Surgery 2

Well we made it through Reed's second surgery. He did such a great job with not being able to eat all morning. Reed goes to sleep around 7pm and has his last bottle between 6:30-7. He sleeps until 6-6:30am so he had not eaten for nearly 15 hrs by the time he came out of surgery. If you recall, Reed woke up "ballistic" (to quote the nurse) last time and we never even made it to recovery before she ran into the room with him. He did much better this time. He didn't wake up directly after the surgery and we were called back to recovery about 20 minutes after the surgeon reviewed the results of the surgery with us. Reed was crying as we walked into recovery but as soon as I held him he stopped. We gave him some apple juice and once the nurse was convinced he was going to keep it down, we were moved back to his regular room. Here, Reed promptly fell asleep. He slept for almost an hour and when he woke up we were discharged. When we got home he had a bottle and then slept for another 2.5 hrs.

His eye is scary red again and this time he has had some bloody tears as well (all normal side effects of the surgery), but other than being a little more sleepy than usual, he is no worse for the wear. Praise the Lord for another successful surgery. We'll have a follow up appointment in 3 months and hopefully the doctor will like what he sees. Reed needs to continue to wear the eye patch until a month before our follow up visit, but now only 1 hr a day instead of 2. This will just continue to strengthen the vision in his left eye.

 Hanging out before surgery.

 You like my gown?

 Silly face.

Surgery's over. Time for a nap.

Thanks for the prayers all. We are so blessed.



Montauk

As I mentioned in my last post, the fam went to Montauk State Park for Dane's birthday this weekend. Dane got to spend most of Saturday and a little bit of Sunday doing what he enjoys most...fly fishing! Reed and I spent a lot of time hanging out on Saturday in order to let Dane do his thing, but we did get to go out with him for a couple of hours. The weather could not have been better and Reed and Dane caught a fish together! Dane would like to go back next weekend but I think he'll have to settle for maybe sometime this Spring.

Enjoy the pics:

Glad we had the weekend to relax and have fun. I'll get back to you all after the surgery :(

Surgery #2 Scheduled

Reed and I went to the doctor today to see how the effective the patch has been. Apparently there wasn't significant enough change and the surgery still stands. It is scheduled for the 30th (next Friday) and we'll know what time when the nurse calls the day before. This will just be on the left eye, not both like last time. Prayers, as always, are appreciated.

I asked the doctor for some more clarification on what exactly is wrong with Reed's eyes. When we first found out about his condition (strabismus) we learned that at any given moment one of Reed's eyes was essentially turned off. I asked the doctor today if this was still the case--if the left eye was turned off most of the time--and she said yes, his eyes do not work together. As adults when our eyes cross we see double, a baby's brain says "I don't want to see double, this doesn't work" so it just shuts the eye off. I told her that it just amazes me how well Reed functions taking that into consideration. To see him move, feed himself, follow the spoon to his mouth, "cruise" down the furniture, you would never suspect that he's operating with just one functioning eye. I guess he doesn't really know any better since this is what it's been like for him since the beginning, but I'm just amazed. I mean, he's so close to walking that I wonder if this vision deficit is what's holding him back. After I voiced all of this the doctor just said that children are amazing, they are so resilient and adapt so quickly--much better than adults. She agreed how impressive Reed's development is given his vision problems and then said, "Imagine what it will be like when this is all over and he can use his eyes like he's supposed to."

That statement was just a reminder for me that Dane and I are doing the right thing. This might take a toll on us emotionally and financially, but this is what's best for Reed. And thank God that it was diagnosed so early that Reed will never even remember this and can go on to reach the rest of his milestones with eyes working together!

Crazy man after the first surgery

The other day I was at Target walking in behind a mom, dad and little boy about 3 years old. The little boy had a completely shaved head with a scar from ear to ear and he wore a backpack. As I got on the escalator behind them I noticed that coming out of his backpack were a few tubes that wrapped around and connected to something on the front of his body. Of course I was wondering what was wrong with this cute little boy--cancer? brain tumor?--and was reminded that although surgery is scary, and I hate that Reed has to go through that, things could be much worse.

We are richly blessed.

Fun Stuff

Sorry I've been away from the blogging world for a couple of weeks. It may be hard to believe, but sometimes our lives just aren't exciting enough to blog about frequently, so I've been storing up our adventures for the last 2 weeks in order to make for more exciting reading (see how I take care of you all?). 

Last week, on Labor Day, we visited my dad in Greenville. We got to see his nice new office and his M-F bachelor pad. He even treated us to lunch in the DC (dinning commons). Dane and I took a walk around the town square and saw our old apartment. It was nice to be back in Greenville for a day and see how my dad is starting to fit in. We even spent some time with Aunt Darci in between her classes.

Last Saturday Reed and I had a "mommy and me" day while Dane went scouting for a good place to hunt this fall with a friend. Reed and I took a walk to Papa's house and saw Ms. Stefanie (my "work spouse") doing a work out in the park. We played at home and walked around Target too. I think Reed likes Target as much as I do :) It was a good day and, although a bit exhausting, really great to have a day with him all to myself. That evening Dane's mom and sisters were in town and we met them for dinner at Schlafly Bottleworks. Maplewood was having their art fair so we walked around there for a bit too and ran into Ms. Stefanie again! Twice in one day, how lucky were we?!?!

Yesterday we went to the Balloon Glow in Forest Park. Man am I glad we don't live far and were able to get a pretty good parking spot off of Hampton so we didn't have to take the highway or drive into the park. I'm pretty sure everyone in St. Louis and at least half of Illinois attends this event. 64/40 was like a parking lot in both directions and the park was completely full of cars. Hampton was backed up for at least a mile (maybe two). Ca-razy. But we didn't have any problem getting there and walking to the site of the balloons. It was beautiful. I don't think Reed could really appreciate it and we didn't stay too long since he was ready to go home and go to bed, but I hope we can do it again as he gets older.

This morning we got up and watched Dane run a 5k in my dad's neighborhood, St. Louis Hills. The race is called "Run for the Hills" and he competed in it last year. My Uncle Mike and his friend Scott also ran. They all did really well. Dane beat his time from last year and said he felt much more in shape. Reed had a good time cheering his daddy on. I'm so proud of Dane for committing to this whole running thing. As a past runner, I know how hard it is to run on your own but Dane does a great job of motivating himself and getting those runs in each day after work. Maybe his next goal will be the half marathon! Great job babe!

And the fun doesn't stop there. Tonight we will attend a cocktail party at my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mike's house and tomorrow we will (hopefully) be having our good friends Trent and Frances over for Sunday dinner.

In food news Reed has now eaten mac n' cheese, green beans, some deli turkey, and tomato bisque (which he LOVED). I am slowly but surely facing my fears.

Here are some pics of the last 2 weeks:

Reed got stuck under his exersaucer.

 After a run with dad.

 Working on using that sippy cup.

 He's so studious.

 And so fly.

At the balloon glow.

September is a busy month. This time next week we'll be in Montauk celebrating Dane's birthday! Wednesday is Reed's next eye appointment. I'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best. If he does still need the surgery, it is scheduled for the 30th. Keep Reed in your prayers!!!

Pics I Forgot to Add Yesterday...

Daddy and Reed enjoying the great outdoors.

Still super cute, even with a patch on. Maybe even cuter.

Happy baby ready for his bath

(those are not my hairy legs & Dane is wearing running shorts).

Just sittin' like a big boy in the bathtub.