My strong, brave one

Zachary is seriously such a trooper! His surgery went well and his recovery has been amazing. The first day was definitely the hardest, as he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything and he was very hungry. Then, when he came out of surgery he had arm restraints on and an NG tube in his nose. He has had an NG tube before, but this one was different and its purpose was to keep his stomach decompressed so that it wouldn't fill up with air/stomach fluids and possibly tear the stitches open. The arm restraints were so that he wouldn't pull out the tube. As you can imagine, he wasn't very happy about the arm restraints, the tube, having no food or drink, and just coming out of anesthesia. However, he was easily calmed just by one of us standing next to his bed and holding his hand. And every time a nurse came in to check vitals or give meds, he would whimper or cry, but as long as we were there, he would hold still and allow them to do their work. We would explain what they had to do and he would say "ok" or "dyea"(which is yea) through his little cry. It was simultaneously heartbreaking and adorable. He is so strong and brave.

We had several visitors which really helped in keeping him distracted...and us! At one point, Auntie Alyse came and stood by his bed singing him song after song after song, and he LOVED it! Every time she would finish one song, he would reach his little arm up to her face and she would ask if he wanted another one and he would say "dyea". It was so sweet to watch and warms my heart now as I think about it!!

So, that night in the hospital, Tyler and I each only got about 4 hours of sleep, taking turns being up with Z. He actually slept surprisingly well, but we had to watch to make sure he didn't roll to his stomach, and then every time he would cry one of us was at his side. Plus, sleeping in a hospital is REALLY hard! Between the CNA's and RN's coming in, and then the beeping machines, it is almost impossible to get good sleep.

In the morning, we were eager to get the tube out, restraints off, and food in our little buddy! There was quite a bit of going back and forth between the us, the doctors, and the nurses, but finally, around 11ish, they said we could take out the tube and start giving him clear liquids. There was a small issue with the amount of pee Zachary was putting out, especially since he had been on an IV all night and morning. Poor kid got SUPER puffy from all the fluids they were pushing in, he looked really different. But, that happened last time too, so I wasn't that surprised. Thankfully, in the end, they decided to let us go since everything else looked good and he was back to his usual, happy self.

FINALLY, around 5 we got discharged to come home! We were all really eager to get out of there. Z kept looking at the door, pointing and saying "go". When we got home, he played for a little bit and then went to bed. He only woke up once in the middle of the night needing some tylenol and then didn't wake up until 6:30 this morning. He has been playing with his toys, climbing on things, walking, laughing, and talking just like he always does! You seriously would not even know he just had surgery. I took the bandage off today, which brought some tears because it was practically super-glued to him, but the site looks great (at least as far as we could tell).

He did come home with a cold, which is the only bummer about this whole experience (other then him needing to have surgery of course). I cannot tell you how surprised I am by how well he is doing. Granted it was a smaller procedure, it is just SOOOOOO different then our last experience, for which I am extremely grateful! God has truly had his hand over this little boy and I can't wait to see what his future holds! And I know I am going to learn a thing or two from this amazing, strong, brave little guy! We are so blessed!

Another Surgery

My heart is full of anxiety as I write this post tonight. Zachary is having surgery this Wednesday, July 18, to repair the hole in his stomach where his G-tube was. Unfortunately they can't just put in a few stitches because of the stomach has fused to the skin. So, the surgeon will go in and separate them and then stitch the stomach up and then stitch the skin up. The surgery will take about an hour and then we will have to stay overnight at Doernbecher for monitoring. Hopefully all will go well and this will be a quick and easy recovery!

As I think back to where I was almost a year ago when Z went in to have the G-tube placed, I am in such a completely different place. I think I was kind of numb about it all last year, whereas this year, I get teary just thinking about the moment when I have to say goodbye and leave him with the surgical team. It is utterly heart-wrenching! I don't even know how I am going to handle that moment, I just know that I have to hold it together for as long as he can see me, otherwise, he will really freak out! I don't want him to be any more scared then he is going to be, so I hope that I can remain calm and collected.

I've also been kind of in denial about this whole thing, hoping and praying that it would close up on its own. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized he is actually having surgery and there is nothing we can do about it now. I mean, other than never having surgery and making him where gauze on his stomach for the rest of his life (which I momentarily considered). I know this will be better and this is what I want. We can finally close this chapter and move on, gauze free =). It's just going to be hard.

So if you can keep our family and especially him in your prayers that day, we would really appreciate it. We'll update again once he is out of surgery and let you know how he's doing =)

Oh how time flies

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! Time is seriously flying by! I remember when I was younger, my grandparents told me that the older you get, the faster it goes, and they were completely right. It is going by so fast...too fast if you ask me. Everyday I am watching Zachary change right before my eyes, and it makes me feel both elated and teary at the same time. He is growing up so fast, and I don't want him to. Everyday he is talking more, climbing more, laughing more, speed walking more (he hasn't quite gotten the running thing down yet, but man, he is fast), testing boundaries more, and just amazing more in general! He is such a fun, sweet little boy and I kinda want him to stay that way forever. Who has figured out how to make this happen??


It's strange for me to feel this way after so many moments of just wanting him to change, get better, sleep more, cry less.... And now, here we are, and I want to go back to the time when he would let me rock him for as long as I wanted (and longer). Now he wants to get in his bed as soon as we are done with story and prayers. I have finally realized that what everyone says is true...it did get better, and the time went too fast. I only wish that I had enjoyed it more while I had it. Now, I am soaking up every moment of this time. And I am so lucky and thankful that he is still a snuggler who frequently stops playing to give me a hug or sit on my lap for a story.



Here are just a few of the things he is currently doing/saying:

He LOVES garbage cans! I have no idea why, except that maybe it's because he knows not to touch them. EVERYWHERE we go, he will find the garbage can and point at saying "garb" or "garba". Sometimes he will even find what he thinks is garbage and say "garb" and wait until you put it in the garbage or point out that it is not garbage. I'm kinda wondering at what point I should be concerned about his love/obsession with garbage cans...but it's cute, nonetheless!


He also says yellow (although I don't think he necessarily associates it with the color), circle, square, apple, done, down, yes, yeah, upstairs, outside, inside, water, more, I don't see it (when looking for his paci), good, good job, and I know there are more, these are just the ones I heard him say today.


He loves playing with his kitchen, playing in our kitchen, stacking blocks and legos, throwing balls, swimming, and reading. He just started to hide from us as a game, which was fun to see. He still loves peek-a-boo. He also loves closing and opening drawers, cupboards, and doors.


He is a big helper! He will take things to his room, like his shoes, or a piece of clothing (and he'll even put them in the hamper), he likes to take clothes out of the dryer for me, put clothes in the washer for me (obviously with my help), close the dishwasher (even when I'm not done loading/unloading), take clothes out of his drawers and put them in the hamper (ok, not so helpful, but cute), and he'll help clean up his toys.


I can already tell that he is going to be funny, just like his dad. He cracks me up all the time with the faces he makes, the games he plays, and just how he'll do certain things. He is A LOT of fun to be around and I am so glad I get to spend everyday with him!!


He is doing really well and we are so happy! It is nice not having his feeding tube in, however, it is still leaking and if it doesn't stop, he will have to have surgery to fix it. We met with the surgeon and he explained that they can't just do stitches because they would just tear open again. When the tube was placed, the stomach lining and the skin fused together, so they will have to go in and separate them and put in stitches in the stomach and the skin. We have surgery scheduled for July 18, but we are praying that it will close and we can cancel the surgery. The surgeon put some sort of ointment on it when we were there, and it seemed to help, so we are going back in next week to see if he puts more in, if that will close it up completely. Prayers are definitely appreciated as we really don't want him to have to go through another surgery!


Alright, now that it is midnight, hopefully I can fall asleep! I will try to be better about blogging more frequently again.