February 21, 2008 at 10:14 PM EST We are enjoying our time at the RMH. Owen is doing very well. His feeding tube has slipped out a few times in the past few days. My boy has turned fiesty. He's rubbing his face more and I think that the tape bothers him to some degree. Luckily enough, I've had no trouble putting his "pipe" back into his tum-tum. The tape just doesn't seem to be sticking the way that it used to, but then like I said- Owen is more active now. He's moving more and being moved around more than when he was at the hospital. Mom arrived late Tuesday night. I'm so glad to have her here with us. Mom just can't get over how cute he is and raves about him all day long. Owen had an echo done on Tuesday morning over at CCHMC and we will return tomorrow for some more pre-op things. He's going to have blood taken, a chest x-ray, EKG, physical exam, and I will be discussing the surgery with different doctors. The weather here is nasty and we are under storm warnings. I know it is much of the same back home. They do a good job of clearing the sidewalks around the hospital- so we should be OK for our short journey across the street tomorrow. Mom and I gave Owie a bath tonight. We got a lot of cute pictures. I'm excited that Owen, Scott, and I will be getting our pictures taken professionally on Sunday. A friend found a local photographer here that will do the session free of charge. THANKS, Peggy! They are planning to use the pictures for the fliers and posters that will be made for the benefit. I'll write more soon- but I have to turn in the keyboard for the evening- house rules. Be praying for all of us as surgery approaches. Love to you all- Shan

Surgery is set for 7:30 a.m. this Monday. We will arrive at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. The whole thing will last about 8 hours from start to finish- from the time they take him away to the time we can see him in the CICU. I know I'm not really prepared to see my baby with tubes coming out of his chest and him being hooked up to a vent and all. Scott and I are planning to stay the night with him on Monday. I'm going to pick some books out here at the RMH to read to him during the night. They told me it would help him to hear our voices, even while he is sedated. I was thinking that he might enjoy Charlotte's Web. I'll just have to see what I can find. Owen is now weighing in at seven and a half pounds. Dr. Manning is happy with that- since it is bacially average newborn size. Scott will arrive here this evening. His flight arrives in Columbus at 4:45 and one of the RMH volunteers is picking him up. Scott and I have been deeply touched by the way our family and friends have rallied around us. They took a collection at Scott's job and presented it to Scott this week. The Lord is faithful. I recently met a lady named Ruth here at the RMH- her grandson, Yashia, is being seen at Children's. Ruth told me that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. She said He knew that we were the right parents for Owen. This has been such a rewarding journey. I've met some really neat people here at the RMH. We believe Owen is a miracle. I yearned so long to be a mother and I have enjoyed each and every minute with Owen. I know that you can't take a single minute for granted. Watching him grow and prove the drs. wrong has been amazing. He has a wonderful spirit and nature about him. He's such a sweet, loving baby. His expressions are changing each day.

PRAISE GOD! We've made it over several hurdles since arriving at the hospital yesterday for surgery. First and foremost, I want everyone to know that Owen came through surgery very well. Dr. Manning was able to make all of the repairs and was very pleased with the outcome. After closing the bottom hole in the heart, a few of the stitches popped open. This posed a challenge and was frustrating for the dr., but they were able to fix it without many problems. We knew going into the surgery that the point when they turn off the heart/lung machine would be the biggest hurdle. This is when they watch how the heart starts to work after they have made the repairs. The transition was smooth as Owen's "new" heart started beating at the end of surgery. He is still under heavy sedation and will remain that way the next several days. This time is important to give the heart plenty of time to heal. We know that the first 48 hours after surgery are pretty critical, but they've told us to rest assured that he is doing remarkably well. Overnight he had some irregular heart beating patterns- which they say is due to swelling in the heart. They are prepared for situations like this and assured us that it wasn't abnormal for this to happen after repairs like Owen's. Owie has a pacemaker on backup mode in his bed at all times. His heart is working on it's own, but the pacemaker is there to help regulate the patterns as his newly configured heart makes itself at home in his body. He will probably be on the vent the rest of the week, also. Today they will start him on a formula drip- he'll begin getting 3 mls per hour. Then that will be increased gradually over the next several days. I was amazingly calm throughout the surgery yesterday- only by the grace of God. I worked on a cross stitch that I will be putting in his room. Anyone who knows us, knows that the last two years of our adoption journey have been a roller coaster for us. There were some really rough spots and hard times, but nothing like seeing my son following surgery yesterday. I can't even hardly explain how it hit me. Mom kept reassuring me that his prognosis was really good. I've held him every day since we met, but it will probably be five days until I can hold him again. All we can do right now is sit in the room with him. Last night we couldn't even talk to him much because they didn't want him to be overstimulated. So it will be a few days before I can start reading Charlotte's Web to him. They had him paralyzed through medication last night. We've seen him wiggle a little bit today as the medication is wearing off. Dr. Manning estimates that Owen will remain in the hospital for two to three more weeks. He said the majority of the time he would be in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Scott and I stayed at the hospital over night- they had a sleep room available for us. It was great to be close by and available if any events had happened through the night. I'm planning on staying at the hospital again tonight until he is over the hump of the 48 hour mark. The drs. are assuring us that Owie isn't in pain. He's sleeping very peacefully. Today it's been a little easier to take everything in that is happening. I want to thank everyone for the kind messages and prayers. We are not out of the woods yet, but Owen has cleared several important hurdles. We knew going into this that our son was a fighter. Above all, we are trusting God and believing that He is the great Physician. Continue to pray for all of us here. The next several days will be long as we wait for the heart to heal. Pray that we would all get restful sleep. Continue to pray for Owie and the doctors/nurses that are providing his care. God is faithful and has been our strength through this whole process. Keep lifting up Owie.

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