Today was Emerson's preoperative evaluation at Detroit Children's Hospital. The evaluation had a few steps, but all procedures that Emerson has had done before. So was an easy day on our nerves :)
We arrived at Children's around 9:15 and realized we forgot cash to park. Oops! The parking attendant gave us a really hard time, and made us sign our life away to repay. All I could think was, here we go again with the rude service here. Please let this time be different! Thankfully the rest of our visit was great :)
We went to admitting to take care of all the paperwork, and than headed to pre-op. First up was vitals - weight check....was so excited to see where we finally ended up. They weighed him with his clothes on, but it was over 11lbs. We made that 10lb goal. WOOHOO! Could of never made that goal without our pediatrician and cardiologist. They are an amazing team together. Its crazy to think he was once 2lbs, 12oz. Everyone kept saying to us, hes so small! I said, oh no, he is a big boy now! :)
They nurses continued taking more vitals, which Emerson was so not feeling. A little sugar water on his pacifier, and taking a layer of clothes off and seemed to be a little more happier. One of the anesthesiologist came in and talked us through the process of IV's, chest tubes, type of anesthesia, as well as what to expect once hes out of surgery in regards to the ventilator and the first 24 hours. Most of this we our cardiologist, Dr. Cutler, and our surgeon, Dr. Walters, went over thoroughly in previous appointments.
After that we were off for a Chest Xray and Bloodwork. But not before Emerson had a huge blowout. Ha! This was the second of the day. Dont they always chose to hold that poop till your out and about? :) One of the nurses walked us down to the lab/xray office. We had a horrible incident with the lab before regarding Emerson and Down syndrome. Lets just say the words, terminate your pregnancy came up. I didnt want to make to big of a deal but did want to request a lab tech that is more sensitive to that subject. They were very apologetic and accommodating, which was nice. The chest xray was first, and never fun. They have to have him sitting up so it looks like this little baby electric chair. They strap him in and we help hold his head back. Last time we had this done, he was screaming his head off. But he was so content today. He just chilled in that little chair as we held his head back, than again when we had to hold his hands up and behind his head. Such a big boy!
We went back to the waiting room while we waiting to be called into the lab. Glad we had a little break because it gave me a chance to feed Emerson a bit. That always helps when giving blood, and we knew that they were taking more blood than usual this time. The lab tech came shortly, and it was someone we havent had before. When we got into the lab, there was another technician in the room and it looked like the one we had the incident with. The lab technician that took us back was pretty adamant of not letting her help though. She had to take 4 vile of blood, and couldnt get quite the amount she needed. Poor Emerson was screaming, I felt so bad for him! She took 2 vile which was the blood needed for the blood bank for his surgery,and said that they would take the rest in the morning when he is put under anesthesia.
We headed back to the pre-op room to meet with Dr. Walters PA. He went over the surgery, answered any questions we had, and did an exam on Emerson. Emerson was pretty content through this exam to, which was surprising because any touch of a stethoscope or cold hands, he is not having it! We also received a visit from another Doctor asking us if we would participate in a study on blood pressures in cardiac patients. It wasnt any benefit to Emerson directly, but it could provide great benefit to kids down the road. It was just a few blood samples before and after surgery, and monitoring his blood pressure. Glad to help where we can! Shortly after that we got a tour of the PICU, pediatric ICU. We saw the rooms, double and private, and were able to see a baby about a day out of surgery. Grant and I have looked at pictures of babies that have gone through this surgery so were prepared, but it was still comforting to see an baby in person.
That wrapped up our day of pre-op evaluation. Emerson was all ready for surgery. We have to be at the hospital at 6am, and surgery should start as planned at 7:30.
After our visit to this hospital in November, I was a little weary about having the surgery here. But I knew that we wanted Dr. Walters. Im glad that this visit was the complete opposite as the last one. I really liked all the doctors and nurses, and felt how they made us part of Emerson's care. The last visit really lacked that.
Emerson was in a great mood the rest of the day! Just babbling all day, and just happy. That did make us feel a little bad about what was coming up. But I think part of that was a missing NG tube. He pulled it out the day before, so we just decided to keep it out. That NG tube is such a love/hate relationship. It helped baby boy gain weight, but the irritation is driving him crazy. Not to mention he has such a horrible cough from it. It almost sounds like hes choking. Will be glad when that is a thing of the past!
So 7:30 tomorrow morning it is...ready or not! Not so sure daddy and mommy are ready!
We arrived at Children's around 9:15 and realized we forgot cash to park. Oops! The parking attendant gave us a really hard time, and made us sign our life away to repay. All I could think was, here we go again with the rude service here. Please let this time be different! Thankfully the rest of our visit was great :)
We went to admitting to take care of all the paperwork, and than headed to pre-op. First up was vitals - weight check....was so excited to see where we finally ended up. They weighed him with his clothes on, but it was over 11lbs. We made that 10lb goal. WOOHOO! Could of never made that goal without our pediatrician and cardiologist. They are an amazing team together. Its crazy to think he was once 2lbs, 12oz. Everyone kept saying to us, hes so small! I said, oh no, he is a big boy now! :)
They nurses continued taking more vitals, which Emerson was so not feeling. A little sugar water on his pacifier, and taking a layer of clothes off and seemed to be a little more happier. One of the anesthesiologist came in and talked us through the process of IV's, chest tubes, type of anesthesia, as well as what to expect once hes out of surgery in regards to the ventilator and the first 24 hours. Most of this we our cardiologist, Dr. Cutler, and our surgeon, Dr. Walters, went over thoroughly in previous appointments.
After that we were off for a Chest Xray and Bloodwork. But not before Emerson had a huge blowout. Ha! This was the second of the day. Dont they always chose to hold that poop till your out and about? :) One of the nurses walked us down to the lab/xray office. We had a horrible incident with the lab before regarding Emerson and Down syndrome. Lets just say the words, terminate your pregnancy came up. I didnt want to make to big of a deal but did want to request a lab tech that is more sensitive to that subject. They were very apologetic and accommodating, which was nice. The chest xray was first, and never fun. They have to have him sitting up so it looks like this little baby electric chair. They strap him in and we help hold his head back. Last time we had this done, he was screaming his head off. But he was so content today. He just chilled in that little chair as we held his head back, than again when we had to hold his hands up and behind his head. Such a big boy!
We went back to the waiting room while we waiting to be called into the lab. Glad we had a little break because it gave me a chance to feed Emerson a bit. That always helps when giving blood, and we knew that they were taking more blood than usual this time. The lab tech came shortly, and it was someone we havent had before. When we got into the lab, there was another technician in the room and it looked like the one we had the incident with. The lab technician that took us back was pretty adamant of not letting her help though. She had to take 4 vile of blood, and couldnt get quite the amount she needed. Poor Emerson was screaming, I felt so bad for him! She took 2 vile which was the blood needed for the blood bank for his surgery,and said that they would take the rest in the morning when he is put under anesthesia.
We headed back to the pre-op room to meet with Dr. Walters PA. He went over the surgery, answered any questions we had, and did an exam on Emerson. Emerson was pretty content through this exam to, which was surprising because any touch of a stethoscope or cold hands, he is not having it! We also received a visit from another Doctor asking us if we would participate in a study on blood pressures in cardiac patients. It wasnt any benefit to Emerson directly, but it could provide great benefit to kids down the road. It was just a few blood samples before and after surgery, and monitoring his blood pressure. Glad to help where we can! Shortly after that we got a tour of the PICU, pediatric ICU. We saw the rooms, double and private, and were able to see a baby about a day out of surgery. Grant and I have looked at pictures of babies that have gone through this surgery so were prepared, but it was still comforting to see an baby in person.
That wrapped up our day of pre-op evaluation. Emerson was all ready for surgery. We have to be at the hospital at 6am, and surgery should start as planned at 7:30.
After our visit to this hospital in November, I was a little weary about having the surgery here. But I knew that we wanted Dr. Walters. Im glad that this visit was the complete opposite as the last one. I really liked all the doctors and nurses, and felt how they made us part of Emerson's care. The last visit really lacked that.
Emerson was in a great mood the rest of the day! Just babbling all day, and just happy. That did make us feel a little bad about what was coming up. But I think part of that was a missing NG tube. He pulled it out the day before, so we just decided to keep it out. That NG tube is such a love/hate relationship. It helped baby boy gain weight, but the irritation is driving him crazy. Not to mention he has such a horrible cough from it. It almost sounds like hes choking. Will be glad when that is a thing of the past!
So 7:30 tomorrow morning it is...ready or not! Not so sure daddy and mommy are ready!
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