Answered Prayers

The surgery was a sucess! It was by far the longest day of our lives, but we could not have asked for a better outcome. The surgeon said that he had a perfect anatomy to accomplish the switch. Ryan did end up waking up before they came to get him around 11 and he was none to happy about the lack of food in his tummy. I think it made it a little easier when we did have to say goodbye because I knew he would be asleep soon. We were able to wait in the Ronald McDonald room which was more comfortable then the general waiting area and the nurse was great about giving us updates when they got started, when they finished the aortic side and most importantly when he sucessfully came off of bypass. The surgeon came at the end and eventually we got to see him in the PICU around 7. As expected, he had many, many tubes and IV's and other medical things connected to him, but he looked as though he was sleeping peacefully and his color was good. As usual his nurse was very nice and explained as much as she could to us. I never thought I would miss the NICU, but I had grown comfortable there and was able to participate in his care. For awhile at least, all we can do in the PICU is sit by and watch. I am going to try and spend some time at home the next couple of days while he is sedated and will try to post a few more pictures. Thanks to everyone who thought about us today.