Chest Closed

(Big sigh of relief), well Jonah's chest is closed and all went smoothly.  We arrived at the hospital just as they had began the procedure.  We knew the exact time was going to be unpredictable; Dr. Ilbawi and team have four surgeries scheduled today, so all we knew was they would squeeze in Jonah's chest closure when they had a spare hour.  When we got to Jonah's unit around 3pm they already had his room quarantined off as they transform his room into a mini-OR.  We sat in a crowded waiting room feeling guilty we hadn't shown up in time to see him off.  But we knew he would do great, and he did!

When they were finished and called us back, Jonah was waiting in the room with his eyes open ready to greet us (which is astonishing considering they had increased his sedatives and pain meds for the procedure)!  Jonah looks very comfortable with the heat lamps warming him up...you just want to jump into the crib and curl up next to him!  They will continue to closely monitor him overnight, checking blood gases every hour and making adjustments as needed.  If he continues to respond this well, they will give him 3ml of milky goodness via the feeding tube.

We will post some pictures later tonight.