Evin's Heart - Surgery Day

Evin's surgery was set for Tuesday, March 26.  The nurse on duty the night before was one of Kori and Mitch's favorites.  She gave Evin a "spa treatment" complete with a sponge bath, a warm towel, and a hair turban.  So funny!

3/25/13

Kori and Mitch were also excited to be able to hold Evin.  It was a big ordeal for them to take her out of the isolette because of all of her tubes and wires, but the nurses that night made it happen.

Their nurse also made a little pink bow for Evin and decorated a little sign with her name on it to hang on her crib.  Those sweet gestures meant the world to Kori and Mitch on an emotional night before their baby girl went in for surgery.

 

Mom and I went to the hospital the next morning to wait for the surgery to start.  Dr. Tam was performing Evin's surgery and all of the nurses said that he is on his own time, and when he's ready to go, he starts.  They joked and said he was on "Tam Time."  Well, sure enough, the nurses came in to take Evin to surgery without giving Kori and Mitch their 30 min warning window.  It was a little bit of a rushed goodbye, but it had to be done.  It was pretty sad to see her wheeled through the double doors to have her first surgery at only 6 days old.

Evin did well during the surgery, despite a little scare near the end where her oxygen level dropped.  Kori texted me this picture of her a little bit after surgery.  She looked great for having just been through all of that!!

3/26/13

The next day, Evin was doing pretty well.  She had minimal swelling and was breathing ok.

3/27/13

 

 

Later that evening they changed Evin's bedding, gave her a bath, and the nurses put a new headband on her.  She looked so cute!  

 

 

 

She looked even better the next day when we came to visit.  They had covered her incision with a little flap of gauze, and she was still on oxygen.  They started giving Evin some breast milk through her feeding tube to see if her tummy could tolerate and digest it.

3/28/13

Later that night she started having some labored breathing.  They also found some fluid in her lungs that they needed pushed out.  They ended up putting her on a breathing contraption called a CPAP.  It pushed pressurized air into her nostrils to help out with the breaking up of that fluid.  We visited again the next day while she still had the CPAP.

3/29/13