Saturday March 19

Saturday Benson was moved from the CICU (cardiac intensive care unit) up to the 3rd floor surgical unit. So we are officially out of all the ICU's! We started in the NICU, then we were moved to the CICU which is part of the PICU. The surgical unit is considered a step-down unit, which means it's where a patient goes in preparation to going home. It's a lot different here. We have our own room with a bed, bathroom and TV in it, and there is only one nurse to every 4 patients, whereas in the ICU's there was one nurse on Benson at all times. Being here in the surgical unit has helped me feel like I really can take him home and be ok without dr's and nurses around all the time. I take care of him myself about 90% of the day, and the nurses only come in to check vitals or ask questions. I thought I'd be a nervous wreck taking him home, but he's doing so well and looks so good that it doesn't even feel like he had heart surgery a couple of days ago.
Saturday morning we came in and found Benson almost completely free of all needles and wires! It was so awesome and made him feel that much more like a normal child. We worked on getting him to nurse all day and had a couple successful attempts. The first part of the day he would only eat for a couple minutes and then he'd fall asleep. I could tell it was the Loritab that was keeping him too out of it to eat so I asked if we could switch to Tylenol. Once we switched and the Loritab had worn off enough, he ate really well, but that afternoon he was in a lot of pain and we had to give him more Loritab. Eating didn't go well after that. He'd only eat 10 minutes and then completely pass out. I know he'll catch on though, because he did so well when he was more coherent.
Other than that he is doing perfect! He hasn't had one complication or set back since surgery. He's off of his TPN, blood thinner, antibiotics, and oxygen. He only had to be on the oxygen for a little over 24 hours which is great! They told us at the beginning that he may have to go home on oxygen, so he's obviously doing better than even the average baby with his condition. We are SO grateful! Every day he gets stronger and stronger, and cuter and cuter. Now that he is healthy he is starting to show his little personality and we love it!