Little Guy...

On Thursday they moved Tucker from John Muir to Children's Hospital Oakland to surgically put a pick line in. He got there around 3pm and around 5pm they started the procedure...everything seemed to go well and the surgeon was pretty confident that the line was where she wanted it and working well. They did an x-ray to double check and to her amazement the line went into his artery instead of his vein, which she told us she had NEVER seen happen...which is something you never want to hear coming from the surgeon! She decided to pull the line (it was in his leg) and that they would try again on Friday. She had done the line at his bedside because normally it's a very easy procedure and generally goes smoothly and there are hardly ever any problems. So yesterday, they scheduled the surgery and actually took him to the operating room to perform it, the surgeon had said it would be better in the operating room because she could get real time x-rays to check the placement of the tube as she was doing the procedure, to make sure it was going EXACTLY where she wanted it. Of course I was a nervous wreck because by moving him to the operating room they would have to put him on a regular ventilator, the high frequency ventilator can't be moved with him and they don't have one in the operating room. The regular ventilator is just a little harder on his lungs and can cause problems of its own which is why I was soo worried. Luckily he did amazing and just flew through the surgery, the line was placed perfectly and the surgeon couldn't have been happier. When he came out of surgery his nurse Andrea, who was amazing I absolutely loved her, said I should change his diaper for the first time!! How scary!!! He's sooo tiny I was so afraid to do it...but I did and I felt so much more like a Mommy!! I have to say I was not the first to change his diaper...on Thursday while I was away from his bed Danny did his first duty as Daddy and changed his diaper!! I was so proud of him...Andrea said he wasn't even shaky or nervous at all...completely confident and no problems at all!!! Most Dad's are nervous with term babies so the fact that he was so confident just reminds me of why he's so wonderful...honestly I've never seen a man so dedicated to his son...he's amazing...between Danny and my Dad I see why Tucker is such a strong little boy!! After the surgery today though Tucker gave us a little scare...when they moved him to the conventional ventilator it allowed his lungs to collapse down a little bit since there wasn't as much pressure as there is with the high frequency ventilator. So when that happened they had to bump the oxygen level up to 100% which he's never been on, and still his saturation was not good and his carbon dioxide was really really high. Eventually though they gave him some Morphine (which took away the horrible pain I'm sure he was feeling from his surgery) and increased the pressure on his ventilator and he started coming out of it. His saturation went up, carbon dioxide went down and so did his heart rate which was really high. When I left at about 7:30 he was doing much better and I felt a LOT better!! I just talked to the nurse and she said that he's doing really well...that he had had a really traumatic day but he was a tough little boy and he's continuing to look better. Which I know he is, but it's hard when I can't be with him all the time. Luckily I have a wonderful husband and family who stay with me at the hospital for as long as I want...my Daddy is awesome, he came and touched Tucker for the first time which I think was a great feeling for him. My Mom has been great, she was so supportive this whole weekend and has been taking care of me and forcing me to slow down a little bit. I know I've been pushing myself a little too hard but I can't help it because there is nothing that will keep me from seeing that baby!!!

I have a favor to ask anyone out there who is willing...Tucker's blood type is O-, and Danny is A- and I'm A+ (he just happened to get the recessive blood type that we both carry) so obviously we can't donate to him. He's going to need a lot of transfusions and it's not that I don't trust the blood bank but I would much rather KNOW who his blood is coming from. Is there anyone out there who is O- who would be willing to donate for the little guy? If you are let me know please, and I'll tell you what you need to do. I'll pay the fee that they charge, it's the least I can do. I wouldn't normally ask this but like I said, I would really like to know who the blood is coming from that they're putting into my baby. I would also like to encourage everyone to go donate blood if you're able...being at Children's I've seen how many little ones need blood transfusions, and it's heart breaking it really is. Please think of them the next time there's a blood drive in your area and take the time (if you can) to donate. You never know who's life your saving!!! Thank you everyone who's been following along with our story and sharing in this with us...I know I say this a lot but we are soo blessed to have you all as friends!!! They're hoping by Monday Tucker will be stable enough for transfer back to John Muir, so say a prayer that he'll be strong enough to make the trip back!!! We're so proud of our son...he's such an amazing little boy, he's defied every odd and proved all of the doctors wrong!! We could not be happier! Thank you again for all your love and support...I have more pictures coming soon!!!