Birth to Norwood

As Alexis heads back to surgery, I have a chance to let everyone know how the hospital stay has been since she was born. After getting settled into the CICU the doctors decided to put a PIC line in (basically an IV line that runs from her upper arm, through a vein, to where it almost meets the heart. It doesn't go directly in the heart, but it stops just a bit before it.). The PIC line is for giving medicine as well as drawing blood (it's two tiny lines in one tube, basically). They asked us to step out for that procedure because, while it is relatively minor, there is a bit of blood sometimes and they babies don't like being held down. After that was put in we got to hold her and snuggle her all we wanted. I tried feeding her but she was too sleepy. The way she differs from a normal baby now is her respiration rate is higher and her oxygen saturation is lower, meaning her blood doesn't get as much oxygen as yours or mine. Other than that, she looks great! They had her on a medicine called prostaglandin that kept her heart functioning before the surgery. ***** Levi came to meet her and was not exactly sure about what was going on. He made the connection that the "Lexi" we had been taking about while I was still pregnant was now the "Lexi" he was looking at, and he just didn't exactly know what to think. He didn't want to hold her yet and he didn't really know what to think about me in a hospital bed/gown either. Thankfully he was surrounded by people he loves so he wasn't upset, just unsure. He started asking questions about her, though, and I knew he would warm up to her right away. After he went to the Ronald McDonald House for the evening with Jason and Deborah (Jason's mom), my parents brought me back up to my room and then they went to sleep in their RV parked at the hospital. ***** Yesterday morning we got up and went to see Lexi pretty early. She had a good night and even ate some from a bottle. We just had a snuggle day yesterday and only two people came to scan/test her. We all, including Levi, spent a lot of time with her. The hard part is only 4 people are allowed in her room at once, and there have been 5+ people here, but we are getting it figured out. She tried nursing about 4 times yesterday, which was extremely exciting! We also had some skin-to-skin time and just relaxed. I'm having major cramping when I feed her and pump for her, which is really frustrating because I haven't had the pain-tolerance to pump much. The hospital staff has been PHENOMENAL, though, and extra super supportive. Last night she ate several times from a bottle and did great. ***** I woke up early this morning and went to see her at about 6:30. The nurses do shift-change from 6:45-7:45 so nobody is allowed in or out of the CICU during that time. We just snuggled today knowing that her surgery would happen around lunch time. My mom got to her room around 8:30. Jason, Levi, Deborah and Valerie (Deb's friend) came by around 9am. Levi really wanted to hold Alexis again, which is adorable, so while he did that I went to my room to get ready for the day. Everyone just spent a lot of snuggle time with her and we prayed around her. The surgery team came to talk to us and give us the rundown of what her surgery will be like. I had some emotional moments and we all cried a little, but praying helped so much. ***** They took her back at 12:30pm and now we just wait until she is done. We have had our first update and all of her IVs went in fine. They were about to hook her up to the heart-lung bypass machine and we'll get another update soon. We are so grateful for the continued prayers and I will let everyone know once she is in recovery. I'll also try to get some pictures posted once I get some off of my phone.