Moving along...

Well, Ethan is still in the CVICU and he is intubated but seems to be progressing pretty well. They say here that anytime they are able to take tubes out and probes off, its a good sign. So this morning they were able to take the drain tubes out of his chest as well as a pressure monitor that was basically in his heart. They should start to try to get him off the breathing tube today so that is also a good sign.

He has had a couple episodes in the last 24 hours if what we so affectionately call "IBS" in the Harmon household. This stands for Irritable Beef Syndrome (we call him Eef the Beef). He apparently would wake up crying out of staggering amounts of sedation and basically hold his breath and bear down. I don't know if he thinks he can get the tubes out this way or if this is just his way of telling us he is not happy about his little situation here. Of course when his does this all kinds of alarms go off and he gets lots of attention. Now that I think about it, that is the reason... attention!! : ) While these episodes are a little scary, the nurses seem to have learned how to calm him a bit and get things back to normal. As a mom its pretty hard to see his stats drop again as we thought we were past all that now that his heart is repaired but no one seems too worried. But is does provoke them to be right on top of his sedation schedule and to always have extra nearby.

He will squeeze our hand which is pretty cute and will watch tv in a dazed, drugged haze. They are still evaluating whether or not they can do his cranial surgery during this hospital stay but if all goes well, they probably will do it, just delayed from the original date of the 19th.

Definitely still keep praying for him as he still has quite a bit of recovery to go. Being up here in the CVICU, I am seeing so many sweet little kiddos with devastating situations. Many of them so much smaller than Ethan. Even though this is probably the hardest situation of our lives, it could be waaaaay worse. We are truly blessed. I have gotton to know two of the families here (one we knew from the NICU) and while Ethan's situation is indeed life threatening, these two boys could pass at any moment and there really is not alot they can do for them. So I am thanking God for our little guy and even though he was a complex fix for the surgeon, I am praising Him that Ethan can be fixed.

You all have been so faithful in praying for little Eef and we thank you. Please continue to pray and add Baby R (6 mos) and Baby Y (20 days) to your list.
-h