Day 3 has been a HUGE encouragement and relief to us!! We walked in this morning to a baby that looked like the Jaxson we know! He still had a tad puffiness to his skin but looked very good. Within an hour of us being here he was wide awake and very comfortable looking.

This was VERY nice to see, as yesterday he was super uncomfortable and unsettled. The doctors did their rounds and decided that this morning he would be more then ready to extubate! So prior to extubating they take out the sternal chest tube which apparently causes most of the discomfort. Around 1000 an OR doc came by and pulled that tube out. Being the little honey badger that Jaxson is, he didn’t even flinch!

All of his sedation medications were then decreased and we just waited for him to be good and awake. Thank goodness he didn’t make us wait too long! around 1100 he was good and ready to have that breathing tube pulled!! Of course he handled it like a little champ.

Now he just has the nasal canula giving him a little puff of oxygen. They will try and wean him off of that within the next day or so. After being extubated Jaxson is keeping is oxygen saturations up, and his blood pressure is stable. When he is at rest his heart rate drops and the external implanted pacemaker does kick in to keep his heart rate up. The surgeon does not see this as a big deal and says it will take a few days for the heart to heal and catch up.

Well that was a HUGE hurtle getting that chest tube and tracheal tube out! now the most exciting part came this afternoon….. WE GOT TO HOLD HIM!!!

Let me just say that it was SO worth all the hassle of the lines and tubes to get to have him in our arms!! We weren’t expecting to be able to hold him this soon after surgery, so we were ecstatic!!!

Jaxson will stay in the CPICU until at least tomorrow. Depending on how the night goes we may be moving to the floor tomorrow. We love the nurses and care he is getting up here but it is a VERY uncomfortable place! Once we are on the floor we will be in a private room with a parent bed. One of us will always be able to stay with him at night, which we are really looking forward to!!

Today has been VERY encouraging and we are starting to see that very tiny light at the end of the tunnel!