What a difference a HOME makes

E. Stone did great with his surgery on Wednesday, as well as his overnight hospital stay. Heath and I had prepared for the worst and were quite surprised with the six-hours he slept in the hospital at night and the great temperment during most of the day. Watching him come out from the anesthesia was very difficult, but we were properly warned by his doctor that it would be. He woke up disoriented and screaming for MaMa and DaDi and, while we were right there, he couldn't focus on us or our voice and couldn't get soothed. It was hard for us, but only took about 30 minutes or so to bring him down. I must have looked awful and worried because the nurse had to keep reminding me, "This is normal, mom..."

After that, he just wanted to rest and be held. The first day you could really tell when the pain medicine was wearing off, but our wonderful nurse Barbara kept us on a good schedule and kept the pain under control for him. Today, he's doing great - just taking Tylenol for the pain during the day and the hydrocodone at night. He's sleeping well, which I know will help him feel much better very soon.

At the hospital, E had an IV and heart monitor on his feet, both of which drove him completely crazy! We were covering them with blankets so you couldn't see, but the bright red light on the heart monitor made it a lot of fun to pull on. The IV must have done the trick (along with the amazing amounts of fluid he took down on his own) as we estimate we went through 20 diapers in a 24-hour period, several of which needed to be changed long before. Both DaDi and Nanny (Heath's mom) were completely soaked by diapers. Heath got drenched, I've never seen a diaper pour (yes, that is the correct word) out of the sides and run down a DaDi's leg. Especially considering it had been changed about 45 minutes prior.

Once the monitors and IVs were out of his feet, E did much better. He was ready to get down and play and seemed to be a new little boy, but our amazing turning point came when we walked into the house. He let out a real sigh of relief and ran for his toys. He's slept well in his own bed - a four-hour nap! - and just been much more calm and happy. It's amazing what a difference it makes to be home...

We have been warned that he will have a really bad day about a week out when his scabs fall off, so we'll play that one by ear, but for now, we're amazed at our little trooper!

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers while we were at the hospital. It's amazing the difference we already see in E. Stone's breathing and sleeping. I didn't hear him toss and turn at all last night and even had to go in to check to make sure he was breathing - that's the first time we've had to do that since he's been home!