Closure

I wasn't expecting you so soon!

 

If the shoe fits



He wasn't too happy with these glasses...

 

Couldn't pick a better ending to the day

 

I'm getting a little crazy today and mixing things up! I'm put the pictures first instead of at the end! When we were in the NICU, I was able to integrate the pictures into the body of the post, but it took so much time because for some reason, the Blogger application makes it very difficult to accomplish (resize and move the pics).

Well, it happened. We got the green light! More of that later shortly!

We stoped at Babies R Us on our way through St. Louis yesterday and had some fun. Hayden didn't care for the glasses too much, but I promise you this, he will have several pairs of those Puma shoes once his feet get a little bigger! Those things were sweet!

Dr. Brittany, one of Hayden's neonatologists in the NICU, met us a Dr. Warner's office and got some snuggling time in with Hayden! She was always Hayden's favorite!!! This was the first trip that Kelsea made to St. Louis where Hayden was not throwing up, in pain, or in the back of an ambulance!

Dr. Warner was very happy with Hayden's progression. After taking a quick look at things, pushing here and there, he asked us what we thought and if we felt he was ready! We kind of joked and put it back on him! I don't think we are qualified to make that decision! However, as they have always done at SLCH, the parents play a major part in the decision making. We both felt he is ready, and Dr. Warner agreed. In our casual conversation discussing the surgery, our 7,000 questions were mostly answered before we even had a chance to go through my list!

There are a lot of unknowns at this time regarding the actual surgery itself and what method specifically will be used. It is called component separation and the goal is to cut the muscles that are on the side of the omphalocele and pull them together. Sometimes this can be done naturally, sometimes mesh is needed to bridge the gap (just like a hernia surgery sometimes) because it would be too tight without. He doesn't know what path he will take until he actually gets in there and checks things out. The procedure will take somewhere around 3 hours, give or take depending on what he encounters once Hayden is put under.

Post surgery is where I am worried right now. There are so many thoughts going through my head. Due to the pressure of Hayden being closed up, he will possibly have breathing and feeding difficulties. He will probably be heavily sedated and intubated for oxygen, as well as having a feeding tube inserted. This is where I am struggling. Yes, he will be in some pain and I don't want him to be in pain. However, the selfish part of me knows I am going to struggle not hearing his sounds and his laughs and every other little noise he makes. Even though I know this is the road to Hayden getting healthier and stronger, I feel as though we will be going backwards for a few days (hopefully just a few days) because we won't see or hear the things we have grown accustomed to.

Kelsea and I have been trying to prepare ourselves the past few weeks and keep turning towards God and prayer. Once again, as the title says, I know God is taking us here because He is ready AND He will lead us through this, just like He has with everything else. This is a very exciting time in our lives because we are moving forward, but these next two weeks are also going to be hectic and nerve racking! Hayden is a fighter and has pushed through everything God has presented so far so I have no doubt that even though he will struggle a little the first days, he will prevail and He will prevail.

We are also excited that several members from Kelsea's side of the family will get to meet Hayden for the first time, the weekend before his surgery. We are very excited for Hayden to meet another set of great grandparents and his Aunt Kim, Uncle Gabe and cousins Mia and Benjamin.

We know this story is not coming to an end, and we know that there will be more trials and tribulations, but we also know that on June 24th, which is two weeks from Monday, this story will have at the very least, a little "closure."