Conner's Dramatic Beginnings, Part 3

Another possible title for this post would be waiting.  We did a lot of waiting in this process.  After we found out about Conner's condition, we spent the remainder of my pregnancy waiting to see what would happen.  Going from doctor's appointment to doctor's appointment waiting to see if he was doing okay.

During my pregnancy they told us that they couldn't say for sure, but that Conner would probably need to have a pacemaker put in due to his low heart rate.  But we would have to wait until he was born to find out if he would need it or not. They were also preparing to put in an emergency, temporary pacer in case there was a problem right away and he wouldn't be able to wait until the next day for his permanent pacer to be installed.

And then he was born, so we expected to find out right away if he would need the surgery or not. Well, it was more like we were waiting to find out when his pacemaker would be put in.  At this point we were pretty much assuming that he would need one based on what we had previously heard.

It didn't happen like that.  The day he was born (Monday) the doctors said he was doing so well that he may or may not need one.  They will monitor him for 24 hours and see how he does.  So on Tuesday morning Josh and I went downstairs to find out if he would need the surgery or not.  We spent the morning and afternoon waiting to hear the news. When the doctors came by they said they still weren't sure, they need to monitor him for 24 more hours and then they will decide.  More waiting.  But they said Conner was doing so well, and handling the low heart rate so well that they are really thinking he won't need the pacemaker or surgery of any kind. 

And then on Wednesday we went through the very same routine.  They were just going to keep watching him.  This was so frustrating for us.  We wanted to hear one of two things.  Either his heart rate is just too slow for him and they will put in the pacemaker as originally expected.  Or he is doing great and he came come home with us.  Hearing that he was on the edge was not very reassuring to us, and the idea of bringing home a baby that may or may not need a pacemaker was frightening.  Of course, we don't want him to have unnecessary surgery, but they just didn't sound that confident. 

Finally on Thursday evening the Pediatric Cardiologists came down with Dr. Bradley from Electrophysiology (AKA, the pacemaker doctor).  Dr. Bradley said that he saw enough "extra" heartbeats from Conner to make up for the slow rate, that he was concerned.  These irregular heart beats are one of the signs that a pacemaker is needed.  They said that the surgery may or may not be on Friday, there was room in the operating room schedule for him to have the procedure done, but there was not room for him in the PCTU (Pediatric Cardiology Thoracic Unit) floor for him to recover in.  If room opens up, he will have his surgery.

The next day we went down to Conner's room wondering when he was going to have his surgery. They said that we would know if it would happen by 9:00.  We did not know.  More waiting.  Finally at 12:30 they said that there was room for him, they were coming down to get him in 15 minutes and his surgery will start at 1:00.  So we went from waiting to a fire drill to get everything packed up in time and moved to the Pre-Op floor.  Within minutes of arriving there we were saying goodbye to our 4 day old son and wishing him well during his operation.

More waiting... the doctors said we would hear updated on Conner every 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  After 2 1/2 hours we still haven't heard a word.  The procedure was expected to last only 1 1/2 hours, so this made us both very nervous.  At this point in time, Josh has reached his waiting limit and stood at the counter for another 45 minutes while they tracked down our son.  (This part of the story was tamed down, we were not a pretty sight at this point in time and Josh made that known).

Finally they found him.  Josh and I started to breathe again, and we went upstairs and saw our baby.  After the longest day in our lives, we stared at our sleeping baby for hours.  He handled the surgery great and recovered way better than anybody originally expected. 

When we first heard he might need the surgery, we were told that he would be in the hospital for about 2 weeks after the surgery to recovery.  In reality it was only 6 days after surgery (10 days total) and we were able to have our entire family home just in time for Christmas. 

As long and hard of a process that this was, Josh and I are so grateful to have been blessed with the results that we have.  Our little family of four is now complete and settled in at home!