Settling in at Home

The last few days here at home have been so nice! I absolutely love seeing Brody and Colby together. Brody must have missed Colby while he was in the hospital, because he has been so interested in "playing" with him. He even shared one of his tractors with Colby, by putting it on his chest, when he was sitting in his bouncey seat. Colby's little face just lit up with the biggest smile I have ever seen! Watching the two of them smiling together makes everything seem perfect, if only for a few minutes.

Since surgery, Colby has not been eating too well. We thought it would improve once we got back home, but it hasn't. When we try to feed him, he drinks 1/4 to 1/2 ounce and then cries like he is in pain. Since he isn't taking in very much at a time, I feed him every hour to hour and a half. It is so difficult to see him like this. My first and biggest fear was of course that maybe he isn't recovering well. So, after speaking with his cardiologist's nurse, I took him to see our pediatrician yesterday. His sats were 89%, which is great, and his heart sounded good. This is a big relief! After a quick description of his behavior while eating, Dr. Hudson determined that he has Acid Reflux. He thinks he may have had a very minor case of reflux pre-surgery, but the surgery might have irritated it and made it much more severe now. So, he prescribed a medicine that should help reduce the amount of acid in his stomach. Just what Colby needs, another medicine to take...but if it helps him to eat more comfortably, I am all for it! Surprisingly, Colby has not lost much weight through his surgery and days of not eating. He weighed 10 lbs 8 oz! My hope is that we can get him eating well again and continue to pack on the pounds before his next surgery. This has always been a big stress to me, and I guess it will continue to be a big stress for many, many months to come.

I have to say once again, that I am very impressed with our cardiologist's office. The nurse called me yesterday afternoon to check on our visit with the pediatrician and then again this morning to see how today was going. This is above and beyond, and it means so much to me!! She made it a point to call and check on little Colby even though we have an appointment with them first thing in the morning.

Other than not eating well, Colby seems to be doing pretty well. He is back to his happy, smiley self, except when we are trying to feed him of course. I missed his smile so much when we were in the hospital, so seeing it daily again is such a relief! He is such a trooper! When I look at him, I am just in complete amazement. Who knew someone so small could be so strong. He is such an inspiration to me!! Colby's smiles, Brody's craziness, and Jason's unbelievable love and support is what keeps me going each day. I am truly blessed in more ways than I deserve. I love my three boys so very much!!!

I have to show everyone what we saw when we arrived home on Monday. Brody and Colby's good friends, Mary Grace and Carolyne, made Colby a Welcome Home sign for our front door (thank you Marye!). It was so nice to see it! It made coming home even more special!

We have our first post-surgery follow up with Dr. Liske (cardiologist) tomorrow morning. We are hoping all goes well! We will keep you posted.