It's A Boy!

I have to start today's post by congratulating some of our dearest friends, Tom and Rachel Houseknecht, on the birth of their baby boy! Rachel texted me this morning at 5:01 am saying that she was on the way to the hospital. Baby Houseknecht quickly joined his mom and dad, making his grand entrance into the world at 8:31 am, weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and he is 20 inches long. Sounds like Rachel did AMAZING, only pushing for 15 - 20 minutes. Tom and Rachel...we are beyond happy for you guys and we can not wait to meet that little man. We love you all so much!

 

Nolan must have known that his buddy was coming into town because he too had an amazing day...again! Matt tells me that all the nurses were stopping by so they could actually see Mr. Nolan and his amazing hair. He was smiling and laughing; Matt said that he is pretty sure Nolan has a fan club. He was up almost the entire day and pretty content, with the exception to having chest PT. That is when respiratory will come in and pat his back to make sure that any mucous in his lungs is broken up. I can imagine that does hurt when you just recently had open heart surgery! They are very pleased that he is still doing well off of the vent, and they took an IV out of his head, his arterial line out and his catheter out. So, within the past 24 hours they have removed 5 different lines that was going into his body. This is great because that means less risk for infection!

 

They are still slowly weaning sedation, along with some cardiac medications and his VAD is working wonderfully. Because he is on so many medications they proactively make sure to keep an eye on his kidneys. They did an ultrasound of them today and they look good and seem to be functioning well. He is receiving full feedings through his feeding tube - and Matt did not want to leave out the fact that they had a full out code BROWN today (AKA...he had a big poo). You know...Dad's are proud of that kind of stuff. :)

 

So, thank you God - we had another happy day. It feels amazing! Tomorrow when I run into the CICU I am actually going to see my little man's face! I can't wait to see smiles and even hear him CRY (I know - crazy lady over here!) My world just seems brighter and I feel confident that we are going to get through this. He is truly an amazing human being...it blows my mind. I know he will never understand the amount of inspiration he has given me, but I will always be thankful and I am so glad he is in our life.

 

Tonight I spent the evening with my friends/co-workers working (and having fun!) at our annual Spirit of Women Girls' Night Out. It was a great night at the Holiday Inn with delicious food, drinks, amazing presenters and vendors. Always an exciting night. (Local ladies in the Williamsport area - become members! Shameless plug for the night.) Riley spent the evening with my mom and dad. They went to Hoopla's to play some games and had dinner at Longshot's Grill. I was excited because I got home and my little lady was still up - so I got to snuggle her a little and put her to bed.

 

Last but not least, today Nolan was represented on the Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation's Facebook page. Thank you to Carrie Springman for reaching out to them and connecting me with the Foundation. It is an amazing organization that I am so glad I have become a part of.

 

I hope everyone had a great Thursday! I need to get some sleep so I am ready for the weekend! Looking forward to seeing my Matt and my boy (and my sister!)

 

#nhos