He's doing so well!

Shunt surgery was today. We arrived at the hospital at 9:30am. My mom stayed in the waiting room with Matthew while I sat with Bennett before he was taken for surgery. The surgery was pushed back until 10:30am. Bennett looked so peaceful sleeping that I was careful not to wake him. I knew he would be hungry if he woke up because he was not able to eat after midnight in order to prepare for the surgery. At about 10:45am, they were ready to take him to the OR.


The great news this morning was that big brother Matthew was able to see his baby brother for the first time! He has not been able to meet him because siblings under 3 years old are not allowed in the NICU. While we walked down the hall on the way to the OR, Matthew was able to see Bennett in the transporting unit. I'm not sure what Matthew thought of this new baby brother, but I'm so glad he finally got to see him!

It was so difficult leaving Bennett at the door of the OR. He's so tiny and I can't believe he has to go through a second surgery at six days old. The neurosurgeon reassured me that he is a strong baby and that he really needed the surgery to prevent any damage to his brain. I knew it had to be done, but it's hard thinking of the risks especially for a six day old baby. The only thing that made me feel better is that I know he did well during his first surgery.

The next two and a half hours were the most difficult and stressful hours of waiting. We received two updates, but I started to worry when the surgery lasted longer than the expected hour and a half. Finally, the neurosurgeon came to the surgery waiting room around 1:30pm and told me that everything went well! I had an overwhelming feeling of relief! Shortly after, we got a call that he was in the recovery room. He was only in the recovery room for about ten minutes before he was moved back to the NICU. My dad and Andrew each arrived shortly after the surgery was over. It was great to see Bennett back in his room sleeping like a perfect little angel. He looked amazing, and the shunt was not as visible as I imagined it would be. He started to stir after a while and even started to open his eyes. But his blood pressure was slightly raised, so they gave him pain medication and he went back to sleep. The doctors said he was doing a great job recovering. I called to check on him tonight at 6:30pm and the nurse said he was still tired, but doing really well. I will be visiting again in the morning, so hopefully he will be feeling better and we can be closer to bringing him home!