An Update on Caleb

Forgive me for taking so long to update on Caleb's surgery.  I sent out a quick email the day of the surgery, but since then I have been too busy and am just now getting to reporting on him.

My mom was able to rearrange her schedule and make it out for the surgery as she had originally planned.  So she stayed with Micah as we headed out at 5:30 in the morning to make the trip to the Santa Barbara Surgery Center.  We had to be there at 6:30 to check in for his surgery.

Caleb was a little trooper.  He was fascinated with his new surroundings as we waited to called back to meet with the anesthesiologist and doctor.  He was waving to people and walking all over the place.  When they called us to the pre-op area, he enjoyed exploring the hospital bed.  He got a cute little hospital gown that was WAY too big for him.  It was too cute.

He flirted with the nurses, and the anesthesiologist told us what was going to happen.  Then the doctor came in and talked to us for a while.  Once we were done, the anesthesiologist took him from me and let me give him (Caleb, not the anesthesiologist) a kiss.  He walked him over to John so he could give him a kiss as well (again, Caleb, not the anesthesiologist).  And then they just walked through the double doors.  Caleb didn't even look back, he was so interested in the anesthesiologist.  I was pretty proud of him.  I think it would have been harder on me if he had been taking away crying.  Just goes to show how good these people are at their jobs!

The nurse sent us away and told us to go across the street to get some coffee.  I think she was just doing that to keep me preoccupied.  Once we got our coffee, we went up to the family waiting room.  After a little while of waiting, Pastor Bob and Pastor Joey came and sat with us.  They would have been there earlier, but they went to 2 wrong surgery centers before they got to ours.  I thought John had given them the address, but he hadn't.

It is so nice to have a church family that cares and prays for us.  John and I are really blessed to be at our church.  We really feel that this is where God wants us to be, and that the made the right choice in moving to North Avenue Baptist Church.

It wasn't too long after Pastor Bob and Pastor Joey got there that the doctor came out and told us that Caleb had done great.  He said it was a big hernia, and that it was one of the biggest he had eve seen in a baby.  He gave us instructions on how to care for the incision, and said that we could go see Caleb in a few minutes.

We waited a couple of minutes, but then I got antsy, and wanted to head down so that we would be closer to the recovery room when it was time to go in.  When they called us in, he was just waking up.  They still were checking his vitals, but they let me hold him and comfort him.  He was also pretty hungry since he hadn't had his morning bottle.  He was none too pleased when I only gave him water.  The nurses wanted to make sure that he would be able to keep that down.  After a while, they let us put a little juice in his bottle. 

They had these nice comfy recliners, so Caleb and I sat down and rocked and enjoyed his bottle.  You could tell he was still a little dazed, but he was once again fascinated with everything going on around us.  He just kept looking around at everything and everyone.  Once the nurses had decided that he was doing ok, they let us leave to go home.  They were nice enough to call in a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine for Caleb's pain so that it would be waiting for us when we got home.

Caleb took a nice nap on the way home, and once we got home, he wanted to be held for a little while, but then he wanted to be put down, which surprised me.  It was pretty cute, because he kept trying to walk.  He must have still been feeling the effects of the anesthesia because he kept toppling over.  But soon he got the hang of it. 

I'm really impressed at how well he was doing.  He was just up and about.  We kept making sure to give him his medicine so that he wouldn't feel the pain of the surgery.

It's now been about a week and a half since his surgery.  The incision seems to be healing fine.  We go to see the doctor on Thursday, but I'm sure he will be given a clean bill of health. 

I just want to thank everyone again for all of their prayers.  I knew all along that God had Caleb and his surgery in His hands, but it really does a mama good to know that loved ones are praying.  So thank you.