A Tooth!

We have a Tooth!!

Aaron has been a little fussier lately, and he's had a lot more drool and bubbles in his tummy.  His favorite way to be soothed is for me to rub his lower gum.  I was doing this on Saturday morning at the movies when I realized the bump on his gum was a hard, sharp tooth!  By Sunday you could actually see it a little bit and he's been much happier.  So glad this has finally come in.  He's been working on it for eight months now.  But then, for a lot of kids who aren't fed orally, it can take up to 18 months or longer before you see that first pearly white.  Yea for Aaron!!

Right now we're getting ready for his surgery on Wednesday.  I went and got Pedialyte for him today because he'll have to come off formula several hours before surgery, but he can have Pedialyte to prevent dehydration for longer.  We've also done a bunch of baking so I can take food to the hospital.  This really shouldn't be that big a deal, but I'm pretty nervous. I think it comes from having to hand him over for hours to someone else and not be able to get to him.  I can't even call for updates, although they'll call us and update us regularly.  

He'll be having his lip repaired, about 45 minutes; ear tube check (and replacement if they've fallen out) and circumcision, about 2 minutes each; a bronchoscope where they look at his lungs, about 30 minutes, and then an ABR for his hearing.  That can take between two and four hours!  And they can't do anything else during it because they will be checking brain wave patterns in response to sound stimuli and they need to know that any activity is the result of the hearing challenge.  So all in all, we're looking at somewhere between three and six hours in surgery.  It's going to feel like a very long time.  

We really have no idea how long we'll be at Primary's this time.  The only thing he'll really have to recover from is his lip repair.  Normally, a child has to be alert enough to breathe on their own and show that they can tolerate taking in enough liquids that they don't become dehydrated.  Well, he uses the ventilator and is g-tube fed.  So those aren't issues.  We will have to get pain under control and make sure his digestive system is up and running again.  Pulmonology is also talking about redoing some of his vent settings.  I think we have to be in PICU for that, and I don't know how long that will take.  It doesn't seem unreasonable for it to be a 24-48 hour stay.  But the last time we went in for a 3-5 day stay, we were there 3 1/2 weeks.  

So the long and short of it is, please pray for Aaron.  Please pray for the surgeons and nurses and respiratory techs who are helping him.  And please pray for William and I that we will know how best to help Aaron.  Especially, pray for Aaron.  Please pray that he will tolerate the surgery and the resulting pain well and he will recover quickly.  I love the staff at Primary's.  I wish I didn't have the chance to know them quite so well.

On another note, it's Aaron's second Independence Day.  I am so grateful we live in a country with the freedoms and privileges we have here.  Thanks so much to all our military personnel and their families for the sacrifices they have made for us.  Words are inadequate to express appreciation for all they do.