Following the hospital discharge...

So Alexis made it home safe and sound on Sunday. Monday I got a call from the nurse practitioner. She wasn't working on Fri, Sat, or Sun and wasn't expecting us to discharge before she returned to work yesterday. Needless to say, she was quite surprised to get to work on Monday and see that Alexis was gone. She made our follow up appointment for Monday morning. We will meet with her, the cardiologist, and the surgeon. She made sure that Lexi had pain medications (we have Tylenol 3) and gave us some directions: there are 2 immunizations she can't receive for 6 months due to having a blood transfusion, Alexis will need antibiotics if she should have another surgery of any kind in the next 6 months (let's pray NOT) and I was to remove her bandage today. Ugh. For the squeamish, proceed to the next paragraph. They had a clear bandage over her incision and the hole where her drainage tube had been. I was afraid to remove it for fear of great bleeding because the way it looked, one would think that the bandage would rip the scab right off. Thankfully, the bloody scab came off, but it's healed up underneath and the scar looks great! And Alexis didn't even flinch when I did it. I should be a nurse.

Alexis is doing great since coming home. Of course she's still healing and has pain issues and discomfort. When you look at her and she looks so great, it's hard to believe that in the course of a week she's had open heart surgery, been hospitalized and is already home. Who comes home from open heart surgery in 6 days???!!! She's my little miracle girl. Anyway, she isn't quite back to her laid back, easygoing ways. She's quicker to cry, she squirms more and needs to be held more. She is finally now acting like a normal baby. I was just spoiled before. I also realized, after a few tearful episodes (her, not me), that with a healed heart, came a bigger appetite. (A hearty appetite--get it?) She used to eat 3 ounces at a time, 4 ounces max. Now she can eat 5, sometimes 6. She naps very little during the day, but I'm not complaining because she's still sleeping all night.

Thanks for all the prayers. We are very blessed that Alexis received such excellent care, had the best doctors, and was in such a great hospital. Although we still can't believe Peyton never stopped by...