They have taken him back to the operating room. We probably won’t have any updates for at least a couple hours. Here with Sarah and I are my mom (Terri Seiwell), Sarah’s mom, dad, and sister (Nancee, Phil, and Kate Wood). Everyone here at U of M is amazing, we’re so happy that such an amazing hospital is so close to home. Here are a few pictures from this morning including the surgeon that will be fixing Evan’s heart today, Dr. Jennifer Hirsch.
If nothing else updating the website keeps my mind off of what is going on…it’s very therapeutic.
Evan has been doing so well, we could not be happier about his progress. He’s gained about 6 ounces since birth and boy does he eat. Sarah’s milk came in and she’s been a machine. I checked the refrigerator in the ICU tonight before we left and there was enough in there for his next 5-6 feedings. She was very excited about it and so am I, much better for him than formula.
The doctors are watching his intake and output very closely to make sure he’s getting the right amount of calories. We actually weigh each diaper after a changing and I can tell you that a Pampers size 1 diaper has a tare weight of 20 grams. His heaviest diaper, was over 120 grams! Guess that’s what happens when they give you meds to make you urinate. They regularly increase his total calories and he’s been taking it in stride. He’s up to feeding every 3 hours and taking 67mL (2 1/4 ounces). He takes the first 3/4 of it really, really fast and then he wants to take a nap and we have to coax him to eat the rest by bugging him. 🙂
Tomorrow is our last day with him before the surgery. He’ll be fine, I know he will, but it’s really hard to think about what is going to happen to him without completely losing it. Despite everything that we’ve done to learn about and prepare for this, it’s still really, really hard. We’re having him blessed tomorrow afternoon and several family members will be there for it. Thursday morning they will wheel him down to a waiting area right outside the OR at about 8am. Sarah and I can be with him in that room right up until they wheel him into the OR. Surgery starts at about 8:30am and will last a 3-4 hours. We’ll go on a tour of the cardiac ICU and chew on our nails in the waiting room until he’s out. I’ve seen many pictures of other babies after they come out of the surgery, it’s not pretty and it’s going to be heart wrenching. We don’t know what life is going to be like for him immediately after the surgery, supposed to meet with the surgeon tomorrow and we’ll find out. How long will he be sedated? How long will he be on a ventilator, feeding tube, catheter, etc? What should we expect in general….???
Enough of daddy being a downer…. here’s some pictures and video of the most handsome baby you’ve ever seen.
OK, OK… I know daddy is mean and should let the little guy get his rest, but he’s sooooo cute when he’smoving around I had to mess with him a little bit. (I removed the audio in this one, the nurses were talking in the background and ruined it, but the video is still great) Do you have your tickets? from William Wood on Vimeo.
So I am sitting in the chair feeding the little fella and I sit him up to burp him and what do find? Evan has the same issue as daddy, his pants never seem to cover everything they are supposed to. Evan is just like daddy. from William Wood on Vimeo.
Evan is officially one and a half days old. He’s been doing what I imagine most babies do for the first few days, sleep. His blood sugar was bouncing all over the place but that has stabilized. We’re trying to get him to eat on his own so that he does not need the feeding tube but it’s proving difficult with the people in the NICU shoveling 30mL of food into him every 3hrs like it’s Thanksgiving dinner, it’s no wonder that he’s not hungry. The surgery is scheduled for next Thursday, until then he’ll be monitored in the NICU. Sarah has been discharged from the hospital but has one more night in a ‘nesting room.’ After that we will go back to the hotel here in Ann Arbor at least in theory. I doubt we’ll spend much time there, we just won’t have a room in the hospital.
Here are several pictures from the last couple days…
waiting to be admitted…
Waiting to be admitted…
Can you feel the excitement?
In the OR about to have a baby!
Happy mom to be.
Sarah and her big sis Kate in the OR.
Evan’s echo-cardiogram underway
Well done mom!
5 fingers and toes…. check.
Evan get’s his first bath.
He’s been having a little trouble eating, so he has a feeding tube.
I’ll post more details about the labor and such later, but for now…. He’s finally here!!! Evan Michael Wood was born at 5:39AM. He was 8 lbs 6.4 ounces and measured 21.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. We’re waiting to get results from the echo-cardiogram and i’ll update more later.
