Post-op Check-up and General Update

Well, it's been a month since I posted. We've been so busy getting back to life and helping Jamie recover. Now that we've been home, I've gone back to normal TA duties and research. I had a few nightmares about Jamie when we first got back, but I haven't had any lately, thank God. We've been getting the house ready to put on the market. Jamie will need his own room soon, so we'd like to buy a bigger house and despite the current market it looks like we won't have any problems selling ours and buying another nice house. Jamie has been such a good boy. He developed a yeast infection from the antibiotics, and has a recurring diaper rash from highly acidic poo. We heard from the doc today that the rash is likely from the flora becoming imbalanced in his gut from the time he went without food in the hospital (and likely some before due to the pinched bowels) and that it should clear up with some yogurt. Simple enough fix. We also went back to cloth because of his butt issues. Jamie's been a babbling fiend since we got home! He really sounds like he knows what he's saying. He has much greater attention and energy now, and is less fussy just as a general rule. Of course, don't let him get bored! And he fights sleep still. Actually, that's been getting better since we've been able to reestablish night time rituals and schedules. He had been waking up 3 times a night and I was losing my mind! For the past two nights he's only woken up once, and for a week before that it was back to his normal twice a night. So I definitely like this trend. He hasn't fought sleep as hard since we got him back on schedule and with his night time routine, which makes life a lot easier. He is also cruising now and trying to take steps without holding onto things. He can't stand up yet without holding onto something, but it's only habit and not actually necessary anymore. Once he can stand up on his own, walking won't be far behind. He laughs like an insane child when we hold his hands so he can walk where he wants to go.

We had his post-op check up in Indianapolis at Riley today. It went very well, and Dr. West doesn't need to see him for a year. A year! He's just doing that well. She said that there are no medical constraints on what he can do from now on. He's completely normal and healthy and should continue to heal. She was impressed with how fast and how well he's healing. He weighed 20lbs 1oz. That's below what he weighed before he got sick, but it's a normal weight for his age. It's a little low still given his height, but that's okay. We really upped the table food and the calories to bulk him up starting 3 weeks ago after his pediatrician appointment, and since then he's gained 3 lbs! :) He likes his food. Anyway, she told us what to look for in case of ruptures, and said to check his hearing again at 1 year old. There's a 20% chance he'll have some form of hearing loss, though they don't know why the correlation. After talking with her, and having a clean bill of health for my boy, I just cried. I was so happy. Going back to the hospital reminded me of how we could have lost him and how sick and in pain he was. And now he's healthy. It really is like a nightmare that we woke up from. I was so happy, I cried on the way out. Until this appointment, I kept wondering when the other shoe would drop. I kept worrying that he'd get sick again and this time God would say, "Oops, sorry, I meant to take him last time, so I'll just take him now". But it looks like that isn't going to happen. We're so lucky. I'll always be a little paranoid, but at least I know we can go on and be "normal". I'll always get scared when he gets a sniffle, diarrhea, or vomits. I'll always worry about our other children as they are conceived, are born, and grow. But at least I know what to look for, and now I know to trust my instincts. And thank God for all the people willing to pray for a child in need, and thank God for modern medicine to give them the best possible chances, and thank God for answering our prayers. God gave me Jamie twice, first when I conceived him, and second when he survived surgery. I'm just so grateful.