"Brought" Nathan home (from the hospital, that is)

Yesterday at around noon we arrived home from the hospital with Nathan and we're glad to report that he is continuing to recover well.  What a week it has been.

Keith and I would take turns on Tuesday (the day after the surgery) walking through the quiet halls and even had him play in the little play area they have for children.  When I mentioned that I didn't see other children, the nurse commented that most of the children are too sick to get up and play or walk in the halls.  It was a poignant reminder to me that amidst our challenges and the concerns we are feeling with Nathan, there are many parents dealing with much harder things.  May the Lord's grace and mercy be on the many children in our world who are hurting for so many reasons.

Another riveting thought I had in those two hospital nights was how grateful I was to be there to hold him and comfort him and love him (even if I didn't get much sleep).  How overwhelming to think of him NOT having a Mommy when he was in the hospital for Pneumonia at four months of age (on Christmas Day 2009) and also during his cleft lip surgery in March of 2010.  Babies SHOULD have mommies, especially when they are in hospitals or hurting.  I am so glad that I could be there and just have him sleeping in my arms.

I have to laugh when I think of the bag of "to do" things that I brought along to the hospital.  I guess I thought that Nathan would be sleeping a lot and that I'd just have oodles of time to do some overdue projects.  Oh well, I did the more important thing, yes?

As far as our life at home, Nathan is taking a little pain medicine still but the major changes for him are little pliable "braces" on his arms that are called "no-no's".  They are meant to keep him from bending his arms, which keeps him from placing his hands or anything in his hands in his mouth.  He's actually been pretty good about them, although I caught him pulling at the velcro at dinner and I'm guessing he's going to figure out how to get them off.

The other big change for him is a pureed diet only.  Basically he is relegated back to baby food.  He will only eat pureed food for about 3 weeks until the stitches in his mouth come out.  They will fall out on their own and so that is good.

THANKS to all of you who love us and Nathan and have been praying!  And before I sign off, I want send along an official Happy Chinese New Year.  Because of Nathan's food limitations, we've decided to celebrate it in a few weeks and we'll be sure to blog about it when we do!!!  But, Happy New Year!!

Hard times and good times

So, it's a new day and we have a "new" boy.  Actually, it is more like our "old" boy, if you know what I mean.  Yesterday was hard on Mommy and Nathan for sure (and Daddy too), but here we are to talk about it and to lift thanksgiving to the Lord for how he heals and restores.

I mentioned that this surgery is an important step for the life God has for him.  I had never known how integral a palate is to speech.  The roof of my mouth is utilized all the time in the formation of sounds.   With the closing of his palate and some speech therapy, Nathan will soon begin to talk like his brain wants him too.  Pointing and grunting and saying "mama" about everything will be replaced with words.

And the reason for his hearing loss was fluid piled up in his ear since birth that could not be cleared out of the middle ear because of that open palate.  With tubes in them now AND the palate closed, he should start hearing normally, rather than in muted tones for the first time in his life.

The hardness of yesterday stemmed from numerous things.  A couple of unexpected waiting rooms.  One, an hour delay before his surgery.  He was hungry and not happy about no food in his tummy and that extra hour took some extra energy from us to "distract" him from his hunger.  Then, we ended up being in the recovery room for 4 hours with him, rather than the usual 15-30 minutes.  There was no room for us to move into until 6:30 and so I held and rocked him for about 4 hours.  He was, of course, confused and irritable and clingy.  And I found that by 6 p.m. my heart and body were frail and worn down.  I cried a couple of times at the smallest of things.  Let's just say that I was more ready for bed last night than I think he was. 

But, it is a new day and the morning has already been so good.  He is hungry, hungry, hungry and Keith and I are taking turns feeding him the pureed food that he will have for a diet for a few weeks.  He's played with toys and we've read to him and cuddled with him.  He even brought me his blanket and lifted up his arms to sleep in my arms for an hour this morning.

Here's my little song I made up for Nathan last night as we were up together.  I'll share it with you too...
"I will always be your Mommy, You will always be my son,
You're forever in our family, Our Nate Johnson"

May each of you rest in the beautiful truth that you belong in God's forever family, just like Nathan does in ours!

Surgery day, 2 months later

 Keith and I are not sitting at the beach, but this picture was from our time in Daytona at New Staff training where we were there.  Nathan enjoyed eating some sand and covering himself in it too.  What a dear little guy he is.  

 

Instead, we are sitting in the waiting room at Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital waiting to see Nathan after his 2 hour surgery.

 This morning around 10:45 he was wheeled away from us to undergo 4 procedures and we're gratefully reporting that he is sitting in the recovery area and doing well.  He had, of course, his palate surgery but another Doctor first checked his trachea to see for sure if it was wide enough for incubation.  It was.  [For those of you who don't know, the Doctor in China who fixed his cleft lip had difficulties incubating him and so this was an important thing to check].  He also had ear tubes put in his ears and had some blood work done.

All in all, it was quite a morning for him and for us.  

The two months we've had to be a part of Nathan's story have now moved onto a new depth.  Our little boy has been through so much already and now he is moving forward.  Now by God's grace Nathan will begin to hear sounds he has never heard and speak words he's never been able to form.  With his palate restored and his ear tube's in a whole new world will open up for him.  Praise the Lord!!!

So, for those of you who knew about this and prayed, THANK YOU and for those of you who are just getting the info now, we cherish your prayers for his recovery.  I'll be writing more in here the next few days while I'm in the hospital with him.  Until then.