Hospital Day 2... Valor Rocks the House

WE ARE HOME! That's right, home... Valor rocked it and made a huge turn during the night.  By God's grace, he progressed so much that the surgeon didn't see any reason to keep him cooped up at the hospital.  So, we were actually discharged from PICU.... never even went to a regular room.

Sorry for the delay of updates! Yesterday, once the little man was up and alert from surgery, it became increasingly difficult to get much of anything done other than trying to subdue him and keep him comfortable.  He was mostly miserable all day yesterday...especially until the anaesthesia drugs finally worked out of his system.  Around 11pm, he began to turn a corner and by the middle of the night last night, his little personality began to show itself again.  There was once during the night that he actually began to dance! Not a lot of sleep, but dancing was a good trade off :)

Today, Brian came to relieve me from my shift, but we both ended up staying at the hospital because we found out we were likely to get discharged.  It took all day, but we drove home around 3:00 this afternoon.  Valor seems happy to be home and I am so glad that we were able to come back because he is just energetic enough that containing him to a hospital room tied to wires was getting difficult.  He was happy to see his toys and has been playing a lot. He was also surprisingly happy to see his bed! Mama loved this development!!

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers! It has been so uplifting to read messages and get support throughout this step in the journey.  Thankfully, the hospital portion was dramatically shorter than we expected.  Brian and I were humbled by the fact that here we were leaving a day after major ELECTIVE surgery with our healthy little man.  There are so many families camped out at the PICU dealing with very sick babies and children.  As much as Valor enjoyed his wagon rides around the unit, it was a heartbreaking walk to take for Brian and I.  So many tiny bodies on ventilators and machines fighting for survival.  So many teary eyed moms and dads.

Going into this procedure, I was asked many times if I was nervous, and the honest answer was no.  Now, I will be totally honest, if Ansley, Luke or Landry suddenly were thrown into unexpected major surgery I would be freaking out!! Does that mean that I care about Valor less?  No. I realized yesterday that my faith for Valor is stronger.  There is nothing like having your child live away from you in a third world country on the other side of the globe to build your faith.  I'm getting there with the other 3, but in my silly humaness, I still try to hold onto the idea that I "keep them safe".  I realize more and more how Valor's presence pushes me more towards what God has designed for us.  With Valor, I can see just how much he is a gift "borrowed" from heaven.  All of our children are in our care for a time, but ultimately the Father has a plan for them.  Just like those sweet little ones fighting in the PICU right now..... thank goodness the hope for them is so much bigger than a parent's ability to keep them safe or even the function of healing that the hospital can provide.  True peace and hope come from Him.   "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (Phil 4:7)

Hug your children close and keep those in mind who tonight sit by their kids' bedsides in a hospital wishing they could be home.... sure puts things in perspective.

Its sweet that Valor is so into his daddy right now...I'm a lucky girl to have such a wonderful man to love on me and my kids...

Here he is in the late evening last night...beginning to get back to his normal personality...playing with a toy!

By this morning, he already looked so much better...swelling had gone done dramtically!

Hitting the halls for some distraction....Needless to say, he was a hit!