Finally Home - Post Shunt Op

There's so many thank you's that need to go to so many people after this crazy 1st half of the week.  Wynnie did WONDERFUL with his neurosurgery for the implantation of his shunt.  Dr Sacco was very pleased how it all went, and only noted that it took just a slight bit longer to thread the tubing out of his brain under the skin (down the skull, by the ear and down the neck to out his abdomen) because Wynnie's skin is abnormal.

When he said that I couldn't help but chuckle because everything about Dorian and Wynn is "extraordinary".  There's two ways of seeing that word -- things that are beyond what's considered "ordinary" and things that are considered "wow".  I like to think that the babies are a combination of "wow... I am soooo not ordinary!" (and I mean that in a good way because they are truly just such amazing little warriors!!!).   Wynnie's skin had a vast amount of adhesions which makes for a more tedious procedure but his shunt placement went perfect on Monday.

Tuesday we were hoping to leave but Wynnie was having a difficult time snapping out of the anesthetic affects, was desaturating (he couldn't keep his blood oxygen levels in the safe zone) so he was needed to breathe with an oxygen mask, and he wouldn't eat or drink anything.  Thankfully after Chris took over hospital duty Wynnie made a great turnaround with being more alert and finally eating.

After playing good cop/bad cop with on call pulmonary doctors who wanted us to keep him at least another EXTRA night at the hospital for severe sleep apnea, we finally convinced them (with the help of our pulmonologist making a call for us) to allow us to bring Wynnie home tonight.  Now he sleeps with an oxygen tube in his nose until we are able to do a sleep study on Friday night to measure what his O2 levels will need to be from here on out.

Ben and Alex were very sweet and loving to Wynnie when they saw him after basketball practice.  Ben said "Wynnie is tougher than me!  Good job Wynnie!" after seeing his horseshoe shaped incision on the top of his skull and the button sized scar on his tummy.   Dori enjoyed the exclusive attention without Wynnie but is now glad his twin is back to share the limelight.

Although Wynnie stayed at the hospital for 36 hours more than we had anticipated, we are so happy to have him back home without any major hiccups.  The staff at Children's is amazing... Wynnie received a sweet little brown Christmas teddy bear on his way out, and while we were packing up a group of volunteer Christmas carolers came by the room to cheer us up.  A group of volunteers also created a beautiful blanket that we were given at surgery recovery.  It's amazing how those "little" gestures that people do to volunteer can make such a "huge" difference for families going through stressful times.

Thanks to all of you that called, texted and prayed for Wynnie and our family.  Thanks to Ben and Alex for praying for their baby brother and being so gentle and sweet to him tonight.  And thank you to Chris "Papi" Johnson (el jefe) for being such a great partner throughout all of this.  Now on to enjoy the holidays!  :)