Hanging in the PCCU

Ayden has now been moved to his new home in the PCCU (I am hanging out in the back of his room as I type this - this will be my bedroom for the evening).  It is quite different from his "old" one down in the NICU.  For starters, it is considerably larger (he has his own bathroom!).  Based on all of the additional equipment in here, I suppose it has to be.

Before, there were four IV thingees (I've been in the hospital for 9 days now, so I'm starting to pick up on all the fancy medical lingo).  Now there's about 12, with what seems like the capacity for 50.  There is an astounding amount of wires, plugs, monitors, etc., and he isn't even hooked up to the ECMO machine, an apparently oversized apparatus that would breath for him and circulate his blood.  This means there are more numbers to fret over and more things to beep.  The two drainage lines coming out of his chest are hooked up to something that constantly sounds like a very large fish tank.

By all accounts, Ayden seems to be doing okay (although, to be honest, he looks terrible - I'll get a picture up tomorrow for those who are willing to look).  They are constantly running tests on various things and working to make the necessary changes so they can get the results they want.  This process will likely continue throughout the night.

This is all very stressful.  As I wrote earlier, he may have made it through the surgery without any apparent complications, but he is far from out of the woods.  Obviously, his little body has gone through, and is continuing to go through, an incredibly traumatic experience.  Over the next several days, the hope is that he will begin to heal and to adjust, without any major speed bumps along the way.  A complete recovery is by no means a foregone conclusion.  So, again, please don't stop praying for God to look after him and to get him all the way through to the end.  We are one step closer to getting to take our baby boy home, but we aren't there yet.

One thing he has going for him?  His PCCU nurse this first night - Kelly - is a Clemson grad.  Interesting, right?