Cutest. Patient. EVER.

Last Thursday Owen went in to have surgery on his left tear duct to finally get the goop all cleared up.  The poor little guy was born with both tear ducts completely blocked.  After a sinus infection around 7 months the right side cleared up on its own, but this left side has remained pesky.  At his 1 year doctor's appointment they strongly suggested we have it taken care of.  She said that they don't like them to persist after one year of age because it can lead to further issues down the road.  Boo.  The thought of my little baby being put under was a scary one.  But we braved it together and now he is goop free!  Yay!

The surgery itself was crazy fast.  When they were taking him away from me for surgery, the nurse told me to go have a cup of coffee.  By the time I was done, he would be too.  And she was right!  Wow!  They warned me ahead of time that children, especially babies when they come out of anesthesia, they will cry and be pretty hysterical. It is normal and not to worry.  They will calm down as it wears off.  Sure enough when they called me back to see him after surgery a nurse was holding him and he was crying like I never heard him before.  They handed him over to me and I thought to myself- Oh my goodness, what did I do to my baby.  His eye was completely swollen shut.  It looked as though he was hit in the eye with a baseball.  I did NOT expect to see that, and the tears came to my eyes.  But I knew that wouldn't help anything and pulled myself together.  I had a baby that needed me.  So I just held him tight, rocking and singing Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine and Trust in the Lord over and over again in between kisses, just so he knew he wasn't alone.

After a bit, when I noticed he was starting to settle down a bit and I was able to start seeing his eye through the puffiness I remembered I brought my laptop along.  The nurses said it was OK, so I put on his beloved Elmo and all was alright with the world.  He started to giggle more then cry, and his thrashes turned into snuggles.  We were able to get him to nibble on a few graham crackers and he had a few sips of juice.  Pretty soon the nurse told me that I could get him dressed that he was ready to go home.  I was shocked.  The entire thing took less then 2 hours!  The doctor assured me that his swelling would go down and that he would look and act more himself by later in the day if not by tomorrow.  I was a little doubtful, but OK.

Sure enough, by evening the swelling was almost all gone and we had to stop him from wrestling with Jackson.  The following day there was zero swelling, only the under of his eye was a bit red.  It looked as though he may have bumped it on something while playing.  By Saturday, only 2 days after surgery he looked 100% like himself.  No swelling, no redness, no nothing.  Just a runny nose and a cough from all the drainage of fluids they had to pump into his eye and nasal cavity to clear out the blockages.  Amazing.  I am so, so, so happy it went as well as it did.  I seriously had my doubts, especially after seeing him immediately after surgery.  But he is a tough little guy and came right through with no problems.  Thank you Lord.

I just love that cute little diaper butt hanging out the back of the gown :)

Oh how afraid I was.  I felt so helpless and scared that something terrible was going to happen to my baby.  So I decided to hand it over to God and to trust in Him to hold my baby when I couldn't.  I asked all the Prayer Warriors I knew of to keep Owen lifted up (and for a brave mommy too.)  Thank you to everyone who prayed with us that day and the days leading up to his surgery.  I truly felt your comforting prayers! As scared as I was, I knew God was in control.  Oh how Great He Is!

This is the song that played in the car on the way to the hospital. No way was this an accident. 




Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? -Luke 12:25 


 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. -Philippians 4:6

Someone needs to teach this kid a bit of patience already!

33 weeks, overlooking the falls at Grand Pacific Junction, Olmsted Falls 

As I mentioned in my last post, sunday night I experienced those regular, timable contractions- ouchy, annoying and a bit troublesome. But luckily after that hour they subsided. I've been feeling good since so I figured I must have just overdone it or something.

Well last night I was admitted into Labor and Delivery because yet again I was having regular contractions, cramping and back pain. I am only 33 weeks so this is way too early for this little guy to come yet!! They hooked me up for a non-stress test on the baby, and thankfully he was doing just fine- nice strong heartbeat and moving like wild. I am dilated 1cm, but they said that isn't uncommon for women who have had children before. I was continuing to have regular, strong contractions so they gave me a shot to stop them and it looks like I didn't move into the Preterm Labor category since I didn't dilate any farther after 7 hours of contractions. I was finally discharged 3 1/2 hours later and sent home at midnight.

We'll see what my OB says this morning, but so far I am to take it easy, and just keep an eye on things. Hopefully this is all just a little "fluke" and it won't happen again. So if you could please pray for this little guy to hold on at least 4 more weeks so he can get nice and fat that would be wonderful. And also that there isn't bedrest in my future. How on earth does one do that with a 3 1/2 year old?!!

***Update
Waking this morning the contractions havn't started back up, and I feel my same old self.  Such a relief!  My appointment went just fine this morning.  Owen had a nice, strong heartbeat at 165.  I am still measuring ahead on my fundal height- 34 1/2 (should be 33).  Dr. O'Neill told me she will probably have me get an ultrasound in a few weeks just to make sure he isn't a huge baby.  Other then that she sent me away with a good bill of health.  I need to keep an eye on things of course and call her the moment anything happens again (many prayers they wont!) But I can resume life as I know it.  Definitely excellent news.  

Asking for All of Your Prayers

Many of you have had the lucky opportunity to meet Jackson's Great Grandfather Marty Pavlich. I am asking for all of your thoughts and prayers for Marty and his amazingly strong wife, Irene. Marty is currently in the hospital in the NICU in Youngstown after suffering kidney failure that was brought on by an infection in his lungs. His kidneys are now working properly but the infection as entered his blood stream and things have been a bit unsure. Marty is being kept comfortable but everyone is taking it day by day. We are all staying as positive as possible, but all extra love and support at this time would be so apprieciated.

On Saturday we all traveled down to Youngstown to see Marty and to send some sunshine Irene's way. She has been in the hospital all day, every day since Marty went in. You can imagine what she is going through, but looking at her I saw this amazingly strong woman. She has such a beauty in her and is truely an angel here on earth. But no one can do this alone. Jackson had so much fun with his Grandma, GiGi. I have uploaded the pictures we took there, so please take a minute to look at them. They are so precious.

We love you so much Marty and Irene and are sending all of our love and prayers your way.