The good, the bad, and the adorable

Good morning...err...afternoon! How about the good first?

--Benjamin had a good night! At about midnight (not sure of the exact time), he came out of heart block and started a rhythm on his own!! So they turned the pacemaker on backup. So he hasn't been using it in about 14 hours and is doing fine. I *should* be able to breastfeed him tomorrow morning!

--My break from changing diapers is over b/c his catheter is out. They also took out his main drainage tubes.

--Yesterday they told us that not only did he have a pleural effusion on the right side, but also was developing one on the left side, too. They weren't going to put in a chest tube on he other side yet; they were just going to watch it. BUT this morning, they said that the one on the left side had improved and is gone. The one on the right side is not better yet but is improving. They're monitoring the drainage from the tube and will hopefully be able to remove his chest tube in the next day or two.

--We're on the bed list to go upstairs!! We'll be moving to the floor when a bed becomes available. This is good b/c we will be out of ICU. One nice thing about moving to the floor is that we can just go directly to his room. In the PCICU, we have to get clearance everytime we come back to his room. So anytime we leave (to eat, pump, nap) we have to ring the doorbell right outside the double doors, wait for them to answer it (which sometimes is half the battle), and tell them his name and room number.

--Benjamin took a full 2 oz bottle at about 10:00. He gulped it down and let out a HUGE burp. That's my boy!

The bad:

--Being on the floor, while providing us with more space and a better bed will mean less one-on-one care. Instead of having one nurse being there all the time (sharing her with only one other baby), a nurse will come by about every four hours. (We haven't been using the bed anyway but we may if he moves to the floor, especially if he's breastfeeding again.)

--There was another critical crash last night in the room two down from us. It was quite chaotic for quite some time. People running everywhere, pushing carts, making phone calls calling for blood, etc. I learned today from another mom that it is a one-year old with leukemia (and heart issues), and they're going to disconnect him (her?) today. Oh, my heart is just heavy for them.

--The mom I spoke to about it is right next to us. Her daughter is one month older than Benjamin and has HLHS (hypoplastic left heart syndrome), where the left side of her heart is very small. She has had two surgeries since birth and just had to return on Friday b/c she turned blue at home, which is three hours away. They rushed her to the hospital and then she was air-lifted here. This is a precious Hispanic family. The mom has two other daughters and the dad works third shift. Their daughter has only been home for two days her entire life. I am not sure how bad the prognosis is or what her chances for survival are. Please pray for all these families. It's hard to watch all of this. You almost feel a hint of survivor's guilt that your son is almost ready to move to the floor and other families are losing their babies.

The adorable: