Sad Goodbyes

Scott and Susanne had a wonderful night together. It was so nice of Moppy to let them stay in her hotel room while she stayed with Poppy and Gigi at the Devon Nicole House. It definitely gave them time for some closure and much needed quality time. They were able to snuggle and watch a couple of movies before they passed out for the evening.

After they finished getting ready for the day, they headed over to the Devon Nicole House to meet up with the grandparents. When they arrived, breakfast was waiting for them and everyone was pretty much ready to go. They were all anxious to get over to the hospital because they knew that Paxton would be extubated today. This was exciting and scary all at the same time.

Within the first hour that they were at the hospital, the doctors gave permission to remove Paxton's endotracheal tube. They felt comfortable with this decision because he had been breathing well on his own overnight when they would back down on the ventilator. Susanne and Scott were allowed to be present for the extubation process. Scott was even given permission to videotape it. Paxton did extremely well throughout the whole thing. He definitely seemed relieved to have the endotracheal tube out of there. Thankfully, he did not have any complications after it was removed. Paxton received oxygen through a mask that was placed around his face for about an hour afterwards. He tolerated it well.

Paxton's nurse during the day decided to be super sweet and break the visiting rules of the cardiac ICU. She allowed all of the grandparents to be in his room with him at the same time that Scott and Susanne were in. Usually, only two people at a time were allowed to visit with Paxton and one of them had to be a parent. She decided to lift the restriction because she knew that Scott, Gigi, and Poppy had to leave today. This was very special.

Since Paxton was doing so well after he was extubated, the nurse felt comfortable enough to let Scott hold him for the first time since surgery. The most important thing to remember was the appropriate way to pick Paxton up and hold him. It was critical to take this seriously because it could cause him major discomfort, but even worse, destroy the handiwork of the surgeon.

Scott was elated to hold his baby boy. It was such a touching moment to watch Paxton stare at his daddy, but even more so when he reached out to touch his face. After a short while, Gigi and Poppy both had a chance to snuggle with the bug before they had to head out. Susanne was really sad that they all had to leave to go home. It had been so nice to have everyone there especially on the big surgery day. Their love and support was much needed and appreciated. Before they headed out, Gigi and Poppy gave Susanne a necklace with an infinity circle that had the word "FAMILY" written on it. She was instructed to wear it around her neck as a reminder that even if they could not be with her physically, they would always be with her in spirit. This was exactly what she needed to push through their departure. The hardest goodbye for sure was Scott. It seemed to happen all to often that Scott and Susanne had to part ways. They could not wait for the day when they could be with each other endlessly. They did not want to let go of their tight embrace and their sweet gentle farewell kiss was over way too quickly. They could only think of it like removing a band-aid...do it as quick as possible to lessen the pain. Nevertheless, it was a sad moment for all when they drove away in the cab.

After they left, Moppy and Susanne decided to spend more time with Paxton. Even though it was a difficult decision, they decided not to hold him since he had such a busy day. They wanted him to rest up as much as possible to help with his recuperation process.

When they finally decided to head back to the house, it was pretty late. They had not had a chance to have dinner yet, so they were on the look out for something to eat. The cafeteria in the hospital was already closed, so they thought they should check out the food court up the road. Much to their chagrin, every place had closed up shop with the exception of Sbarro, which Susanne could not eat. They were a little disappointed that the food vendors had all put everything away even though they technically had about ten minutes before they were actually supposed to be closed. Susanne's only saving grace was that she had leftovers back at the house.