sweet anton time

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because it's after midnight here and I'm pooped. Anton is so sweet and wonderful and has the most mellow, content little personality. He LOVES being loved on by Mommy and Daddy, but has also been really quick to warm up to Jen and me. 

When we got there on Saturday, Vanessa hadn't been out in days, so we all went out for a walk. It was a warm (but not too warm), beautiful night, and the garden/walkway area outside of the hospital was so pretty. Anton was in Heaven!

Vanessa and I were so anxious all day yesterday and last night. Between having to do bath and bandages (which is really painful for Anton), messing up his IV, having unsuccessful pricks on the floor, going back and forth on whether to do the NG again (we didn't), and him having to have his IV done down in Anesthesia, SLOOOOW Sunday service, and having lots of unanswered questions, things were just building up. We each had a good cry at different times, and we were both feeling peaceful this morning. (I actually only got three hours of sleep the night before and dreamed that the Tribulation had begun and I had been left behind. And that there was a little EB boy with me during all of it - not Jonah or Anton - who had just had a g-tube operation and his button kept falling out. Horrible dreams. Restless sleep.) God answered all our prayers though and we really did feel good about things this morning.

They would not let Vanessa go back at the beginning, but did agree to let us both go back at the end to re-bandage him before taking him to recovery. They answered all our questions (correctly!), and we knew he was in great, EB experienced hands. He was agitated this morning and not digging being down in pre-op.

And then he got good drugs...

And all was right with the world again...

"Mmmmmmm, good stuff."

It was so so funny.

Starting to get playful. "Stop hitting yourself in the face with your IV, Anton."

"I love you, Mommy."

Blowing bye bye kisses. He was so content. It was a wonderful way to leave him.

 Or for him to leave us, rather.

"See you soon, Sweet Babe."

It took them a long time to get him prepared and intubated, but all went smoothly. After that, the actual surgery probably lasted no more than 30 minutes. Turns out his stomach wasn't turned as much as they originally thought, and there were no complications (besides normal EB ones). Praise God!

They then called Vanessa and I to put on our scrubs to prepare to come back. We were in a consult room by ourselves, but then looked so ridiculous, we had to call Jason away from guarding our stuff to document our absurdity.

I truly believe that God has a great sense of humor and provides us with these moments in hard and stressful situations to ease our burden. I also live by the philosophy, "You have to laugh about it so you don't cry," and I always prefer laughter over a sob fest... although I do plenty of that too. :)

The re-bandage and extubation went well and then Anton went back to recovery. They had to keep him down there a long time because his heart rate was low, probably due to being cold combined with the pain medicines, but soon he was able to head back to his room.

A sleepy, sleepy (adorably cute) baby.

He had a pretty low key day after surgery, and they mostly left him alone. He is in some pain but seems to be doing well when on pain meds. Toward the end of the night, he was starting to play with us and be silly and was resting peacefully when Jen and I left. (These cell phone pics were literally 5 seconds apart.)

 

Tomorrow we'll have to do bath and bandages again, and they will begin seeing what his stomach can tolerate through his g-tube. They will begin with Pedialyte and then try some formula as the day goes on. Please pray that he can handle feeds well, so we can get that IV out! IV's and EB kids do not mix. That is the last big stressor, and then things should settle down. Vanessa has a hard time sleeping, worried about him rubbing his face with his big ol' bandaged arm or ripping his IV out. It is really stressful.

Plus, we just can't wait to pump this sweet boy full of nutrition to get his wounds to healing. He does have some infection on his right arm, and we haven't heard yet how to treat that, but they are recommending vinegar baths for now. It smells like we died Easter eggs in the bathroom.

I'm sad that tomorrow is my last day with Vanessa and Anton, but also anxious to get home. Jonah has been sick and throwing up a lot (from congestion) and is now on breathing treatments and Prednisone (again!). Instead of making him super grumpy this time, they are making him wild and crazy and he decided to crawl over his crib railing today. Granny caught him half way over, so thankfully he didn't fall. This is so out of character for him, as he is usually a really cautious kid for the most part. Anyway, he's now sleeping on his crib mattress on the floor so I suppose he will be getting a big boy bed when I get home. STOP GROWING UP! Or at least wait until I'm home from Texas, thankyouverymuch.

Thank you all for your love and prayers. Jason and Vanessa are doing an AMAZING job, and they are already such wonderful parents to Anton. God has put them together for a very clear and wonderful reason. So amazing to get such a clear, small glimpse into his glorious plan and vision. What a story. What a baby. What an amazing God we serve. All glory to Him forever!

(This was not short and sweet at all, and now it's almost 1am, so please forgive the no proofreading. I'm beat. :) )