Suttie's Surgery

Well, we are a little over 24 hours post-op and it's been an eventful day to say the least! 

First off, surgery went well!  The doctor did find that Sutton had a diaphragmatic hernia and eventration.  He was able to fix both in a somewhat lengthy surgery- he went back at about noon and we were able to see him around 5.  He was extubated quickly and was a champ with anesthesia.  He was on 1.5 L of oxygen until about 1 am and did well without it for the rest of the night.

Here is a picture of Suttie in his hospital gown right before surgery:

We were able to start feeding him pretty quickly which was great since he hadn't eaten since 2:30 am.  We fed him a little throughout the night, but at about 3:30 am, we noticed that his stomach looked very distended.  It was rock hard and pretty big.  We asked for a doctor and he said that it was probably a lot of air that just needed to work itself out.  The surgical team came to check on him at about 6 am and echoed that it was most likely excess air.  This meant unfortunately that Suttie would not be able to eat until his stomach was no longer distended.  He is now taking glycerine suppositories to help that situation.

Little buddy after surgery:

We spent the morning working very hard to make Sutton as comfortable as possible.  He was dealing with hunger, a very bloated belly, and having his insides rearranged- needless to say he was not a happy camper.

But things really went downhill fast after his noon dose of morphine.  About 20 minutes after receiving his dose, the nurse decided to measure his belly so we could start checking if it was changing in size.  Suttie really hated this and started bawling.  It's hard to say if it was because of his pain, effects of morphine, or both, but he stopped breathing.  The nurse sprang into action and tried stimulating him, but it wasn't working.  He turned a dark shade of purple/blue.  She called out for another nurse and pulled the alarm for "code blue."  In a matter of seconds, Sutton's room filled with 20-30 medical personnel including nurses, doctors, ICU, the surgical team, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, radiology, social workers, and a chaplain.  Andrew and I were whisked to the side.  I, like any mother, was completely beside myself and was promptly placed in a chair.  The social worker, chaplain, and sweet Andrew were taking care of me.  Andrew has a real knack for staying calm (at least on the outside) in stressful situations.  What felt like hours ended up actually being 30-45 seconds without breathing.  Our little guy came to and started crying.  Everyone kept saying "he's fine, Mom and Dad, he's fine."  Only after we had been reassured several times that Sutton was fine, was Andrew able to break down.  I thank God he has the gift to be so strong when I am at my weakest.

Because there is no way of knowing what actually triggered this incident, Andrew pushed for them to put Sutton back on oxygen and we requested a non-narcotic pain medication (morphine can cause babies to get too relaxed and stop breathing).  The staff has really been fantastic about listening to us and taking our opinions into consideration.  Since that event, Sutton has done well on oxygen and seems to be in less pain.  He has released some gas which has helped his tummy a little although not enough for him to start eating.  We think as soon as he can eat, things will really move along.

Here is Sutton later in the day after his "event":

One would think that after all the time we've spent in the hospital with these sweet babies, we would have had some pretty scary days.  We can say with 100% certainty this was the scariest day yet.  Our little guy is doing better, but we could still use all the prayers we can get:).