Carter goes home

Here is the update on Carter directly from his mom. He is a strong little guy!!! Day 1:

Carter has been moved from the CCCU to 4D in less than 24 hours after surgery! Carter's breathing tube came out last night around 8pm and he was put in a hood venting box as a breathing aid, which he has since ditched as he figured he could breath on his own. Carter has also had the following lines removed: catheder, arterial line, IV and NG tube. Carter has been taking formula on his own since midnight last night. We could not be more pleased with his progress.

Day 2:

It was a good day in terms of progress for Carter, but also a tough one too. Carter came off of his continuous morphine this morning and has been switched to an tylenol/ ibeprofine combination for pain management. Carter had a sedated echo this morning and had a hard time with the oral sedation. It also took him awhile to wake up afterwards. However his echo looks good. Brandon and I were amazed to look and see what his heart looks like now repaired in comparison to before surgery. It was also neat to hear his heart beat and what the blood flow sounded like between the repaired chambers. Carter was moved into his own room after his echo. Mommy/ Daddy and Nana/ Papa are now doing 12 hour shifts as we are expected to be more involved with Carter's care. Carter also had his incision tape removed. His incision looks great for only being 2 days post-op. Carter continues to have great stats We are now looking forward to going home soon, however whenever Carter is ready to do so.

Day 3:

Today was a much better day for Carter. He was much more himself today - very content, smiley and telling us all kinds of stories (some happy, some sad). Today Carter had his pacing wires taken out, along with one of his JP drains. The other one is still draining more than they would like to see. Hopefully tomorrow the other one will come out and then home maybe ?!? Oh and Carter is now off his STATS moniter! He is such a little trooper - we are so lucky!

Day 4:

Carter had another great night last night and continues to feed like a little champ. Carter's last JP drain came out early this afternoon. Carter has been given his discharge papers and we're packing up and going home!! We're so excited to come home and see our big girl, Dakota. Thank You everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. We truly appreciate it!