Home again home again!

David was discharged yesterday afternoon after a number of hours of recovery. All went very well with the surgery and 2 small scrotal incisions were possible. David had considerable scar tissue from his previous hernia repair and his surgeon was able to clear it away, examine all vessels and the hernia repair itself to make sure no further communication between the abdomen and inguinal area was present and close with the least invasive possible procedure. It took exactly 1.5 hours and the surgeon patiently explained the entire procedure and aftercare personally, without rush, listened to questions and answered accordingly.

About 15 minutes later, we were with our big boy. He did very well with anesthesia and was waking and ready for some serious hand holding when we walked over to his bed. They already had a room "on the floor" for us so we made our way down the hall, onto the elevators and into our (very) temporary home.

David whined and snuggled for about an hour before asking to "quime da windows PEESE!!" as there was a ledge under each window just begging him to conquer the height. I appeased his whim to a certain extent (yes, David, you may climb the first ledge...but that one about 4 feet up is off limits sir!).

He did well and obliged my repeated requests to "try some juice", "taste this jello", "jello is sort of like your fruit gummies..." (can you believe my baby boy has never in his 3 and a half years encountered jello?)

We stayed until 5pm and were off in the car - mentally whirling from our very odd, very stressful, very VERY happy day with our 2 boys in the car thanking all for prayers, steady hands and caring hearts.

Mary Louise had done beautifully in her first ballet class. They were taught a butterfly dance which they dutifully and proudly performed for the onlookers. Ahh - butterflies...an absolute fascination of mine since I can remember...one can quite literally make me stop in my tracks at any moment...sort of like...this...

(a sneak peak)


Yep - she really is that cute. Many thanks to my friend Laura for sending me a few pics! More (from Mere and Pops!) to come!

The car ride home with David was less than wonderful...he puked 3 times - but props to the boy for the warnings...it's both a shame and, as it turns out, a bit of a blessing that a child is so familiar with the toils of reflux that he can, in fact, announce a tummy turn before it happens. (It is more a shame that his slow poke of a mother can't get her mess together fast enough to catch the yuck before it blankets the car seat, buckle, David's clothing and part of the door - twice.)

He did well once home (at Mommom's house) though. He ate some Saltines and drank a bit of Sprite before finally giving in and going to sleep...and he slept soooo well! From about 9pm to 6:20am David slumbered soundly. When he whimpered once, I was ready with his pain medication dose and he readily rose for it and an early play time / snuggle.

He was in great humor throughout the morning and during the drive home (to Lake Charles) all things considered. We've continued his prescription pain meds and ice throughout the day and plan to switch to OTC meds and discontinue the ice packs at 48 hours. The ice has, by far, been the most distressing part. He hates it - but forgets about it 5 to 10 minutes after a switch occurs.

***(if you are facing a similar procedure, what we have found to work for ice is to fill a hospital glove half with ice, tie the end. Wrap with a paper towel then place an extra glove or Telfa pad over the affected area to prevent sticking. Place wrapped ice glove over and close diaper over that. It will hold in place and prevent over cooling.)***

His tummy is much better after the rest and he even tried to jump on his trampoline this afternoon! In other words, our tough guy is doing just fine...and so is our sweet ballerina who had an absolutely blissful time with her Mere and Pops!

xo,
Heather