the day so far in pictures...

When we arrived at the hospital this morning at 5:30 or so, Malachi looked great. The nurse sad he had had a VERY uneventful evening--PERFECT!! Usually we get to hold the little guy before surgery, so like any other day we asked. "Of course, you can hold him!"

Minutes later, even though he looked nice and calm, his heart rate jumped to over 200's.
By the time the rate leveled out, it was up to around a steady rate of 250. YIKES! He was not a happy camper, and rightly so. He began arching his back in John's arms and we decided it would be best to put him back in his bed, so we called the nurse over to help. (insert sad face)

Last night before shift change, his central line started leaking--it was no longer usable. So they placed a peripheral IV (PIV) in his foot. By 4 or 5:00 this morning, it was no longer usable. In Malachi's condition, the PIVs just don't last long and tend to wreak havoc on his veins. Well, by the time he was back in SVT (accelerated heart pattern), the second PIV which had been placed in his left arm was unusable. Splendid. No access for medication to convert him back to normal sinus rhythm. We were seconds away from having to watch them "ice his face" to stimulate a vagal maneuver to try to get him to snap out of it. Basically, it's suffocating him with a bag of ice--not pretty AND it hasn't proven to be effective on him in the past. Thankfully, as the nurse placed this lovely scalp IV, it was enough stress to his little body to convert out of SVT. He wasn't in normal sinus, but rather in this new ectopic junctional rhythm we've seen.
So then, cardiology decided to set up a 12-lead EKG to record more specifically what was going on with his heart. This is just a pic with the first six leads placed.

John and I stepped out to get a bite to eat and when we came back, they were getting ready to put him in his transport isolette. Here his little toes are pressing up against the side. You can see where some leads were placed on his legs and where his blood pressure cuff was on his right leg. the thing wrapped around his foot is covering the probe that monitors his oxygen saturation levels. Interestingly enough, ever since his SVT episode, his O2 sat level has been in the high 80s-90s... so weird.

Then we were already to go...

Saying our last goodbyes before surgery:

Now we wait and try to distract ourselves from the fact that our little boy is once again under general anesthesia