Off the pump!

YEA! He came off the pump without any problems this morning! Coming off ecmo means going back on a lot of drips, so they have been fine tuning everything this morning. Dr. M says the next 24-48 hours are the critical time period - just like after surgery, since his little heart is now doing all the work on its own. He looks good, and it's nice not to have the big machine in his room. Now I can see him on either side of his warmer. He woke up today as his nurse was giving him mouth care and stayed awake quite awhile. He was able to look at Greg and I and it seemed like he was really intent on all we were saying. It's the longest he's been able to focus - earlier in the week his eyes would roll around a bit. He was awake a little too long, though and had a little tear, so the nurse gave him some ativan to help him get comfortable and go back to sleep. He's so precious. His chest is still open, and they say he'll probably get a little more edematous before his swelling starts to go down, so they'll just have to wait a while to close his chest. He still has his chest tube, but the drainage from it is slowing down. We are very excited about how today is going so far. I'll update later this evening if I can. jc