From the Waiting Room 5

I am writing this from my living room. It's so good to be home! It's been a pretty incredible ride, and God's faithfulness has been evident throughout. Less than 24 hours after Judah came out of recovery we were taking him home! Not a single complication! Over night Judah did very well. He slept soundly and woke once to eat. There were several interruptions overnight, nurses doing vitals, a dose of pain medication, but he pretty much sailed right through! He's had a little more swelling around his stitches, a little bruising, but overall he's looking better. I'm excited to see him slowly heal over the next several days and weeks. His appetite is coming back little by little...in between looong naps. He's still pretty tired. But he's home and he's doing great!


It's funny how each of my other kiddos have handled the last 30 hours or so. Praise the Lord for grandparents!! They saved my day by taking care of the kids while Jared & I were gone all day yesterday. And they were busy! Grandma & Lydia cleaned house (happy day), Gramps & Ezra played several games and put a puzzle together, lunch at McDonald's (of course), play time at 2 different play grounds (definitely a grandparent thing), craft time with Grandma, supper, and the evening & bedtime with Daddy. Ezra got a little sad when I said good night to him on the phone. Eli was already half asleep. And I'm pretty sure Lydia was more concerned about hearing a story than saying goodnight to Mommy! The fun (and funny) happened when we came home!


Eli: Eli actually got to come to the hospital with Daddy to come get us. [The surgeon rounded on Judah at 6:30 this morning, so we were all ready to go by 7:45!!] So, Jared & Eli picked us up "on the way" to school. Eli's whole face lit up as soon as he walked into Judah's room. He smiled ear to ear and came right over to me & Judah (who was in the sling). To his credit, Eli did give me a hug before he very gently & quietly oohed and aahed over his baby brother:) He was so proud to be a part of getting Judah out of the hospital. And he loooved that he got to sit by him in the backseat of Dad's car! The best part: when I took Judah out of the sling by the car, I let Eli get a good look at him before I put him in his car seat, and Judah gave him his first post-op smile! I found out later that yesterday Eli came home from school with a picture of Judah that his teacher (I think) had printed off the computer. He got to show his class the picture and they all prayed for Judah right away that morning. Now he's excited to take a picture of Judah so he can show his class what he looks like after his surgery! [By the way, anyone looking for the best Christian school around, I know where it it!!]


Ezra: My Little Man came to see us as soon as we walked in the door, but it was just for a quick "hello", and then he went back to whatever it was he was doing. However, later on he came to see me. He told me he had missed me. A few minutes later he wanted to do a puzzle with me. I needed to sit down at the table & pump, but told him I would love to do a puzzle with him there at the table. Grandpa offered to do it with him, because he had so much fun doing one with him yesterday. But Ezra looked at me and said, very sweetly and matter-of-factly, "I want to do a puzzle with you because I need to have some attention with you. I didn't see you all day! I need some attention with you!" I love that he was able to articulate that need so well. And it was just so darn cute!


Lydia: This little mommy completely disregarded her mommy! I walked in with Judah and she came running. "Where's Judah?" I picked her up to give her some lovins and tell her I missed her. All I got was "I missed Judah too!" She said "I love Judah so much" about 4 times over the next minute. I know she missed me, but she sure has a funny way of showing it;) She's been very careful & gentle with him, and has been very eager to help with any little thing!


We're all glad to be home together again. We're having a pretty quiet day. Judah's sleeping a lot. I've done a puzzle, played a game, cuddled. It's been nice. I can't wait for my bed tonight!!