Palate Recovery #2

I was so worried about this recovery, almost making myself sick over it. God has been so, so gracious to Judah in this (like He would be anything else, really); and I am very pleasantly surprised and relieved! There is really no comparing these 1st days since surgery with the last time. Judah slept most of Monday, and we made sure we stayed on top of his pain management so that he would have very little chance of getting uncomfortable. He still had moments of discomfort and restlessness, some fussiness, but overall he did wonderfully! Jared and I spent the afternoon together. I sat and snuggled Judah for 5 hours (didn't know it had even been that long until Jared pointed it out), Jared sat with me, and we laughed at The Office. We had dinner with my folks and the kids that night, and then Mom stayed behind for a bit so we could talk when everyone else went home. It ended up to be a much better day than I had anticipated. Judah had a good night, only needing me to lie down with him for a short time twice.

The next morning Jared surprised me by showing up with flowers and coffee at 7. I was still in "bed", so he cuddled with me for awhile. Best hospital morning ever. Judah popped up in bed that morning like he hadn't had major surgery the day before. I was encouraged; but the rest of the day pretty much went downhill from there. It wasn't awful, but Judah was really crabby (no wonder) and I spent the rest of the day just trying to meet his needs. It was busy. Relief came in the form of Lydia, Grandma, & Grandpa with lunch. It was so good to spend time with them and get a little break while Grandma played "This Little Piggy" with Judah and gave him some lovin's. I asked Jared to come up for the afternoon. I don't do that. I know he'll come home if I need him and ask him to; and that's enough for me. Just to know that he will do that for me on a really bad day. This time, though, I just asked him to come. Exhaustion was setting in, and I was starting to run on empty. We spent the afternoon watching "Big Bang Theory" after Judah finally crashed. I'm not sure why the 2nd day was harder for him then the 1st. We kept the pain meds coming. I know the gauze pack in his mouth was a major irritant. I hate that thing. The 2nd night was a good one for him, too. Wednesday morning was good, simply because I knew the gauze pack was coming out and we were going home! Judah was still irritable all morning, but he was happy to see G'ma & G'pa with Lydia again. By this time, I felt bad for him. He hadn't eaten anything since Sunday, liquids only, so I knew he was hungry and just mad at everything. Poor kid. Still, the recovery up to that point had been better for him than the last one with this surgery. Around 2:00 the gauze pack came out, and Judah slowly started acting more like himself. We were on the road, ready to pick the Boys up from school by 2:50.

His recovery here at home is not at all what I prepared myself for! He's almost completely like himself! The restraints don't seem to bother him much, and they sure don't slow him down. The 2 biggest challenges we face now are: eating & hands-away-from-mouth.

Judah wants to feed himself, but he can't. We have to feed him, and he gets very frustrated with that. Meal times haven't been pleasant. He just needs to get over it for now, and then I think he'll be fine. His diet has had to change, too, and that adds to it. The other challenge is making sure his hands don't fly into his mouth in the few minutes or seconds we have his restraints off every couple hours. My biggest fear is that he will damage his repair. That's my prayer request for right now. That God would protect that repair - supernaturally if necessary - and allow total healing in the next 6 weeks or so. That's the time frame we have before we know for sure that this thing isn't going to re-open on its own.

Gotta go get the Boys. I'll post a few pics later.