A-Ok!

We are back at home, I think we are all glad to see our home and our beds! Surgery went well and everything that Dr. Duncan needed to do in the procedure was done to perfection. There was nothing further in the way of obstructions, and so now we are on the fast road to recovery! Here are pictures of our not so fun day, but we promised Jack that for this day there would be so many better ones ahead! I struggled on whether I would bring our camera. But I'm glad I did, I tried not to go crazy with the picture taking as taking care of our boy was the most important thing. But as this blog develops to a book I wanted to make sure Jackson got to see everything about his first year.

We checked in bright and early at 6:30 am. We are not really sure why they make you get there so early, I guess just to make sure no one is ever late for surgery. Jack being a baby did not really understand why he was not allowed to eat or drink anything, so we distracted him with toys! That's the good thing about being at Texas Children's Hospital - they cater to the kids and have every toy you can think of. Soon Jack didn't remember he wanted his baba and was busy playing.

Jack loves anything that has wheels! He wants to know how things work, so funny.

He did take a few breaks and you could see he was really sleepy and confused on where we were!The Drs came to talk to us assuring everything was going to be fine. So we gave him some last minute hugs and kisses. It was really hard to leave and watch him go down the surgery hall.

He was in surgery for a little over an hour, and as soon as he was waking up they called us back to recovery. Usually kids stay asleep a little longer under anesthesia but Jack woke up pretty early and because of that was very disoriented and inconsolable. They had to administer morphine to his IV so that he would calm down, and that he did. He just fell asleep in my arms and I rocked him holding him so tight. I couldn't keep my eyes off him, we were so thankful that everything had gone just as planned. After about 15 minutes in recovery we were moved to our room on the 11th floor. He woke up and just laid there, poor baby was so drained. He didn't want to be held at this point he just wanted to be in his crib and look around. After a few minutes he went back to sleep and rested for about an hour. When he woke up he wanted to be held and it was the best feeling to be able to comfort him. We ended up rocking and holding him throughout the entire day and I wish we had more days like that. Of course not under surgery circumstances, but it sure makes you realize how fast they grow up and how independent they become. Cuddling him while he looked into our eyes was so special, it was a new bonding experience between the three of us.

On occasion he would get a little burst of energy and want to play or just get out of the room. So we went over to the toy room on our floor to get a different scenery. We had to take the IV cart with us, which was not fun. The IV was one of the hardest parts, here you have a 9 month old who sees a cord coming from his foot, naturally he is going to want to pull on it. Eventually we had to get it replaced when he pulled it out, and that meant another poke to the many he had already endured. Not fun. They put a better wrap around it so that he wouldn't play with it and we put a sock on top of it.

Our parents were wonderful and everyone was thinking of Jack. Grandma Strehlow stopped by to drop off a stuffed Jellycat duck, it's so soft! We called MiMi, Grandpa King and Grandpa Strehlow right away to let them know Jack was doing well. Jack, they all said how much they love you and how proud of you they are for being so strong through such a rough day.The night was a little rough for Jack, sleeping with cords all around him and being in a strange environment where nurses came in every hour and made it hard for him to sleep. Kev and I had a makeshift bed and took turns getting up with Jack to make sure he was as comfortable as could be. We made it through the night, woke up and gave our little boy some kisses as we were excited that we were getting to leave. Dr. Duncan came to check on Jack and gave us instructions for home care. He asked us if we thought Jack's breathing had improved, and it's so much better that we barely hear his stridor at all!

Once we got the clear to be discharged, we had to wait for the nurses to come take out that mean IV. Jack got up on our bed and was checking out the medical center. I think its pretty cool that we had a view of Baylor Clinic/St. Lukes...where our little guy was born. On a side note I wanted to end this post and say how grateful and fortunate we are to have the love, care and resources available to our family. We met two African American siblings, Jaylen & Isiah (2 yr & 3 yr) in the toy playroom on our floor. They were the sweetest little boys which had visibally been abused with scars/burns/lacerations to their face/legs. No parents were with them (for obvious reasons) so the nurses were acting as Moms to them during their stay. We often saw them riding around on bikes down the hall and wandering just looking for something to do. While my heart and my head was wrapped around our son and his recovery I couldn't stop thinking about these boys. How could anyone do what they did to them!? Once we left the hospital to go back to the comfort of our home, in the car ride home Kevin and I were talking about these two boys. We arrived home and wanted to go to bed as we were all exhausted... but Kev and I found the energy to go to Walmart to buy these babies some clothes and necessities they were lacking and went back to the hospital to deliver them (Nelvi was with Jack). I usually don't share these types of stories because giving back is just a normal part of our family life but I want to remind us all on how good life is to each and every one of us. We still can't stop thinking about them and hope that the foster parents that were assigned to them are holding them tight and giving them the love they very much need. Bless those babies and please say a prayer for them tonight that they too find the love and comfort of a good home.

We have been enriched in so many ways by this experience. Thank you Texas Children's Hospital for the outstanding service you provided to our son and every other child there.
You now have our support for life!