You know what they say....third time's a charm!

Thankfully, surgery went well.  This was his fifth surgery but third closure for his back. Joshua was supposed to go down to the operating room at 10:00am but they didn’t get him down until about 11:30am.  The time difference isn’t huge unless you’re dealing with a baby who’s hungry!  He’s allowed to eat until four hours before surgery.  Therefore his last feed was at 6:00am.  He’s eating like a piggy these days…about 4 ounces at every feed.  Usually he’ll tolerate not eating for about five hours (It’s sad that he’s had so many surgeries that we can tell you how he typically tolerates not eating before surgery!).  After five hours IT’S ON!  He’s hungry and he’s not afraid to tell us.  It’s probably the hardest part about this entire situation.  We can’t hold him and comfort him, which is naturally the thing that you want to do the most when you have a baby.  When we’re able to hold him, it’s on several pillows while he lies on his tummy.  We still love it but you and I both know it’s not the same. So when he’s crying and wants to eat and there’s nothing we can do to console him, it makes my heart ache.  Fortunately he likes his little car ride in the cart down to the operating room.  He usually will quiet down during the trip. 

The doctor came to let us know that everything went well during the surgery.  Rather than stitching up the area that was leaking, he stitched both the top and the bottom.  In the opening in the middle, he left it open wanting it to granulate in.  Basically skin and tissue will fill in as the wound heals.  He expects the entire healing process to last about two to three weeks.  It’s possible that we could be going home before then.  We would just leave with a treatment plan.  We’re not ruling anything out at this point though!   The doctor reminded us again today that we’re used to living our lives in hours and minutes but the human body heals in days and weeks.  I’m just so thankful that babies are so resilient!  

Thank-you to everyone for loving us through this.  God has used all of you to bless us in a way that we have needed more than we can explain.