.  Now after the plug was put in, she'll be getting the full amount of oxygen in her body and therefore will have the energy she never knew was missing!  So excited about the adventures and mischief this child will now be getting into.  Only time will tell.

And what would you do in a hospital for 12 hours while your child is in surgery?

Well... I almost completed a scarf for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes!