Cardiac Cath, Solids and Sleep!

Hi Everyone,

I had my cardiac catheterization last Tuesday and it went great! Dr. Balzer said everything looked good and that they could go ahead and schedule my Glenn at my next visit! It was a very long day at the hospital and we had to go for a few hours on Monday to get our instructions and a chest x-ray for Tuesday. Mom and dad actually woke me up at 1:30am because it was the last time I could have a bottle of milk before my cath. The only thing I could drink after that was pedialite and apple juice - ick. We got to the hospital bright and early on Tuesday and I met my awesome nurse, Heather! They took me pretty quickly into the cath lab to get started and I was back in my room in 7 West in about 3 hours. I got to sleep the rest of the afternoon and Dr. Balzer showed my mom and dad a video of my cath - pretty cool! He said everything looked good - no collateral veins had formed in my lungs and I only had a slight kink in my aorta that didn't need fixing and my pressures all looked good! We were very relieved to get such great news! We finally got to go home about 4:30pm but we made sure to stop by and visit with some of our favorite nurses - Andrea, Ali, Megan, Dora - and our RT Sheila! I was really exhausted and had some trouble sleeping that night, and I also threw up a few times which was awful! They warned us that I could be a little sick from the anesthesia. Luckily mom and dad watched me closely and were there to make sure I was okay. I think I got a little more sleep than they did but we were all pretty tired on Wednesday. So now I have to go back in early March to see Dr. Balzer and he said at that point they'd be able to schedule my next surgery - yikes! I know it is going to be just fine, though, and one of my Children's buddies, Jace, just made it successfully through his Glenn so he is a big inspiration to me!

In other news, I've been eating rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and bananas! Yes, I know, I am such a big boy to be eating solids! I really like the taste but I am still trying to figure out how to eat and swallow without getting food all over myself. I think I still like my bottle the best, but these solids are pretty tasty! I also rolled over onto my stomach today! My nanny Annie was there to watch me and told my mom when she got home. I've been so close to rolling over for a few weeks now and I finally made it! So now, unfortunately, mom and dad have to figure out how to keep me sleeping at night without being swaddled - it's going to be quite a challenge. Ever since my cath, my sleeping has been a little off and I am waking up quite a bit in the early morning. I don't mind it too much because I can just make a few noises and then mom and dad run in to give me my pacifier and I fall right back to sleep. I think mom and dad are getting a little tired of my new habit, though, because they talk about inventing a pacifier that will stay in my mouth :) They also suspect that I may be in the early stages of teething because I really like to chew on my hands and mom's fingers and arms - I guess they'll just have to stay tuned!

So that's what's going on in my exciting baby life for now! Talk to you soon!


Love,

Will