Preservation of Tiny Fingers and Toes

The next step? Breathe, breathe again, and say a lot of prayers!  For the next two days, Hunter was kept in STV NICU in preparation for his Norwood procedure. I can remember walking through the double doors into the NICU for the first time and seeing all the many, so very tiny, innocent babies and being in awe.  How can all of these newborns have so many problems? But how wonderfully awesome that there is such a place to give them a chance and to provide hope! Some babies were brand spanking new, some had been there quite a while, it was obvious by all the "personalization" added to their areas.  As I was trying to take in all of what I was seeing, I walked up to Hunter's little "pod".

I was totally overcome with emotions. It was so very difficult to see the once so very "normal" baby that I held in my arms just hours ago, attached to all the machines and tubes that were now pretty much keeping him alive. So very incredibly scary. Even though it really was only a couple of days, it seemed like an eternity till his surgery day, but at the same time, it was all a blur.

His Norwood was scheduled for Thursday morning.  He had to be transfered Wednesday evening to STV Peyton Manning's Childrens Hospital (PMCH) to make sure he was stablized before his first open heart surgery the next morning. This meant, once again, a life saving ride in the Pediatric Critical Care Transport.  Even with knowing all the good that happens inside that vehicle, I still cringe when I see it on the road.  The bassinett (not really sure what it is called) is basically a small, moveable, hospital room.  Quite amazing to watch the Transport Team at work setting all the dials and buttons for everything is it capable of doing.

Once Hunter was on his way to PMCH, we were, too. Here he didn't have a "pod", of which there were many in the huge open room in NICU, but he had his own room with his own set of caregivers.

Because of him being transported from his birth hospital to STV at just a few hours old, there were some of the "normal" things that were not able to take place.  Things that you associate with the birth of a new baby, some of those memorable things you look back on, (for instance those tiny little ink hand and footprints, newborn hospital pictures), get lost and become non-existant when caregivers are fighting to help save the child.  When this subject came up in casual conversation with Mommy and Daddy, the nurses on the first night shift helped preserve that moment in time by making sure Hunter had his prints in ink.  And that wasn't the only thoughtful gesture, they also drew pictures of animals etc. to place on the sliding glass door of his room.

Hunter's Hand and Footprints