Here is the scoop!

Hi friends,

Jude's mommy here!

I'm hanging out with Jude in his hospital room while he takes a hearty nap. He finished up some great time with his lovely OT (Katy) an hour or so ago and therefore he is quite tired. I've got a great picture of Jude sitting on a little stool during OT that I want to share with all of you but I don't have the cord to upload my pictures. I promise to share them as soon as I can.

So, here's the scoop:
(I know that is what you are waiting for!)

- Jude is healing well and is only needing the occasional PRN dose of pain medication. We are super pleased (and so are the surgeons) with how well he is recovering.

- Last night the surgeons decided to start feeding Jude pedalite through his G-tube. They gave him a very small amount in hopes of "waking up" his little digestive system. This afternoon they will begin feeding him formula (a very small amount) through his G-tube. They will give him 15cc over 30 minutes and then check in 3 hours to see how much of the forumla moved through and was digested. This process is called checking for a residual. Please join us in praying that Jude's little stomach is up for the challenge. If the feeding goes well they will eventually increase the amount of volume that they will give Jude through his G-tube.

- Currently Jude is receiving nutrition via TPN (as explained in a previous blog post) and we would love for him to no longer require this menthod of nutrition. We'd love to go home receiving all nutriton from formula and then begin working on feeding by mouth with our sweet OT at home (Elecia). Please pray that he can go home without TPN.

- Physically Jude seems to have bounced back pretty well! He is experiencing a little bit of weakness and pain around the incision site but we feel certain that he wil quickly bounce back to his busy ways and work hard with his awesome PT (Shannon) in Florence. Since he has been in the hospital he is even showing interest in getting on all fours....maybe crawling is in our future?!?!

- My favorite part of all this awful hospital stuff? Jude hasn't thrown up AT ALL since surgery. Not once. Praise God for a successful Nissen and G-tube! This morning Jude is completely free of tubes in his nose/throat and he is no longer having to wear the elbow imobalizers to stop him from pulling the tubes out of his nose. He is just so dang handsome and cute!

- Please pray that we will get to take our little guy home soon! As much as we love the folks at MUSC we are ready to get out of here. We've spent far too much of 2012 in Charleston. We are hoping for an end of the week discharge...maybe by the weekend?

Please keep praying for healing and progress. I am amazed that we are on this side of his surgery. What a joy to know that he came through this even better than before!

Please continue to pray for our sweet daugther as she misses Brian and I. We are currently taking turns in Charleston and Florence to be with each child.

Please pray for Brian and I. We miss each other so much. I can't wait to be with him everyday again.

Please continue to pray for our house to sell...it would be wonderful to have one less thing to worry about. (And one less bill to pay)

Please pray for the family and friends who are taking care of us during this journey. It has been a long road and they are weary too!

God bless you all. Thank you for your faithfulness!