Lots of iv's and medications going in our little boy!
What a fighter! The tape on his face is just holding the tube in his throat. For those of you who were curious what they used to patch Joseph's hole, I asked the doctor and he said it is the outer lining from a cows heart. The sac that holds the heart...not the heart lining that is.

Here is our little boy! They took the bandages off this afternoon. They also pulled out two of the chest tubes that were used for draining fluid off his lungs and chest cavity. The IV is stiched into his neck and looks worse than it actually is. Joseph's scar looks great! They do not sew it on the outside. All the stitches are on the inside! Now that's a trick! Joseph will be on the ventilator probably through Monday because his trachea is still collapsing down near his bronchial tubes. Normally, they would have it out today. He does not like to stay sedated and it keeps the nurses on their toes! Here are a few more pics

This is almost the whole Pertzsch Family! Joel was working at the Minnesota State Fair, but Thank you Jerry, Barb, Bethany and Bridget for coming down! Thank you also for the cute monkey you gave to Joseph! It is just as big as him! But now that surgery is over, we will be well on our way to outgrowing it!
Joseph was having a bath here. It seemed like a great way to calm him down and get him sleepy! This was taken on Monday.
This picture is so cute because Joseph was actually smiling through his pacifier at the monkey! He couldn't quite understand why it was moving and touching his face!
A good way to keep Joseph comfortable! He was watching tv with Rob that night :)
Another Bath picture. Same day as the other one I think :)...(same shirt)

Back in the ICU after being nearly discharged from here! Thank goodness Joseph decided to stop breathing again at the hospital, or we may have been in trouble on the way home! Surgery is on the 6th! Thanks for the prayers!
I thought this was cute! Joseph was looking at all three stuffed animals intently! Thank you DeAnn for the music box and Emily (Julie and Shannon daughter) for the green Hippo!

Everyone Meet Lorisa Newman! She is a former co-worker at Rosenbluth International turned Great Friend! She and her husband Terry came down on their day off to see us! Thank You Terry and Lorisa! You are GREAT! Joseph found the tape on his nose that day! He can cross his eyes like his mom and grandpa! Congratulations!
Lorisa got a lot of big smiles like this one! He was very happy that day!

All the nurses love his big blue eyes!

One of our precious smiles that we recieved! Even after all the poking and the prodding...he is still happy! Breaks my heart!

So sleepy after all that crying!

Joseph thinks his daddy is pretty cool! Rob got a lot of smiles that day!

A little surprised but happy to be off the vent!
Joseph would not take his eyes off Rob !
This picure is actually five days before these others. Just notice the date in the corner of each picture :)
We were trying to get him to smile. It was hard work for a while there. He wasn't to pleased about being there!
Doing better off the ventilator

First time Holding Joseph while he was on the ventilator

Getting dinner while he sleeps!
Pretty glossy when he would open his eyes...but at least they were open!
Icky Red Eye! Why don't they know how to get rid of that yet?!
These are a lot of the nurses that probably took care of me while I was here in Rochester after I had had my surgery fifteen years ago! They were pretty amazed!

They found a nice little hat he could wear so he wouldn't get too cold.
The nurses find fun ways to use the cute stuffed animals that are in his crib!
Just a better look at Mr. Joseph.
He kept losing his diaper this day! The nurses thought it was pretty cute!


First pictures of being intubated. At least he was comfortable!

This is Joseph's first bandaid! He recieved this after getting a shot at the dr's office.
Joseph had to take a carseat test because he was so small leaving the hospital. They leave him in there for 2 hours and make sure his stats don't drop while he's hooked up to their monitors. He failed twice, but finally got through it! With a little help from some nicely placed towels under the front of the carseat so he could lay instead of sit. :)

Here's some close up's of our little wide eyed boy!

Thats what you call a yawn!
Can you tell we like the outfit?

This is a premie outfit Grandma Wood bought for Joseph. He swam in it for the first 2 months! (picture taken 12 days after he was born)

Thank you, Grandma Wood, for cuddling me when mom was busy with dr's and nurses! Can't wait to see you again SOON!!!!

Look at all the lines running from him! It was such a chore to get him in and out of his little crib! You had to have 4 hands!

The proud father holding his 3rd son! How Exciting!

This is when Joseph got his first Echocardiogram! The dr. that read the findings was my former pediatrician here in Rochester. This is when we found out that he had a VSD (a hold in between his ventricular chambers)