Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home. We left the hospital about 2 this afternoon. It was a beautiful, sunny, 74-degree, Houston winter day! Paton went home with a monitor and lots of doctors' appointments -- four just next week, along with 2 nurse visits in our home! Life will not be dull. There was great rejoicing -- Hannah at having her brother home, and David & Charis at the ice cream we got to celebrate. :) They're ready for more brothers & sisters, as long it means chocolate-dipped DQ cones. They weren't able to get us in with ortho at the hospital, so we will go in again next Tuesday for the boot fitting to help correct the clubbing of the left leg.

I've decided to continue to post here from time to time, although I'm sure it won't be as regular as it's been in the last two or three weeks. I'll probably mainly focus on Paton's journey, although I'll include general family news (and pictures, of course) from time to time. If you want to keep getting news, but not have to check the blog all the time, you might try to figure out how to "subscribe to" it with some kind of RSS reader so you can be advised when there are any new posts.

Through this all, we have sensed your prayers and seen God answer wonderfully. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to those in Texas, as well as many other states in the Union. Thanks to our friends oversees. Thanks to all. "The prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." I am going to close this post with an excerpt from my journal from last November that summarizes my hopes and prayers for the little fella:

On another note, I think of you, my little Paton – yet unborn. I love you. You have spina bifida, they tell us. Our prayer has been, and will be, that God will show mercy and heal your soul. And that the strength of your soul, combined with the weakness of your body, will proclaim an irresistible message of grace to those around you. Son, allow the Lord to be mighty through you. Trust Him. Love Him. He owes us nothing. Health or “normality” is not our birthright, but rather condemnation and destruction are. Praise Him for any good thing He bestows as a matter of His undeserved kindness. I love ya’, fella’, and can’t wait to meet ya’!

Today's the Day

Today's the day we bring Paton home! We will be heading to the hospital shortly to check Paton out. Of course, that will be an all-day affair. After we leave the NICU, we have to see orthopedics, who will fit him with a boot to help correct the club foot. The kids are really excited to see him home. Well, OK, Hannah is excited. David & Charis aren't quite sure. :) We're all looking forward to getting back to some-kind-of-normal. The new "normal." God has been so good to us. We are filled with joy. I'll try to post some pictures once he's home.

Going Home! -- Yeah and Yikes!

We had a big consultation this morning with all the doctors and nurses. Here's the bottom line: Paton's going home by the weekend! We are nervous, but we are thrilled. The neurosurgeon is convinced that the swelling on his back is not a build-up of cerebro-spinal fluid, but just swelling from the surgery. He feels it has gotten a little better, and will completely go away over the next few weeks or months. We'll have to keep a watch, but at this point it looks as if there is no hydrocephalus, and therefore no need for a shunt! This is just amazing, as 80-90% of spina bifida kids have to have one. Of course, it could happen later. But for now, we're good. He cannot have any pressure on his back until it heals, so it will take some adjustments with sleeping, feeding, holding, trasporting, etc. He will have a specialized car seat (bed), and specialized positioners. He will also go home with an orthopedic boot on his leg to help correct the clubbing. We just finished infant CPR -- kind of scary.

Thank you all for praying. Many of you have prayed for God to give wisdom to the doctors. That prayer, in particular, I think He's answered mightily. Most of the doctors were pretty sure he needed to be shunted, but the neurosurgeon kept insisting that we wait. I believe that was clearly the Lord's doing. Please continue to pray for us as we make the transition and try to keep in mind all the many, many things we are learning in the process. God is good.

Family Time

Enjoyed some great family time tonight. Hannah thoroughly enjoyed her little brother. Tomorrow we really hope to get some more information and answers about what the doctors are thinking for Paton. The doctors are going to confer about the ultrasound and the back swelling. They should be evaluating him regarding when he might be able to go home, and if he will need a shunt.

Up in the Air

Everything's up in the air. And confusing. The neo at the bedside is surprised the neuro is not calling for a shunt. The neuro is saying he doesn't think Paton needs a shunt! At least, not now. In fact, he's talking about sending Paton home!! But the nurses can't believe they'd send home a baby with as much swelling as Paton has on his back right now. And nobody seems to know for sure if the swelling in Paton's back is a build-up of CSF or just swelling from the surgery. The head circumference has shrunk for the last two days (a good thing -- no swelling), and we're hoping the head ultrasound this afternoon will confirm that there is no cerebro-spinal fluid building on the brain. So there are many good indicators. But we are a little nervous about having the baby come home this soon with still the swelling that he has. The neo said he would get a hold of the neuro "if it takes all day" and hopefully give us some more concrete answers by the end of the day. Meanwhile, we're taking CPR classes, checking into specialized modified car seats ("car beds"), following up on insurance stuff, and taking Grandma back to the airport. Thankfully, our church family has been so, so great in their offers to help in any way. One more great piece of news -- they've lifted the ban on children in the Children's Hospital! (swine flu) So after dropping off Grandma, we're all going in to see the little fella. Exciting!

Doing Better?

The doctors came in today and said that it looks to them as if some of the fluid has dissipated from the sack on Paton's back. Combined with the news that there is no fluid build-up in the head, that's encouraging. There is always the possibility of the need for a shunt later on, but for now we're continuing to wait. They will do another head ultrasound tomorrow, and maybe we'll know more by Tuesday. It was wonderful to be able to hold the little fella for the first time.

Fun with Grandma

We were so blessed to have Jen's mom come out for a week to help take care of the kids. They had a great time doing things every day. And on the last day -- we got to hold Paton! What joy!