Jason and I got to the hospital at 8:30am. Doug was already there waiting (Kay was at home with Michelle; the nurse from the health unit was coming to check Michelle over so she had to stay home). Only 2 people were allowed in the NICU at a time so Jason had to wait in the waiting room. Doug and I had a nice visit with Michael (he was quite sedated because they don't want his heart to have to work too hard) but you could tell he still knew we were there. When we touched him his heartrate would speed up. Seeing Doug that day with his son really warmed my heart. He talks with him and tells him stories and you can tell how proud he is of his son already. He is very obviously in love with his children.
We were called in to a room to meet with the surgeon. It was very hard to hear about all of Michael's health problems. You never expect to have a sick child, we were completely taking for granted that I would give birth to 2 healthy children and here we were 2 days after the birth meeting with a senior cardiologist and a neonatologist talking about how we would fix little Michael's heart. The doctors were wonderful and explained to us where his problems were and how we would go about making him better. For this surgery they were going to thread a small wire through his vein (starting at the groin) going to his heart and then placing a balloon that they would blow up when they got to his valve. They were hoping this would break open his valve and maybe even stretch it. They told us the odds of him making it through the surgery were 90%. 90% is pretty good odds, but when you are there and you are thinking that there is a 1/10 chance that he will not survive the surgery it is very hard to take. But we had to do it for him to have a chance so the consent forms were signed and we waited for him to go for surgery.
He went in at 11:00am. And the wait began. It was a 3 hour surgery, and I have to say that it seemed more like 12 hours. All of these thoughts are running through your mind, all the while you are trying to stay positive. Jason really helped me through the wait. Just having someone there to talk to and keeping my mind off of things did a world of good.
Shortly after 2:00pm we were called in and told everything went well. The surgery was successful, although they were a little conservative and didn't try to stretch the valve, just to break it open. We were also told that he would need another surgery in a few days to correct a blood vessel that he had that was too narrow. Doug and I stayed by his side for quite a while just being so relieved that everything went so well.
Later Jason and I went to Doug and Kay's house to visit with Michelle. I got to meet Doug's mom and she was so obviously in love with her new granddaughter. It makes me feel good knowing the babies have so many people that love them. I held Michelle for a little while and talked to her. She opened her little eyes and looked at me while I was telling her how pretty she was. I think she knows how beautiful she is just so sweet. It was nice to see her and know she is doing so well.
The Rest of the Story
On December 26, 2001 Michael went for his second surgery. I couldn't think of anything else all day. I want so badly for him to get through this rough time and be able to just go home. It's just so much that this little guy has to go through---he is going to be one strong person once he gets past this! I waited by my phone all day waiting to hear any news of how things went. Finally in the early evening Kay gave me a call. Michael came through his surgery just fine again! He is doing quite well, and now we just have to wait a few days and see how he does. He may need another surgery (the same as his first one), but he may not. It's a wait and see thing.
On December 27, 2001 I had planned on going to visit the babies again. I woke up with a bad cold and decided it was best to stay at home. I didn't want to go into the NICU spreading my germs to all those tiny sick babies.
I got in touch with a lawyer, finally, and was able to get in to sign all my forms consenting to make Doug and Kay the legal guardians of the babies (giving them signing rights for Michael in the hospital). Because the babies were born over the Christmas holidays we were unable to get this done until today. It was just very nice of the lawyer to squeeze me in today because she totally booked, but when I explained our circumstances she made some time for us. So tommorow I will drive down and give my IPs these papers so they finally have some rights to their children. Of course I will take full advantage of the trip and visit both little angels too!
Whew, that was a long story!!! Of course this is just the beginning of the story for my IPs! I will keep updating my journal with news of how the twins are doing and I will of course keep everyone informed of how Michael's health is. I am a very proud Surrogate-Mommy!
