Our Baby Is Home!!

First off, we want to thank everyone from the bottom of our heart for all of the love and support we have received throughout all of this. All of your prayers....everything!! Our prayers have been answered and our baby boy is home!! We truly have the best family and friends💕

As all of you know, our precious Colby had open heart surgery less than two weeks ago on May the 10th. It was something we had been dreading since the moment we found out about Colby's heart condition when I was just 20 weeks pregnant with him. It became all consuming. It's very hard to describe unless you have been through it. It's almost as if you don't want to plan anything in the future because you don't know what the future holds.

While we had been through all of this before with Abigail, a lot of it felt very new. We had to find a new surgeon because Abigail's surgeon moved across county so we had to "start over" in many respects. New surgeon, new hospital, new protocol...After A LOT of research, discussions, meetings....we finally decided on Dr. Jonas at DC Children's Hospital.

Once we set the date for the surgery it came quick. Weeks would fly by and it just seemed the surgery date was getting close quick. It felt very strange because if you looked at Colby, you would think he was super healthy and nothing was wrong with him. Great weight, eating, activity level, happy...just perfect (in our nonbiased opinion haha).

Fast forward to May 10th...surgery day. It was a long day. A very long day. We got to Children's Hospital a little after 8. We waited for hours. It seemed like forever. Colby did not go back for surgery until 2:00. He could not eat or drink, but Colby was such a trooper the whole time. He definitely could sense something was going on. Colby snuggled on my lap for most of the time💙 He would ask calmly to eat and when we told him he couldn't, he didn't pitch a fit....he just went back to snuggling. It was heartbreaking:(

 Once anesthesia came, it moved fast. Too fast. They were supposed to give Colby a sedative so that when they came to take him away, he wouldn't be scared or upset but it did not work out that way. They gave him a sedative and told us we could give him hugs and kisses and then they took him away. Colby was hysterical. He was crying out and reaching for us. Such a horrible, helpless feeling. He seemed so scared and of course we were terrified too.

The wait seemed like forever. They took Colby back at 2:00 and we were finally able to see him around 8:00. It was so incredible to just be able to see him, hold his hand and kiss his sweet cheeks. Colby was in the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit) for about 3 days.Colby was still heavily sedated because he had the breathing tube still in. The goal was to get Colby to wake up and then they would take out the breathing tube out. It took a little bit longer than expected, but it was so incredible to see those big, beautiful eyes when he finally woke up.

 It was a very long night. Colby was in a lot of pain. The doctors and nurses were trying to figure out the right combination of pain medication, but nothing really seemed to help at first. We felt very helpless and just wished we could take his pain away. Colby was SO thirsty. When they put in/take out a breathing tube, your throat becomes very dry and swollen. Colby drank 14oz of water in just a few hours!

 On Thursday, Colby still felt pretty crummy. Colby stopped drinking and wouldn't eat. Colby didn't eat anything until Saturday. He was nursing though, so at least he was getting something in his belly. Abigail came to visit for a little bit earlier in the day. It was SOO great to see her and she helped to brighten Colby's spirits too!! Abigail kept patting Colby on the head and giving him kisses saying "I'm sorry you're not feeling well, brother. I hope you feel better soon!" Sooo cute💕

Physical Therapy came and tried to get Colby up and moving later in the day. He wasn't too thrilled, but they want to make sure he moves around otherwise fluid can accumulate in the lungs, which is common after being on the bypass machine. It sounded like Colby had a really nasty cough, which of course did not feel good coughing after having your chest opened up:-(

Colby was doing a little bit better as the day went on. His pain was being managed a bit better so he was more comfortable. We even took a wagon ride. Elmo wanted to join😍

 On Friday, more and more tubes came out and Colby felt like getting up a little bit more. He still wasn't eating or drinking, other than nursing, but he seemed to be feeling a little bit better. Colby was talking more and more too. He even danced a couple of times😍 They tried to remove his oxygen several times, but his oxygen dropped too low so we had to leave it in.

On Saturday, we were in the Heart and Kidney Unit. Colby was doing MUCH better. Abigail, Nan and Geed came and spent most of the day with us, which was a lot of fun! On Saturday night they took off Colby's oxygen (for good...yay!!) and on Sunday Colby's chest tubes and pace maker wires were removed. Apparently it is quite painful having them removed, but Colby was such a brave boy and he felt much better after they were removed!! Colby was finally able to move and groove! By Sunday evening, Colby was much more like himself! He even removed the remaining monitors himself haha! We went for walks, wagon rides, hung out on one of the roof gardens...it was great!!

 On Monday we got the wonderful news we were being discharged!! Wahoo!!! BEST news!! We were finally going home to be together as a family again!! We couldn't pack our bags fast enough!

We are home now and Colby is doing incredible! He is running around, swinging, sliding...you would seriously never know he had open heart surgery other than the "boo boo" on his chest. Colby is still having difficulty sleeping. He cries hysterically whenever we put him down and he calls out for us several times a night, but if that's the worst thing after this whole ordeal...we'll take it!

We also want to give a HUGE thank you to Nan and Geed to taking such excellent care of our beautiful baby girl while we were gone! This was very difficult on Abigail. Way more than we ever thought. Not only did they take wonderful care of Abigail, but they also did a TON of stuff around the house so that we didn't have to do it when we got home (painting furniture, mulching, grocery shopping, cleaning the entire house, meals....yes...they are incredible!!) Thank you, thank you, thank you!! We do not know what we would have done without them!! Also a HUGE thank you to Meme, Auntie Anna and Uncle Kyle! They came on Friday and spent the day with Abigail and brighten her sprirts! They took her to Target, an awesome indoor playground and McDonald's. Soo sweet! Abigail had the BEST time!! She has already said that she wants to do exactly that for her birthday. That's how much fun she had!

We cannot express how thankful and relieved we are to have our baby boy home with us again. Colby brings so much joy and laughter into our lives. He is one brave, strong little boy. Both of our kiddos are safe and healthy and we are back together as a family again. We couldn't ask for more💗