Happy Again

Ty and I got a chance to relax in Grandma Nina's pool while Andrew was recovering.
Ty doesn't care much for actually swimming. He really likes to stay on the stairs and throw the toy torpedoes for others to gather.

Andrew did spend a few days fairly miserable after surgery. He wasn't allowed to eat or be tube fed until 5 days after surgery. He wasn't even interested in eating for that amount of time because he was just trying to sleep off the discomfort. This picture is from Sat 7/17. He was starting to be awake and grumpy by then.

We started feeding him by tube Sunday. What a difference! We started at 10 cc/hr, which is 2 tsp/hr. He had to prove he could tolerate that for 24 hours. Then they increased the rate by another 10 cc's every 6 hours until he got to 40/hr. That was enough for him to come home on Tues. By then he was also starting to want to eat by mouth. Now that we're home he eats anything and everything. He has completely given up his bottle since not having it in the hospital. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. It was a good way to get in extra calories by mouth, so I'll just have to tube feed that much until he starts eating more calories.

His wounds are still draining some and are red. I plan on trying to use oils to help lessen the scarring. I'm not sure if he'll think they're cool, or just be embarrassed by them when he's older. I hadn't realized until I was taking off steri-strips that they went through his belly-button for one of the holes! There's one more to the right that isn't shown in this picture. His pain has been lessening, and very managable since being home.

I'm not sure if it's being sore from surgery or just a growing up thing, but Andrew has also started walking EVERWHERE. No more crawling. It's still new to me to have him walk into the room or to walk when he wants to play with a toy across the room. It's great for him though. His newest trick is carrying things and talking while walking. Last night he was so proud of himself he did laps around Grandma Shell's living room for a lot of the evening.
We have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Barnhart next Friday. The results from the nissen seems to be optimal. I haven't noticed reflux symptoms. Andrew did gag and heave the first few days in the hospital, but since getting food again hasn't had any episodes.

As for the stricture it's just a wait-and-see deal. He's been able to eat great since we got home. Today he gagged up twice, but it may just be that he was shoving too much in his mouth too fast.

It's great to be home, and great to see Andrew doing so well. It was so hard to watch him go through surgery and the first few days after. I would sit in the rocking chair and cry for him. We trusted our answer from the Lord that this is what he needed next. Now that I can see that Andrew's healing and so happy again, I'm so glad that we made this choice. Thank you so much for the support and help from all of you.