Chase was a little more active today, now that the sedation has kind of worn off. He opened his eyes briefly when we first arrived this afternoon. He's still on the vent, but breathing room air (no extra oxygen). He has had occasional desats, but it usually occurs when he's being messed with and he gets agitated and upset. They started feeding him again this morning, just very small amounts. And they'll gradually increase his feeds until he's back up to the same amount as before surgery, which I think was 53 mls. He's now getting fed thru the nasogastric tube (NG) tube instead of the oral gastric (OG) tube. Chris said this morning he was sucking away on his little blue vanilla pacifier...a good sign. His last weight from yesterday morning, which I always forget to write, was 5lbs 9oz. His double chin and short little neck kind of get in the way of his trach. So he might get an extra special trach when they change it on Sunday. It will be a little more flexible and stick out a little further.
We met with the social workers this afternoon too. They wanted to prepare us and give us an idea of what it will be like when Chase finally comes home. I guess it was good to start thinking about, but it was kind of overwhelming (the emotion of the week). They're going to try to set us up with at home nursing and working with our insurance company, they talked about providing us with a stroller that has room for all the potential equipment Chase would come home on, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. They said it's virtually impossible to find childcare for kids with trachs, so that might be a big challenge. I'm still hoping to take 12 weeks off when he comes home, so at least we have some time to figure that out. And if Chris hasn't found a job by then, I think he'd make a great Mr. Mom :) We haven't really talked about that though. I'm sure God has a plan, and it will all work out fine.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~Matthew 6:34