Homeward Bound (I wish I was)

Every day's an endless stream of cigarettes (not so much) and magazines... and every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be... blah blah blah.

We were told on rounds a few days ago that Ford was good to go. While there are still several steps left in his recovery/prep for heart surgery #2 he no longer needs to be in the intensive care unit. Calls were made 'upstairs' to the pediatric floor for a bed, but none was available. Vancouver was called on Wednesday and there was a flurry of excitement as the admitting nurses came and went all morning pulling different parts of his chart to fax to BC Children's Hospital, Dr. Narvy spent some time dictating Ford's condition and current treatment plans into a little voice recorder and we were knotted with pensive, anxious energy. But that was two days ago and all we've heard since is: still waiting. I'm thinking that would be a good slogan for Hospitals across Canada - Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital: Still Waiting, etc. It has definitely been the major refrain throughout our stay here. But I guess that's just how it goes.

Ford's been developing more of a personality over the last few weeks as well as a violent gag reflex. These days he seems to spend most of his days sleeping and trying to vomit/vomiting. We're not sure why he's so prone to hurl, but he doesn't seem to be 'sick' in any real sense. Lately, as he is once again IV free, we've been able to dress him, and we are really enjoying the recurrent pattern of: undress, change diaper, dress, vomit, undress, change diaper, dress, vomit, etc. Oh the joys of a slightly normalized parenting experience. Since it is so much easier to pick him up, we've been ruthlessly cuddling him and finding it harder to leave him alone. We stayed with him until midnight last night, trying in vain to get him to stop fussing and go to sleep - rocking, patting, bouncing, swaying. After hitting a wall the nurse kindly offered to drug him and we, having no strength left to argue, agreed. Here's hoping we get to take a bottle of Chloral Hydrate home with us.

So we're just hanging out playing the waiting game, fingers crossed that Ford stays stable and all the baby bed-hogs in Vancouver get well soon so we can get home.