Day 2: Out of ICU, Swollen Eyes

Forgive me, I am not going to post pictures of H right now, just because I want to be able to post them with the happy, more recovered pictures later.  He is very swollen, his whole head is bruised, his eyes are shut, his ears are purple.  BUT, we think that his swelling might already be going down.  We can't tell for sure.

We got moved out of ICU sometime around 2 or 4 PM today. (Forgive me, not paying attention to time!)  Henry was very fussy this afternoon, just upset that he couldn't see and probably in a little pain.  His voice was really, really horse - it sounded like he was weak... it's because of the breathing tubes during surgery (might have already said that.)  That is starting to get better now.  (AKA - He is crying LOUDER!) His other eye didn't completely shut until probably an hour or so after we were in the regular room.  We didn't know that we were allowed to pick him up at first when we got into the room, but we figured it out soon enough.

As soon as we knew it was okay to hold him, we let Matt go for it.  He was instantly happier.  He just sleeps better and fusses less.  His head probably weighs twice as much as normal and he cannot hold it up, so holding him requires a lot of pillows and good positioning.  On top of it being really heavy, it feels really squishy and he fusses even when we slightly reposition him.  After awhile, I held him.  I tried to nurse him at that point, but he just fell asleep.  A little later when he was hungry I nursed him, and he did awesome!

He had a small fever again when the nurse came in at about 8:45, so we're hoping that's still just bc of the blood transfusion.  They are keeping an eye on it.  He's had some Motrin and Tylenol, so he's not feeling too bad right now.

Matt went to get some sleep tonight, and my mom and I are going to take turns resting and rocking H tonight.  We are doing good too.  It was definitely hard to listen to the little man cry and be frustrated - just hurts your heart and makes you want to cry right with him, but we know this will all be behind us very soon.

I'm humbled by God's love for me and us.  My pride and flesh feels like I have to somehow pay him back for being so good to us, but that's just the thing about Him- he gives freely, we receive. We could NEVER pay Him back. Pray that I'd be able to get that.  Thanks!