Thankful Thursday: Surgery Update

This is a very detailed explanation of the day of and few days after Baby W's orchiopexy.  Feel free to read or just browse the pictures!

I don't think that I could have planned out for Baby W's surgery to have gone any better on Monday! Your prayers worked!  Wow!

I was worried about not being able to feed him after midnight, when his surgery wasn't until 8:30 am!  He usually eats around 6:00 pm and then sleeps until 5:45 am.  We feed him 5 ounces and he goes back to sleep until around 8:00.  Well, we took a couple of nights to give him a dream feed at 11:50 pm to get him a little fuller and used to a feeding then.  On the day of the surgery, he still woke up right at 5:45 am, and I just went in and got him ready for the day.  He didn't fuss at all!  I was shocked!

At the hospital, we had to be there at 7 and then wait a little over an hour before they took him into the operating room.  He did great.  I just walked him around the waiting room.  He was a little fussy, but no all out crying!  In the room where we took him to change him before the surgery, the crib had a toy to keep him entertained, and his daddy and I tried our best to keep him smiling.
  

Baby W is very friendly and was flirting with the nurses and anesthesiologist.  When we walked him to the operating room and had to hand him to the nurse, he turned and went straight into her arms!  I was crying of course, but I knew he was in good hands, and he wasn't scared a bit.  

The surgery went great.  He was very fussy when we got to hold him in recovery.  He drank 3 bottles of glucose water!  He was crying pretty hard after that, so they gave him a very small amount of morphine and tylenol.  That calmed him right down.  We were able to leave the hospital.  We met my mama, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law in the waiting room, and Baby W started crying immediately when he saw them.  I think he was in shock and wondering how they all of a sudden showed up!

We filled his prescription for pain medicine and went to lunch.  Baby W slept until the end of lunch.  I picked him up and he cringed in pain and cried for about a minute.  But once we had him back in the car for the ride home, he went straight to sleep.  He woke up crying about 10 minutes from home, but he stopped after about 5 minutes.  Then he started his usual growling and playing with his car toys.

At home, we had to wait about 45 minutes before we could feed him and give him his medicine.  He drank 10 ounces when he was finally able to eat! He took a 3 hour nap and woke up happy!  I took him on a short walk in the stroller to get him some fresh air.  We came home and Daddy gave Baby W a sponge bath and we changed his diaper.  Thankfully, the diaper change went smoothly and did not seem to bother Baby W at all!  After his bath, I fed him (about 9 ounces with his medicine), read him some books, sang to him, and put him in his crib.

The next morning, my husband woke up at 6, and we realized that Baby W had slept all night!! My husband went in to check and make sure he was okay, and when he moved the blanket, Baby W woke up.  Hubby came back and got in bed, and Baby W played in his crib for over an hour before wanting out!  We changed his diaper (again went smoothly, but no poop yet!) and then fed him.  He played happily until his nap at 10:30.  I had to wake him up at 12:30 to meet Daddy for lunch.  He did great.  I put some prune juice in his next bottle to try and help him along.  Took another nap at 4:30 and we had to wake him up again around 6:30.  We bathed him, fed him, read him books, and he was ready for another full night of sleep.  He did have a small poop before bed, another one in the morning, and then a great big one later in the day.  Hopefully he is now back to his regular once-a-day morning poop now :)

Sorry for all the poop talk!  Baby W is doing wonderful.  I am still worried about giving him a regular bath...which we are allowed to do today.  I know he should be fine, but he's a boy and likes to play down there when his diaper's not on!  So unless I can keep his hands occupied with toys, he might hurt himself! AH!

God has truly blessed us with everything going well before, during, and after the surgery!  Thank you for all your support.  

Not So Wordless Wednesday

I've got too much to say this week to make this wordless!

We've been vacationing for the past two weeks.

First in the beautiful mountains of NC with my family:

View from the deck

Waiting out the thunderstorm

His grandpa set this picture up at Linville Caverns!  Great influence!

Loving his first experience in the pool!

Baby W and Cousin E

The bear at Grandfather Mountain

The six sisters and three grandkids!

Then the HOT beaches of SC with the hubby's family:

Baby W and Cousin S

The hubby's family

Next to Charlotte to visit some friends and family:

My friend C and her Sweet Baby J (we look like we're holding each other's baby!)

My friend J who should be getting a ring soon!


On to Greenville to stay with my Aunt and Uncle before Baby W's surgery:

Their backyard is great for picture taking!

Champ wanting to play fetch with Baby W (who laughed hysterically)

Until Champ barked :(

Surgery Day:

Playing in the crib

Staying entertained with Daddy

Drinking glucose water in the recovery room

Watching the piano play itself in the lobby with both Grandmas and Aunt "Sissy"

The day after surgery...almost completely back to normal!

Warning:  A very long and detailed post about Baby W's surgery is coming soon!

Happy Wednesday!

Monday Message: Deliberate Kindness

A woman that had just begun cooking a pie got a phone call from the school notifying her that her son was sick and needed to be picked up.  She only lived a couple blocks from the school, so she knew she had plenty of time to get back before the pie was done.  She went to the school and learned that her son's fever had spiked, and he needed to go to the doctor immediately.  She took him to the doctor where she was given a prescription and was told to get it filled immediately.  She and her son went into the store to fill the prescription and returned to the car to find that the keys were locked inside!  She and her son were lucky enough to find a wire hanger to try and unlock the door, but it didn't work.  She said a prayer that God would send help so that she could get home before her house burned down!  

Just then, a man pulled up on a motorcycle.  He didn't look like the sort of man she would usually ask for help, but he was the only one around.  She said, "Excuse me, but do you know how to unlock a car door with a wire hanger?"  In less than a minute, the doors were unlocked.  

The woman thanked the man for his kindness and said, "You were so kind and helpful.  I just prayed that God would send me some help.  You must be a Christian!"

The man replied, "No.  I just got out of prison two weeks ago."

She said, "Oh, I prayed for help, and God sent me a professional!"

Piece of Pie

The main message of yesterday's sermon was that many of us have wealth and status in our areas, yet we struggle to give generously.  We were encouraged not only to be generous and kind in situations that just happen upon us (like when we see someone who needs help after falling or someone who is in need of a meal), but we need to be deliberate and intentional in our giving.  Plan to be kind. Plan to be generous. God will reward you in return!

How to Be Generous

Please pray for my family this morning! As you are reading this, my 9 month old son is having surgery.  Everyone tells me it will be harder on me than it is on him, and I know that's true, but I would still love the extra prayers!! Have a great week! 

thankful thursday!

Baby W has made me worry since even before he was born.  With my quad screen, I was told that there was a chance he would be born with Down's Syndrome.  After a more in depth ultra sound, they told me it was a very low risk, about a 1 in 900 chance of him actually having Down's.  I really did not let it bother me after the Level 2 ultra sound.  And it was evident when he was born that he did not have Down's.

When the pediatrician checked him out in the hospital, the only thing wrong was that he had an undescended testicle.  She said that it would most likely descend before he turned a year old.  It descended for about two days when he was around 3 months old, but we never saw it again.  We went to a urologist last week and decided we would go ahead and have the surgery to bring it down.  I am glad that this is a problem that can be fixed.  Baby W will be having surgery on June 28th! Please say a prayer for him (and me and my hubby) on that day!

After he was born, we found out he had a partial biotin deficiency.  This is a very rare genetic deficiency.  Fortunately, it is completely treatable by taking a biotin supplement every day for the rest of his life.  We were not happy about having to crush up a vitamin everyday to put in his bottle, but in reality it could have been much worse.

Biotin Supplement

Also, about a week after W was born, we had to take him to get an X-ray because we found a long bruise running behind his ear.  The pediatrician said it is probably just from birth but we should get an X-ray in case of a skull fracture.  Thankfully, there was no skull fracture and the bruise eventually went away.

Today, I am thankful that Baby W is a happy and healthy baby boy. 

He will be 9 months old on Saturday!

~He has recently started pulling up on things, but not quite taking any steps.

~He started sitting up on his own around 5 1/2 months, but is much more stable now.  We don't have to really worry about when he falls over.

~He is trying to start crawling.  He gets on his hands and knees but doesn't really go anywhere.

~He babbles a lot using "dada," "mama," (usually when he's tired), "baba," and he likes to blow raspberries when he's really excited.

~He laughs a lot, and that is my favorite sound in the world!

~He just recently started moving around a lot in his crib, flipping from back to stomach and vice versa.  

~He will go to anyone that puts their hands out.  

~He likes to give kisses to everyone (just putting his face to their face).

~The first thing people notice about him are his cheeks. :)

~He likes to growl at people, and sometimes he likes to squeal.

~He loves wrestling on the bed with his daddy.

~He does not like falling asleep for naps, eating baby food yet, and being up past his bedtime.

~He loves to be outside, bathtime, the rug in our great room, watching cars go by, and light switches.

I am so thankful for my outgoing, chunky, loveable baby boy.  What are you thankful for today?