If Your Might And You Know It....

....Clap your hands!! Seriously, Oakes deserves a round of applause, he is going to cruise on out of the CICU tomorrow morning and we will not look back! In the last two days every line, IV, drain and monitor has been removed from Oakes strong little body except for two IV's (and these will stay in until he is discharged). He has also finished up all of his meds and is only getting pain killers to make him comfy. Yesterday we were allowed to hold him for the first time post-op which was a thrill! Typically at the end of the day, my (Becky) top concerns and thrills are not focused on his numbers or milestones reached they are always centered around small maternal details that just pull on my heart....is he comfortable?, is he clean?, is he happy?, can I see him?, can he see us - does he know we are here?, can I touch him or hold him?, etc...so to get to hold him after several days of just standing by warmed this Mommas heart. The other exciting event that took place yesterday was giving Oakes a bottle. Since he was born he has only had one bottle, and that was on day two. Since then he has been getting all of his nutrients intravenously, so we have been very excited to bottle feed him and try to plump him up a bit! So far, so good. He latches on and swallows with no problem, we just need him to consume more than he is currently, but that will happen in time. For now he will get a bottle, then will get whatever he doesn't consume on his own thought an NG (Nasogastric) tube. I can not imagine an Ortyl/Fox baby will have a problem eating!! So, tomorrow morning Oakes will move from Rm#1 of the CICU (which is on the 7th floor), right down the hall to what is called 7West , the CICU's step-down unit. Currently there is a nurse that sits right outside of Oakes' room and responds to anything that he needs immediately. On 7West, there are 3-4 kids to each nurse and lots of Nurse Assistants helping out. Greg and I will be required to be there more ofter to begin assuming Oakes' care, which we are excited about but will be a bit hectic. Oakes resting.

This was right before he got his NG tube, and right after the monitor on his forehead was removed. In this picture he has the nasal cannula that is giving him a little oxygen, a blood pressure cuff on his right foot, little leads with stickers on his torso to pull all of his stats, and then his two IVs are in him left arm...barley anything left!! (I got to see his chest this afternoon when his drainage tube was removed and I was shocked at how good it looked, it was simple, clean and very subtle already!)

And with the NG tube....I assured him he is still the cutest kid on 7 and the most loved!!