He's Rounding Third!

Whew! Finally a chance to sit, catch my breath, and enjoy the quiet evening knowing that Henry is on the road to recovery. It's been a loonng day of waiting, so it's good to be on this side of it. We arrived at the hospital early this morning and visited with Henry for a bit before they prepped him for surgery.

Here, Claire sits and reads a few books to her baby brother.

One last look at Henry before they transport him to surgery. I thought it cute that he was holding his cords.

Claire enjoyed the Operating Room play area, which was good because the surgery took three hours rather than the one hour we were expecting.

Joe plays peek-a-boo outside the window.

Shortly after surgery, we went back to Henry's room to see him.

And now for the big reveal...Drum Roll Please...

Look at that tiny tummy! The doctor seemed pleased with how the surgery went. He said that in removing the membrane (covering) from the omphalocele, they discovered it contained mostly liver, which made the procedure a bit more complicated. Regardless, they were able to place everything back inside Henry's abdomen. They used a small patch - about an inch in diameter - to close the abdominal muscle, and he had plenty of skin to cover the opening.

So the next step is to get Henry's digestive system working properly, and then he will be able to start eating. Soon after that, we'll take him home! We don't yet know how long this will take, but anticipate that it could take a few weeks. Then in a few months, he will have surgery to repair his hernias. This is a rather common procedure, and he may even be home the following day.

I cannot believe this is all happening so quickly. I was scheduled to have my C-Section at 11:30 this morning - the exact time Henry went in for his surgery. We were also expecting it would be a couple of months before Henry would even be ready for surgery, but here we are, as Joe's Dad put it, "rounding third and heading home". Truly, as his middle name, Samuel, indicates - "The LORD has heard". In my mind, there can be no other explanation. The LORD has heard.