10:54pm April 5th

After all of our guests left for the day Cassie and I went down to visit Owen again for some family time.  Talking to his nurse everything is still looking really good.  There haven't really been any changes since earlier today.  We were talking to his nurse about the progression of how he is going to be taken off of things, and here is the run down:  first they will close his chest, then remove the chest lines (IV's going to his heart), then possibly the ventilator, then take out the drainage tubes, then his umbilical IV, and so on.  Once he gets the chest lines out we can actually start holding Owen.  One thing that came as a surprise is that they will actually take Owen off of the paralytics before they even close up his chest.  After things had settled down a bit (we were done talking to his nurse), Dr. Ghanayem, the director of cardiac critical care, stopped in to check up on Owen.  She said that Owen is looking really great and they are planning on taking Owen off of the paralytics sometime tonight unless there is some significant change (yes, now he will be able to hold our fingers in his tiny little hands).  Dr. Ghanayem will actually be overseeing Owen's care from now until he has his second surgery.  We will be alternating Owen's check ups between Children's Hospital in the Fox Valley and in Milwaukee until it is time for his second surgery.  After his second surgery all of Owen's check ups will most likely be done in the Fox Valley.  Owen just seems to be an overachiever in all categories so far. (so is mommy by the way, only pumping for three days and she is getting an award from the lactation nurse for producing the most milk)  Now it is time for us to get some sleep because it has been a long stressful day.