8 pounds and growing....

Hi all ~

As most of you know, Connor has struggled with gaining weight since the day he was born. It took him a little over 5 weeks just to get back to his birth weight which was 6lbs 12oz. We celebrated when he made 7lbs and now we celebrate our next pound marker...8lbs!!! Tomorrow we will send our big & strong 8lb baby boy into surgery.

We, Connor & I, enjoyed a morning visit from Auntie Maureen. She always lifts our spirits and Connor loves snuggling with her. While she was here we were visited by the anethesiologist, who went over all of the specifics of the surgery. Connor will go into pre-op at 8AM where he will receive a general anethesia and then he will get a type of spinal tap which will numb him from the chest down. He will also have the ventilator put back in for surgery and probably keep that for around 24 hours. After that the surgeon will make 2 incisions for the laparoscopy tools and perform the Nissan procedure which will partially band off the bottom of the esophagus . Then he will have an additional incision to place the G-Tube into his tummy for feeding. We understand that when he is done it will look like a little button by which we will feed him until he gets strong enough for his open heart surgery. Tomorrows surgery will last about 2-4 hours depending on how successful they are with the laparoscopy. We should be getting hourly updates from the OR on how Connor is tolerating the surgery. Once the surgery is over, we will join him in the recovery room.

Yesterday and today have been days of reflection for me, mama!! Yesterday both Randy & I were blessed to receive a 30 minuet massage from the family services volunteer program. When I had my massage the gal had a beautiful CD playing with nature sounds and birds chirping. In that moment, I realized that we are just 6 days away from the spring season starting. I thought about the beautiful trees popping open their blooms and all the tulips and daffodils and crocus' peaking their cute little heads out of the ground. Baby birds are learning to fly and to sing their pretty songs and the sun is beginning to warm the cheeks of all who go outdoors. I realized in the same moment that I carry a certain sadness with me everyday because I can't put my son in a stroller and walk amongest the beauty I so love. Instead, we sit in our room and entertain thoughts of better days. I catch myself embracing a tear every now and then as I grieve these days we have lost, but then I am encouraged greatly by the very signs of spring. Why??? Because spring means new life. That which was under the ground is now emerging from the frost a beautiful new life. How precious it is that God gives us those dark nights of winter to bring forth such gorgeous beauty. I truly believe that God is doing this in Connor. We have had such a difficult "winter" season with fear and uncertainty, but spring is coming!! I have to trust that Connor's best days are ahead. We love him so much and know that God has an incredible plan for his life. Won't it be wonderful to watch this little miracle unfold in front of us, just like a spring flower peaking his cute little head out from the darkness!!! Up out of darkness is where I know we will eventually emerge. But right now, we have to continue to push that dirt up slowly so we can see sunshine soon!!!

Randy returned to the hospital this evening with trailer in tow!!! We now have an official residence at Children's Hospital, or you could say, as Auntie Maureen, that we are officially trailer trash!! HA HA!! We are so grateful to have a place right on the campus to stay so that we don't have to be far away from our "little bug"!!! Tonight we will stay in our sleeping closet so we can be with Connor first thing in the morning.

We want to again say "Thank You" for all the love and prayers you are all sending our way. We love your comments and emails and special post cards here at the hospital. Wow...we are showered with encouragement!! For those of you who might not know about it yet, you can send a special message straight to Connor (and us) through the children's hospital website www.seattlechildrens.com. Thanks to all of you who have sent messages!! We love to read and re-read them. They bring smiles to us constantly!!

We will update periodically throughout the day tomorrow to let you all know about the surgery.
Lori

PS ~ Today was especially eventful with the visit from "Healing Paws", a dog organization that brings pets around to visit the kids. In our case it was mama who needed the healing licks and kisses from the cutest little dog. She was a tiny black and white dog and her breed name in French means "flying butterfly". When her ears were perched it actually looked like she could fly away. What a sweet visit!!