J's surgery- day 1 and 2

J's cleft surgery went very well.  But as he was coming out of anesthesia his breathing problems started.  He was rushed to the PICU and we were brought up after a few minutes.  We had no idea how bad his breathing was until we saw our little guy.  He was retracting down to his spine and his O2 sats were pitiful.  We started praying and talking to him and rubbing his ears.  Within 15 minutes of our getting into the PICU he was noticeably better.  But he was still not out of the woods.  

Within a few hours J's breathing was much better and his O2 mask was able to be removed.  He still needed to keep his "trumpet" in his nose in case his breathing problems returned.  Once it was pulled it would not be able to be reinserted without damaging the cleft repair.  

The first night after surgery was incredibly hard.  Honestly it was one of the hardest nights EVER!  J was coming out of his anesthesia.  His tongue was tied away from his airway and his incision with a stitch.  He had a trumpet in his nose and an IV in his head. Oh, and his mouth had a huge incision with stitches in it.  He was miserable!  He couldn't eat and he was very hungry.  His mouth was dry from the O2.  He was so uncomfortable and just wouldn't settle down and sleep.  Jeremy and I literally just held him for two days!  We would have to stand and bounce him in order to calm him down.  He wasn't sleeping at all.  And neither were we.  He was very mad about his tongue being tied.  I would be too!  Poor guy, he just didn't understand.  

This was what we did for over 24 hours....Just hold him and try to keep him calm.

Day 2 one of the Dr's decided to increase his sedation.  This enabled him to sleep very well that day and it gave mom and dad a chance to take turns taking a couple of naps. That night however his breathing started to become labored again.  He was breathing very hard and his retractions were getting worse.  It was all upper respiratory because his lungs were clear and his sats were normal.  But he sounded horrible.  After a push from mom to get something done NOW they decided to try to suction the trumpet.  The respiratory therapist was unable to get the tube down the trumpet which made them think it may be occluded.  The risk now- do we pull the trumpet and risk having to reinsert it if his breathing worsens....or do we leave it when it's possibly the main problem with his breathing.  The decision was made to pull it.  And yes, it was occluded and was doing absolutely no good.  The second the trumpet was pulled J's breathing improved 500%.  He was completely back to normal and went right to sleep.  

Here is J after his trumpet was pulled. He was resting so peacefully for the first time in two days!

To be continued....