"Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy."
Not knowing what to expect as far as post-op recovery was a little nerve wracking for me as well. I expected to be sent home with pain meds and lots and lots of screaming. We used OTC tylenol and while he was definitely fussy, there really wasn't much blood curdling screams (thank God). He had actually been sleeping through the night on his belly in his crib for a couple of weeks prior to surgery. Unfortunately, we had to move him back to his bucket seat to help with healing and that kind of threw him off kilter; so I would get up usually twice in the night (which was ok, but I was hoping wouldn't be a learned habit!). He definitely cried a good deal the first week. We spent a LOT of time outside on our back porch swing (which is usually the only thing that can calm him down when all else fails). Sounds nice, right? Not so much in the heat and humidity that is Gainesville in August, but we braved the elements so long as he was happy.
My mom stayed with us the first couple of days post procedure and Anna was the anchor man who stayed at the end of the weekend. The arm bands (aka no-nos) were to keep him from putting his hands in his mouth and around his face. I think that this aspect may have been worse than the pain (the boy LOVES putting his hands in his mouth). He actually cut his bottom 2 front teeth with the no-nos on. Now that's a tough baby to deal with teething and not be able to put anything in his mouth (and we think may have contributed to his fussiness).
The surgeon does not use external stitches, but something called dermabond (which is like a liquid bandaid). That's what you see kinda crusting off in some of the pictures. It took about 8 days to fall off, but we were really pleased with the results once we got a good look. The surgeon suspects that he'll have a revision before he starts school to just make sure his nose is as symmetrical as possible. But it feels nice when people comment on how good he looks.
After waking up from his first nap at home. We have a video of a half smile that he gave; I think Patrick and I both found comfort that our little boy was letting us know he was doing ok
Napping in his swing
Swinging on the back porch with Grandma. Man, I love those dimples
Napping on the back porch swing. Mama gave him a break from the no-nos under my watchful eye!
Our boy slowly coming around and getting back to his smiley self!
Daddy getting in on spoiling the boy with love
Happy to be in the tub. He loves bath time
Sending daddy pictures while he is at work
Waiting for this dermabond to fall off so we can get a good look at his lip
Loves hanging out with mama and daddy on the couch. A good meal never hurts either.
Testing out his new jumperoo. Tough to fit with the arm bands on. And yes some days, my child stays in his PJs til noon
I can't get enough of this little boy.
I have to admit, it wasn't easy (who wants to know their child is in pain) and I shed some tears a time or two or three or.....well, I'm sure you get the picture. I had tried to prepare myself for the worst and had hoped for the best. I think he fell somewhere in-between (most likely more on the best side). He truly amazed me every day with how strong and tough of a little guy he is.
