almost home...

The last couple of days have been quite eventful. Besides finding out that the post-operative echocardiogram showed a successful repair, we were also moved upstairs to the I/ICU on Friday afternoon. This is different atmosphere than the CV/ICU. It is a lot quieter and now we have a chance to fully participate in Sophia's care and do all the wonderful things parents do - feeding, lots of cuddling and of course diaper changing.
On Friday we also found out that Sophia's left vocal chord is not moving. The nerves controlling our vocal cords run near the heart and this is a very common complication when there has been extensive surgery on the aortic arch. Dr. Hanley was not surprised about this because he had to put some tension on the nerve during surgery however he says that the nerve was not severed. The interesting thing about these nerves is that even if they are severed they can grow back. The doctors expect Sophia's to start working again in 1-3 months. Right now her right vocal cord is compensating which is why she can still swallow and vocalize/cry and her voice gets stronger everyday - apparently we can get by with only one vocal cord.
The big news is that the doctors are planning to discharge us from the hospital on Tuesday! We are both excited and a little scared. Tomorrow they will remove the last of the lines on Sophia and run the last couple tests. They will also teach us how to handle her feeding - she will still have an NG tube for a while. We are planning to spend a couple days down here and then head back home. We can't believe that we are going to be home soon and that Sophia's surgery was just two weeks ago! We are really looking forward to having our little family home.