He loved walking down by the water and tossing money in! He cleaned out my wallet!
I am now able to bribe him to say "cheese!" by giving him coins to throw in the water! Ha! That is how I got so many great pictures!
Recovery at home has been very easy so far. By today, he didn't take any pain medicine at all! I couldn't believe it! We started out the week just giving it to him anyway, and he was acting a little more sore early on, but by today he has seemed totally back to normal.
He enjoyed looking at the geese!
He is a little self conscious about his scar. He won't really let us look at it, and he doesn't like to look at it. I think it scares him a little bit. Every time we change his clothes or give him a bath he says "Don't take it off!" I think he thinks it can come off, like one of his bandages. And removing all those tubes, wires and bandages was not fun for him in the hospital! I told him that his owie won't ever come off, but it will get better. He seems satisfied with that.
The other day when we were talking about going back to school in a couple of weeks, he said "I can show all my friends my owie. But they don't have owies." It was so sad! It was like the first time he has noticed that he is "different." I reminded him of some of his buddies who do have an owie like his, like Ava and Logan. It made me realize we need to get together with other heart families now more than ever. As he grows up I want him to be so proud of his scar. We have been telling him all week what a special boy he is and how proud of him we are.
I think he realizes that he's been through something pretty traumatic. Every day we've been enjoying visitors, and the doorbell has rung every day this week with a new box on the front step! Andrew is one blessed little boy. So many people have sent him care packages, and he loves every single one of them. Just today he said, "I get a lot of presents!" Ha! Again, we explain that it is because he is so special and so many people were thinking of him when he was in the hospital. Thank you so much to everyone who has visited and sent cards and gifts. We are so overwhelmed and appreciate it so much! (Thank yous are on their way soon...I am behind!)
We have been having some adjustments to make with the sleeping arrangements! As usual, Andrew is up every night and in our bed. He has been waking a little more frequently, and sometimes cries when he wakes up, which he has never done before. I am sure he is having some dreams about the hospital, and hoping it will pass. All I know is, before this baby comes we have got to get him sleeping through the night in his own bed! Neither of us has had the energy to fight him just yet, but one of these days we need to crack down!
I have done absolutely nothing this whole week! I can't believe how tired I've been and I lack the motivation to do the many projects that need to get done around here. I think I was emotionally drained from last week, and it's taken this week to get back to normal. I've been napping with Andrew and just relaxing and enjoying playing with Andrew during the day! It's been nice not to have to do anything or go anywhere. One of these days I'm going to have to start cleaning out the baby's closet and getting her room ready. I have lots of ideas of how I want it to look, I just need to get started. And can you believe I'm not even unpacked from Iowa City yet? Yeah, our suitcase full of clean clothes (and several laundry baskets!) are sitting on our floor ready to be put away! Again, I have no motivation! Ha! (This is so unlike me! Craig is in shock I think... I just blame it on the pregnancy!)
The other thing we have been noticing is that Andrew is acting slightly more spoiled than he was before! Gee...I wonder why?? We also have to break this somehow! He is used to us waiting on him hand and foot I think. He'll be sitting three feet away from a toy he wants but he'll ask us to get it for him. He is pretty demanding! Ha! We have just been trying to remind him that he is home now and he can do things on his own. I am hoping returning to school will help with this also.
(But seriously? With this smile it is hard to resist!)
Going potty has been another issue... it seems he is reverting back to having accidents quite a bit. This is unusual for him. Even in the hospital he insisted on sitting on the potty even when he was in so much pain! I have changed his bedding about four times this week, so I am thinking we're going to have to go back to pull ups at naptime. We had just started weaning him off them at bedtime, too. But not anymore. He is currently taking Lasix, which helps get rid of any fluid he might have left from surgery, but it also makes him pee... a LOT! Ha! I am hoping we can stop the Lasix at our follow up appointment in a couple of weeks and we can get this potty thing back under control.
Mainly we have just been enjoying being together and having daddy home this week. I think Andrew is getting pretty used to having us both be home and together all day! He loves it. Next week we are both going to miss daddy when he goes back to work!
(Throwing money in the water!)
Tonight we gave Andrew another new movie (We are almost through the stack we bought him for the hospital! Ha!) and just hung out and had popcorn. We watched Night at the Museum, which he LOVED. He was so into it! He sat between us on the couch the entire movie and never moved! I think daddy and I enjoyed it as much as Andrew did! Again, just so thankful we are home.
I can't thank everyone enough for everything you have done for us during the time of Andrew's surgery (and before and after!) We appreciate all of the support so much- we couldn't have done it without you! We have a follow up appointment at the end of the month, and hopefully we will find out more as to if the pressures have come down in his heart. We are praying they have! Based on how well Andrew is doing, I'd say that's a pretty good sign!
After all...he's already trying out his old tricks!
Like jumping from rock to rock... We did stop him before he did it (this time!)...
Just so you know.
