Joshua’s surgery went perfectly & Dr. Jonas reassured us that he would be a healthy little boy soon. He would stay in the CICU for 3-5 days before transferring to Children’s Heart & Kidney Unit for the remainder of his hospitalization. Currently, Josh’s chest tubes, breathing tube, central line, & foley catheter have been removed. All he has now are pacer wires (just in case, but not expected to be needed), a nasal canula for light oxygen supplements, & a tiny feeding tube in his nose. They have assured us that his surgical scars will heal nicely & no one will even notice when he gets bigger. The surgery has a 98% success rate, & Josh is expected to be essentially “cured” & have a normal life, as if nothing was wrong in his first few days of life.

Mom & Dad were able to feed Joshua yesterday for the first time. He does not appear to be too interested in eating but we’re working on it. He is taking bottle feeds well about every other feeding, but he gets the rest through the tube to make sure he’s getting all the calories he needs. J.C. is having a hard time keeping up with how much milk he eats now, but we’re excited that he’s able to tolerate it so well.

That’s about it for now. This has been quite an eventful week! We are so very thrilled to have our perfect little boy join us & are in constant amazement at how beautiful he is. Thank you for your love & support. We wish we could thank each of you individually & show how grateful we are you are here for us. Hopefully soon we will be able to introduce Joshua to our wonderful families & friends, & we can’t wait for you to meet him. An especially big thank you goes out to Josh’s grandmas, as they flew in from great distances to be here to help us transition into parenthood, & to the medical staff at NNMC & Children’s for their outstanding care.

–J.C. & Erick