Little Mommy

Look at what I stumbled upon this afternoon...

I love our daughter, and I admire how she loves her brother.  I already see in her a true mother's heart as she cares for Henry.  She's constantly trying to hand him toys, books, diapers - anything she thinks he may like - as she says "Here go, Henry".  I adore how she says "Bless you, Henry" when he sneezes, and has to say goodbye to him before leaving his room.  Though she would love to diaper, feed and cuddle her brother, instead she cares for her baby dolls and furry friends - and the nurses keep her well stocked on itty bitty diapers for each of them.  So cute! 

A Gallery of Grandparents

 

Bubbles & Bottles

Henry is moving along nicely. We're grateful. He is now breathing without the aid of his ventilator, and his abdomen is also healing well. Tonight, we were able to bathe him and feed him milk from a bottle! He's currently consuming around 12 ML per feeding. His nurses will slowly increase this amount as Henry allows. It's still too early to tell when he'll be ready to come home, but we've been encouraged and humbled by his progress.

Claire also seems to be giving him more attention, and that makes us smile as we try to imagine these two growing up together.

Much gratitude to everyone who has offered encouraging words, warm meals, or lifted us up in prayer. Your kindness means more to us than we can express.

Our Sweet Baby Burrito

A Bath from Mom...

... And a Bottle from Dad.

A Great Report

We visited with Henry this morning and received a good report from the nurse. Henry has moved to the lowest setting on his ventilator, and it may even be removed completely either tonight or tomorrow. He also filled his diaper this morning - great news because it means that his digestive system is functioning. Once he's off his ventilator, he will hopefully begin receiving small amounts of breast milk. We weren't expecting this to happen so quickly, but we're anxious to get that little guy home. We're excited and encouraged about his quick recovery.

One Week Old

Henry is one week old and sailing right along. I called his nurse this morning at 3:00 - a good chance to check in on him because I'm up pumping anyway :). She said he had a good night, and his lab results are coming back much better than they had yesterday. They were even able to lower his ventilator settings. They still have him mostly sedated, and are keeping him comfortable with Morphine and Tylenol. He is responsive, though, when they interact with him. All encouraging news!

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.

Success!

Hi everyone! Henry is out of surgery and resting peacefully. I'll write more later, but just wanted to let you know that the surgery went well, and we're optomistic about his recovery. Thanks to everyone for your prayers!