Cute Comparison

I forgot to mention Gavins weight in the last posting:) He, as of his one month visit weighs a whopping 7 lbs 6oz! I looked back at his big brother's stats and saw that he is only trailing his big brother by 9 oz. Easton weighed 7 lbs 15 oz at his one month appointment. Not bad for going through open heart surgery.
We had our first smile!! Sunday, May 17th, the little guy gave us our first "real" smile!! He has had the little smiles here and there previously, but we are pretty sure those were caused by gas and bowl movements! Easton is also adjusting much better to having Gavin home and not as much attention. He plays very well on his own. I on the other hand am still not over the mommy guilt. It tears at my heart to see him playing outside singing or talking to himself while I tend to his little brother. Deep down I know he will be a better person, because of all of this.
Shawn has been doing a little research on Gavin's condition, and the doctors who performed his surgery. 1 out of 500 births will have cardiac issues. Out of those 500 cardiac cases, every 3,000 would have a condition like Gavin's where the Aorta is completely closed off and no blood flow can get through to the lower body. His case normally requires immediate surgery, and so for him to have gone as long as he did is a blessing. We feel very lucky to have had such an outstanding team of doctors! Yeah Hope!

Little Bugs First Bath

Yipee, Yeah! One Month Today!!

It is hard to believe that it has been a month already! I think as of right now we are breaking even with the amount of time Gavin has been at home and in the hospital. Everything has really been running as smoothly as can be expected with two kids. We are in that awkward transition where it is hard to keep up with day to day tasks. We have to relearn a new routine, get a little more organized and hopefully things will become easier.
We took a trip to Hope Wednesday, because Gavin was again sleeping all day and night, rarely waking to eat. By morning he was lethargic looking and by about 10:00 we decided to call the doctors. They told us to take him to the E.R. By 11:00, he was alert, and looking for food...we were confused to say the least. Turns out he was fine. After surgery, babies can go through changes in eating and sleeping.
There are similarities between Gavin and Easton as far as looks go, but Gavin is a little more mommy than Easton was. Gavin is really alert, and enjoys looking around and studying faces. He is quite the strong one as well(but we all knew that our boy was strong!!). He likes to use his legs to kick himself up as we hold him. He does a great job lifting his head too. He enjoys his baths, and now that his scar is healing, were were able to give him his first one yet!
Easton is showing the strain of less attention. This is really hard on everyone. It seems every time he needs me, I am having to tell him to wait, because Gavin needs me. He is holding up, and doing a great job of playing on his own and helping mommy when needed. We can't say he hasn't made out though! He has gotten many gifts from friends and family, including a new swing set.
Before I sign off on this, I wanted to say thank you again to all those who showed us their support. Shawn and I can't stop thinking about the generosity and love we were given. The letters, and daily texts (should I say daily blow up of texts Bridgett and Jen!), and phone calls were exactly what we needed to get us through. Thank you, thank you, forever thank you! I will get more pics up later...I can barely stay awake as I type this. I may have to edit later!!

Gavin's Hospital Stay in Pictures

Last pic is at St. Joe's Hospital, the rest are from Hope. If you look closely at the hospital picture, Gavins room has a heart and streamers on his window(clicking on the pics enlarges them)

We're Home!

Even though the whole ordeal was just under two weeks, it seemed like forever, and we are glad to be home together as a family once again! It took two trips to the hospital before Gavin came out, and it took two trips to get him home...hopefully for good! The discharge went well. We were once again scared about what the future was going to bring. Hospital Nurses, doctors and beeping machine came to be like a security blanket for us, and we didn't know what we would do without them! Our first night was stressful. Gavin turned into a picky eater the minute we got home and started to make straining sounds as he would breath. This lasted for a good two hours, and the noise subsided. He only makes it occassionally. He picked up eating towards the late evening and man has he made up for that! My 3-4 hour feeder turned into a 2-2 1/2 hour feeder!
Gavin will be seeing a cardiologist in a week and every month from here on out(my dad thinks it's funny that he and his grandson both see cardiologists!), and will be on a heart medication until December at the earliest. Gavin's left side of his heart is still very small. The doctors hope that this will eventually get bigger, and will watch the functions of that side at each visit. If the growth doesn't happen, they said they will have to do other surgeries in the future, but for now his heart can handle what it is being given.

Saturday, May 2nd

Gavin will be transferred to the NICU today!! As odd as that sounds, because I would never have associated the word NICU with good news. However, it is not the PSHU(Post Surgical Heart Unit) where he has been since his arrival at 2:00 am Tuesday morning. I just arrived for his 8:00 feeding, and they informed me that they removed his chest tube and would be moving him shortly. Yeah for one less cord or wire around his body!! Despite his four days without food, he was content in his be with his froggy blanket. Not only does this move push us closer to our departure, but it also allows Easton to visit his brother. This has been extremely hard on him. He asks to see him daily. Luckily, his allergies have been acting up and I told him he can't go when his nose is runny. He has taken his Zyrtex without fail, and the runny nose has cleared up...perfect timing. Doctors took him completely off oxygen yesterday and he did wonderful. I was able to start feeding him myself at around noon yesterday. They had to have been sick of me asking when I could feed him.
Easton had an appointment yesterday to see the cardiologist for an echo cardiogram. He saw a doctor two days ago for an ear ache/ ear infection. As Shawn was in the office, the doctor listened to Easton's heart. He left and another doctor came in for a listen. The first doctor returned and told Shawn he thought he heard a murmur in Easton's heart. We talked with the doctor's here and they squeezed Easton in. The Echo looked great! He does have a murmur, but they said it is a normal and common murmur.
Other than being extremely tired, Shawn and I are overjoyed once again! Our Spirits are up, and we find joy in so many little things that we were ingnorant towards in the past. This has been an eye opening experience for us, and we hope we never loose site of what it has taught us.