Judah Update

It was a whirlwind Saturday morning. Not at all the norm for the Stewarts, but I'm thankful for all the new information, and the time we got to spend together this morning! Jared and the kids brought homemade donuts for breakfast and we all ate together...while watching Saturday morning cartoons on cable. A dream come true for E, Z, & L.

I wish I could have captured on film Judah's reaction to his siblings' arrival

this morning. It was so priceless, and classic Judah! He saw them, got that huge grin on his face and did his little spazzy move - he totally tenses up and shakes because he just doesn't know what to do with himself he's so excited. He couldn't stop smiling at them this morning, and he took advantage of the 1st opportunity he had to get his hands all over them!

He had another great night last night, sleeping through all his vitals, and sleeping late this morning. He woke up hungry and ate a good breakfast. He's almost back to himself today, and I'm so relieved and thankful!

He has been on a constant Pedialyte drip through his button (I was able to keep him so well hydrated before admission, that the need for IV fluids wasn't there - thank you, Jesus!), but late this morning the dr. decided that was no longer necessary, and he's back on his regular diet. I had fun taking him to the playroom after that, where he was able to crawl around and explore for the first time. Lydia had fun in there, too:)

I could try to impress you all with my newly acquired knowledge in the field of nephrology, but I don't have the time or the finger energy to put even half of what I now know here. Too Much Information! I'll just try to stick to the facts and trust you to continue to pray:)

The doctors are still waiting for the final results from the blood/urine cultures. These results will tell them exactly what kind of medication, what dose, and what duration will be the most effective for Judah. Because of the severity of the infection and the complexity of Judah's medical history and kidney condition, they're not willing to release him until they have this information and he's been fever free for at least 24 hrs. I'm disappointed that today isn't the day we get to go home; but in my gut I, too, believe this to be the best thing for Judah, so I feel good about that call. So far, he's responding well to the additional antibiotic and he's had a normal temp since last night! His energy and love of exploration are returning, so his crib is starting to cramp his style;)

The urine culture did show a UTI; however, his urologist doesn't believe that the infection originated in the urine, or is a result of his kidney reflux. That's good, because that means we don't have to talk about doing a surgical repair we were hoping to avoid until he's 5. Our prayer, then, is that he remains infection free from here on out so that he can get to age 5 before that surgery happens.

The scan showed obstruction. We don't know how long it's been there, but that is the cause of the infection. The obstruction needs to be surgically removed; however, it's not urgent. It will take his kidney/ureter 4-6 weeks to heal completely from the infection. That puts us right at the time he's scheduled to have his palate revision/hernia repair. At that time, he'll be put on 2 new antibiotics to prevent infection until he can get the obstruction removed, hopefully in early fall. I'm thinking maybe October. I'll be following up with Judah's plastic surgeon to make sure there's no question of conflict between this kidney stuff and the palate revision. If there's any question, then we'll delay the revision and have the kidney repair first. Please be praying about all of these scheduling details. Pray that I'll just rest in the Lord & trust Him to take care of Judah and make sure he gets the surgeries he needs at the perfect times.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share a couple small but cool things that keep me looking to the Lord, thanking Him for His goodness.

*Yesterday morning I went to the cafe to grab a muffin and white hot chocolate (my breakfast of choice here - so, so good). I saw a lab tech at a table and smiled. She's the one I used to ask for when Judah was such a hard stick as a baby, and she knows him by name. She saw me and asked me what was going on with Judah. She said she knew they had sent lab up to his room twice that day, and she was concerned for him. I was so touched by that! I told her what I knew and thanked her for asking. She was genuinely sad for him, and hoped he recovered quickly. That was a bright spot for me.

*Last night I texted Jared at 9, missing him and sad that we were spending the night apart again. Not 10 min. later I got a call from the 4th floor front desk saying I had flowers! That man of mine sent me beautiful flowers. Happy just does not do justice to the emotion my heart felt.

*We knew that we were going to be talking to someone from Urology this morning about the scan; however, since it's Saturday, we didn't know who might be on call. It's always a little bit hard to deal with a specialist you don't know or don't have a history with. When Judah's very own urologist walked through the door, I was so glad to see him, and couldn't help but thank God for seeing to that minor detail.

There are so many times when in the midst of something very difficult for Judah, I ask God, "How can this be Your good for Him? How can this be a part of Your plan?" My choice to believe in God's goodness and sovereignty doesn't take away the pain of those moments or days. But it does give me hope that the suffering and challenges that Judah faces regularly are not senseless or unseen. He has a Creator who lovingly knit him together, and could see what every moment of his life was going to entail. Judah has a Heavenly Father who cares for him, holds him (I believe), captures his tears in a bottle. He is intimately acquainted with Judah's pain, and every challenge that he faces now and will face in the future. He is fiercely protective of him and more in love with him than I ever can be (although that's hard to imagine, because I really love that little boy). I don't know how to rectify all these things with the fact that God's good does not always fall under my definition of good. But I have to believe that somehow God can feel the way that He does about Judah - or any of His children for that matter - and still be good in all that He does, even when we can't see it or understand it to be good. I just realized, or remembered, that not only does He keep Judah's tears, but mine too. Every one that I shed over my son, He holds as dear. ...I wonder what my bottle looks like. ...Maybe it's pink.