First Cath

Quick update for every one...
Jonah's first cath went well today.  Our day went something like this:

3:30am  - turn off continuous breast milk feeding, turn on pedialite
5:00am  - turn off pedialite feeding
5:30am  - packing/preparing for possible overnight stay
6:00am  - pulling out of the driveway
6:30am  - checking into Christ
7:30am  - Jonah, 12 weeks and 3 days old, weighs in at 11.2 lbs (albeit with fleece sleeper still on)
8:00am  - go over the details with the cardiologist and anesthesiologist
8:30am  - tearful mom and dad escort their smiling, happy son to the procedure room
9:00am  - breakfast in the cafeteria
10:00am - cardiologist comes back to the waiting room to tell us everything went great
10:30am - relieved mom & dad reunited with their angry, exhausted son in the recovery room
10:31am - kisses and hugs galore
11:00am - swaddled and sleeping - first feeding since 3:30am
12:00pm - still needing some oxygen to keep sats above 70
12:30pm - 3oz bolus feed - keeps it down
2:00pm  - iPad is worth every penny
3:00pm - another bolus feed down the hatch
5:00pm - preparing for discharge
6:30pm - home
7:00pm - Jonah in bed
7:30pm - posting this blog

The next hour's event better be mom and dad in bed.  It's been a long day...one of those days that begins filled with adrenaline and anxiety, but ends in sheer joy and gratefulness.  Jonah's heart is looking awesome!  No need to "balloon" the pulmonary arteries (as can be the case with many pre-Glenn babies); his Sano shunt just had slight, but normal, narrowing; and his aorta, where they placed a bovine patch during the Norwwod, showed no blockage.  In other words, it was the perfect picture we all were praying for.  The only scare was when the cardiologist told us Jonah had a "heart block" during the procedure - which is a spasm of the heart muscle causing irregular rhythm when irritated by the catheter, but it luckily subsided after pulling it back and waiting a few seconds.  The cardiologist finished his report by saying that Jonah could not be any more ready for the 2nd surgery.  The cardiologist fellows will present Jonah's report to Dr. Ilbawi's team on Wednesday...and after that it's just a matter of finding a date on every one's schedule.  We might know the Glenn date on Friday at the earliest, but more likely Monday or Tuesday.  Crazy.  But today was good practice; a real reminder that we have more future trips to the hospital...to watch our baby being wheeled behind the closed doors to experience unfathomable life-threatening, but ultimately, life-saving operations.