*there's a first Mother's Day!

But first, a recap of the week:
After surviving the flood, we almost didn't survive the week. Will was crying a LOT. After several calls to the cardiology office we finally ended up at the pediatrician's office. It was the last stop before the E.R. The pediatrician couldn't find a reason for Will to be so upset so she sent us on to the E.R. It was our 3rd trip. We could have gone straight there, but I tried to avoid it. Although we haven't had a bad experience in the E.R., it is still a stressful place that I would rather avoid. Our cardiologist was on the floor in the hospital this week so we couldn't see him during office hours. But by going to the E.R. we were able to eventually see him there. It was finally decided that Will was having trouble weaning off the pain medication. So we were given something to taper off of at home. That helped tremendously and I was finally able to get through a day without having to hold, rock, bounce and shush him for hours. It was a relief to see him feeling more like himself. Even after returning home I made more phone calls to doctors over the next couple of days to get the dosages adjusted. Tonight is the last dose!

Then Friday morning was our follow up appointment with the cardiac surgeon. An X-ray did not show any fluid around his heart, his oxygen saturation was good, and there was no sign of infection! It was a very quick appointment. The surgeon was pleased and allowed me to shake his hand to thank him for mending Will's little heart. I'm sure we aren't the first family to wish we could more adequately thank him for his skill and knowledge. I don't think that is possible so I just said something like "Thank you so much. We're really grateful." He didn't seem to expect anything else. It was just another day at work for him! He did say we could begin to decrease the amount of Lasix we give him to help with fluid retention. And now that he doesn't need medicine for pain several times a day the number of syringes we use daily has decreased significantly! In hindsight, I wish I had asked for more details about the surgery, but I was too excited because he gave some promising news about Will not need his feeding tube much longer.

Friday when we got home, I abandoned Will's feeding routine to see how much he would eat by mouth. It went well! He ate a little...but not enough. By that night we returned to the usual schedule. I was afraid he would get dehydrated and 1) did not want another E.R. visit, nor 2) did I want to put him through the ordeal of getting an I.V. to get fluids to rehydrate him. Will's body and I.V.s do not have a good history. I thought it was just him, but someone in the E.R. commented that heart babies tend to have that kind of trouble. I will call the nutritionist tomorrow morning to get started on a new feeding plan. My personal goal is for us to no longer need the NG tube by June 1st. Cross your fingers for us!

Now for our Mother's Day. We had a plan to get up and drive to the lake to to eat lunch with my parents. But Chris discovered that our kitchen sink faucet was leaking badly. It was decided that he would try to fix it himself and if it was done in one hour we would all go to the lake as planned. He did an awesome job and the new faucet works perfectly! But just as he finished that project we discovered (unrelated) sewer problems. This required a call to professionals. Knowing that their arrival might be unpredictable, the work might be expensive, and the whole ordeal just plain unpleasant, I decided to take Will to the lake for the visit and Chris graciously agreed to stay home and take care of the house. Will was a good little traveler and I was happy to have a little road trip. We missed Chris so much...but considering the stressful situation at home we all ended up happier that we weren't stuck at home wishing all 3 of us were somewhere else.  

Although it was a crazy, hectic week at times, another reason I haven't posted any updates is because we misplaced our camera's battery charger. I found it today - at the cabin at the lake - so more pictures will be coming soon!

So that was our first Mother's day. I guess it was fitting that it was just like everything about motherhood so far - completely unpredictable.  :)