Home Again, Home Again

Jay and I are home! He is doing really well. He gets a little fussy when he pees sometimes, but most of the time he is really happy.
He got to eat regular peas when we were in Olin. He thought those were the best! We also tried some regular corn, but we didn't like that as much.
Before Jason came to pick us up, he stopped at a friend's house to pick up a box of toys. Most of the toys make noise and light up so Jay is enthralled with most of them. There is even a car dashboard toy that we are making a car toy. I wished Jason had said something before we left Olin. Jay could have played with it on the way home and made him a little less fussier. Oh, well!

Hooray!

Jay got his catheter taken out today. He squirmed while they cut the stitch holding the catheter in place, but that was it. He didn't cry at all. He is such a brave little boy!

The doctor said he was healing well and that everything looked good. He still isn't allowed to take a bath, but we can use the shower to wash him. I think that will make things a lot easier.

We go back in six weeks for a follow-up. We don't know the date yet, the hospital should call us next week with a day and time. I'm hoping for a Tuesday, but we'll see.

Update

Jay has been doing really well since his surgery. We have figured out that if we don't pin him down while changing his inside diaper, he doesn't get as fussy and there is a lot less crying.

Tomorrow he goes to the doctor to hopefully get his catheter taken out. It was supposed to be two weeks, but the surgeon is gone next week and she thought it would be better to take it out early than risk complications in taking it out late.

I will be grateful once it is taken out. Less diapers used, less apprehension in changing and better sponge baths! Not to mention no silica inside diaper stuff to have to deal with anymore.

Jay is as happy as ever and is trying to pull himself up and stand. He does a pretty good job of it already.

Jay will have one more doctor appointment to make sure everything has healed correctly. It should be about six weeks from tomorrow.

Jay's Surgery

Jay had his hypospadias correction surgery yesterday. He was such a good little boy. He didn't get super fussy until the time for his surgery was scheduled, which was 10. They were running behind, but Jay fell asleep until one of the anesthesiologists came to get him. Jay let the doctor take him and Jason and I followed until we came up to the "proper attire required" doors. Jay didn't cry as Jason and I hugged and kissed him, then they were off.
Jason's parents and my mom came out to sit with us. The surgery took almost three hours. The surgeon came out and talked to Jason and I afterwards. She said things went really well and told us what we needed to do for at-home care for the next few days and up until he would have his catheter taken out. Shortly after the consult, I was pulled to go take care of Jay because he was having nothing to do with the nurses.
The nurses were trying to feed him when I got back there. Once I took him, he calmed down enough to eat. He ate four ounces of Pedialyte. While the nurses rolled us to a recovery room, Jay was happy and sort of bouncing (he had an epidural like pain management during the surgery that was still working at that time). He was not as happy once we got to the recovery room. He would have crying fits, then be calm for a minute or two. Jason was finally able to get Jay's medicine and we were able to give him some pain medication which helped him calm down enough to take out his IV and get him dressed.
He was a happy camper when we left the recovery room and started walking through the hospital. We drove to Ann's house to pick up the last of our stuff. (Thanks for letting us stay!) Then we headed to Jason's parents to spend the night. Jay did sleep for most of the way there.
That night, Jay would have fits of crying and times of happy. We found out he loves to play with diapers, so now he has a clean diaper he can play with while we change him. We had a hard time getting him to sleep for more than ten minutes at a time. Once we gave him his muscle relaxer, he slept for longer bits of time. We didn't need to give him pain medicine overnight and he woke up pretty happy!
Today he has been almost like his old self. He's been crawling around, bouncing with his legs, gobbling up Cheerios, talking, and smiling. It's so nice to see him recovering so quickly! We go back on Friday to get his catheter taken out. Hopefully he will be healing well and be able to take real baths after that!

(And his top teeth have still not come through. I thought I could feel them this morning, but I think I was wrong.)

This and That

Saturday was a big day for me. I went to the rodeo in Des Moines with Matt and Tabitha. That's right, I had a night out without the boys. It was a lot of fun! Jason doesn't care for rodeos....or NASCAR.....or country, so Matt was always the person I would go with to events like that. Now that Matt is dating Tabitha, it's twice the fun! I ended up getting home a little before 11. Just in time for Jay to wake up for a snack.

Sunday all of us went to church and they had a reception in between services for babies born in late 2010 and all of 2011. We met a couple of people with younger kids, one was 20 days younger than Jay. It was fun to watch them pass toys back and forth.

Later Sunday night, Jason and I went to our second Financial Peace University class. We're learning quite a bit about saving money and a little more about ourselves in the process. We have also learned that Jay doesn't really like having any one but mommy put him to sleep. He ends up crying for our baby sitter when she tries to put him down.

For those that haven't heard, Jay's surgery for his hypospadias is Thursday, the 19th at 10am. We need to be at the hospital by 8:30 and Jay isn't allowed to eat after midnight and can only have 2 ounces of clear fluid before 8. Nothing after 8. It's going to be a long, heartbreaking morning not being able to feed him. As far as I know, we're being released that day. We don't know if we will be returning home, or going to Jason's parents afterwards.

I will keep everyone posted as events unfold! Keep him in your prayers Thursday!

On The Move

That's right all! Our little boy is crawling! I think he just needed some more space and something he really wanted to get to. We're at the library in the video. He was playing with some of the toy trucks they have in the kiddie section. Once we got home, he was crawling around the living room. He still likes to do the lunge/sit/lunge for movement.

We now have the wonderful task of baby proofing our house. I'm sure it will be a fun process.

Insomnia

Yes, I realize how late it is. This is what happens when you're not used to drinking caffeine and end up drinking quite a bit at a late afternoon movie. Insomnia. Both of my boys are sleeping. They are both so tired!

Jay is still sick or teething...whatever it is making him poop so much. The frequency is starting to lessen at least. He's still happy as ever! Loves to play with his toys and bounce. We have even started learning how to pet Zara. He doesn't do that bad petting her. He doesn't get to pet her for very long, but he does a nice job.

Jason is still working on Saturdays this semester. He isn't very happy about it, especially when he was told it was only going to be for the fall semester. He has been told he will be off weekends in the fall, but we'll have to see. I'm not sure how trustworthy that statement is.

Zara has been pretty scarce. She spends most of her time in the bathroom closet, upstairs on Jason's computer chair, or in a basket of clothes on top of Jason's dresser. I thought about opening the windows the other day, but I think she would have passed out from exhaustion from running from window to window.

I have slowly been working on some sewing projects. Right now I'm working on the maintenance of my sewing machine. It needs to be oiled and the picture in the manual isn't very good at showing where it is supposed to go. I did get the needle changed and a lot of fuzzies out of the plate.

We got membership papers from our church in the mail today. Jason and I each need to fill a form out, then we will have a small membership ceremony during a service to be named at a later date. Jay will also become a member, but doesn't have to fill out paperwork.

Other than that, we are enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we are having. Jay and I even took a walk outside on Thursday! Also, I added pictures to DropShots. Check them out!

Personality

Our little boy has such a personality! He is quite a happy little guy, even when he is sick. He had the stomach flu this last week, as did the rest of us. He cried a little after he would throw up, but would be his happy, smiley self the rest of the time. In fact, here's a video showing how silly he is!

Yes, you did read that right. All of us had the stomach flu this last week. It started with Jay, then me, then Jason. Jay had it the longest, but I think Jason had a worse time of it. We are all better now and happy to be home from holiday traveling!

I am slowly trying to get our house back in order. My Christmas decorations are put away, they just need to get put into storage. Hopefully it will get done by the end of June!