First night in the PSHU

Showing this purely as a "before",
so I can also show her progress as
all these lines are removed.

Muriel is all settled in to the Pediatric Surgical Heart Unit (PSHU), basically a special intensive care facility specifically for child heart issues.  This will be our third time in the PSHU - after each of her surgeries we spent time here recovering.  The doctors and nurses in this unit are absolutely amazing.  Whatever technical question pops into my brain they can immediately answer.  Explanations for everything from the methods used to get her pH back in balance to how the oxygen machine works are available at whatever level we can tolerate.  Our curiosity doesn't seem to annoy them - at least not yet!

Daddy trying to keep her calm

This is how relaxed you want
to see your surgeons

Muriel is still very groggy.  She is more "out" than awake, though every few minutes she does seem to wake up and see us, and thrash a bit.

In the PSHU waiting room, hoping to see Muriel soon

Quite a few pumps operating right now, including a small dose of Versed to keep her calm.  We had an amazing amount of personal attention as she was stabilized tonight.  All three surgeons stayed until almost 9PM to make sure she was headed in the right direction.  They seemed very calm and happy with her progress, and participated directly in checking her status and recommending actions.  Dr. Ilbawi himself attempted to deliver sodium bicarbonite with a large syringe by hand, which was amusing to the nurses.  The only difficulty so far has been keeping her body temp down.  We have watched it over the past two hours rise from around 38C (100.4F) to 39.1C (102.4F), where it seems to be currently stuck.  She has had Tylenol, has a "blower" blowing cold air over her, and has had her blanket privileges temporarily revoked.  We are told this is extremely typical and not to worry.

Dr. El Zein giving us the good news

I wanted to comment on our state of mind.  In reality Muriel is in intensive care, and still has some hurdles to complete.  I am sure that any parent with a child in intensive care would be in a state of extreme anxiety, and perhaps we still should be.  Both of us, however, seem to have had a great weight lifted from our shoulders.  The surgery we have been anticipating for over a year is complete, and she seems to have come through with flying colors.  Her oxygen saturation, which since birth has been around 80%, is now 100% - the same as the rest of us.  Her heart rate, which in the 40's landed us in the hospital last Sunday, is now 140 (actually a bit high due to the surgery, but a welcome sight nonetheless!).  We are surrounded by specialists that have a firm plan for us and exude extreme confidence, which only serves to set us at ease.

We both plan to stay in the room with her tonight in case she wakes up a bit more than she is right now.  We want to be here for her if she does.  I'll post again in the morning as the situation develops.

All the pumps in all their glory.
Will serve again as a "before" picture that should start changing quickly as soon as tomorrow.