1 Week Birthday and Eyes Open

Today was Caleb's 1 week birthday!  He had a stable first 24 hours after his Norwood surgery.  All of his pressures continue to stay level.  They did not close his chest up this morning due to his lactic acid levels being up overnight over 8; however, it has continued to drop throughout today.  It is at 2.9 currently.  Our goal is that it get under 2.  We are praying for a "boring" night tonight (which is good in post-op terminology) and that his lactic acids continue to drop so that he can be closed up in the morning.  His swelling looks incredible.  We were prepared for him to look like the dough boy, and he was definitely puffy, however, not to that extent.  He has had a lot of urine output today (thanks to Lasix) and that has helped a lot to reduce the swelling even more.
The kids came up and visited.  They zoo brought animals and put on a show for the siblings.  They loved touching a hedgehog.  God gave us the most perfect moment today when Kate and Jake were visiting their brother.  Kate held out her finger and he gripped it.  She was mesmerized and talked sweetly to him.  He then opened his eye!!!  This was the first time any of us have seen him open his eyes!  My heart melted.  It made him seem "real" for the first time in a week.  I absolutely loved it, for myself, but so much for the kids.  They were just elated.  I was, of course, so worried that he was hurting and really just wanted him to sleep, but the nurse assured me that he is on heavy medicines to control his pain.  Cooper and Bo then had their turns and were very proud to see him  (Bo's first time to meet his little brother).
We ask for prayers that Caleb has a good night and gets his chest closed tomorrow.  We are prepared that after that procedure, it can be a roller coaster for a while.  We pray that he does well, stays strong, and God gets him through that smoothly.