Peek A Boo!

The transition from hospital to home has been amazing. I guess from start to finish, I didn't have anything to compare to. In some ways, yes, the hopsitals, wires, tubes, I did. But in so many thousands of ways this second heart surgery has been so different from Daniel's first, so it really went so much differently and so much better than I thought it would have gone. For starters, after his first surgery, he wasn't up walking around 3 day later. Duh, he was 4 days old. But that didn't change that I thought this time around he would come home and be sleeping most of the day...or if nothing else, sprawled in front of the tv, chilling out, recovering. And yes, everyone, from people on the street, to neighbors, friends and doctors said, "Babies recover so quickly." It fell on deaf ears because it was MY baby and quickly is quite relative. That could be 2 weeks. And if that was the case and I still had my baby after 2 weeks, I wouldn't complain. I was shocked, to say the least, when he was back to a normal routine within days of coming home.

Daniel definitely had some trouble going from sitting to standing, and was wobbly walking those first few days, making us on edge and nervous. But those first days he was also super mad we wouldn't let him go up and down the stairs. He was up a few times a night those first couple nights. At first I would offer juice, food, snuggles, but he wanted one thing only past that first initial mommy hug...TV. He had gotten very used to it at the hospital. So, once I figured out he wasn't in pain and that was his "want" I ignored it. Not him...I would go in and hug him gently and he would begrudgedly go back to sleep, but after a couple nights he stopped fussing. Thank goodness! I think most moms out there can agree that once our kids sleep through the night getting up in the night is extra exhausting.

As far as day to day, Daniel is, in my opinion, much, much better. More energy, better eating, more talking and laughing and generally less grumpy. My relationship with Daniel has flourished and though he will never be the cuddler or momma's boy that Joseph is, he does show me more affection and actually gets upset if I have to leave. And comes running for a hug when I return. I don't want to make him out to seem unnatural or myself to be unloving, but for whatever reason, Daniel has been a complete daddy's boy from day one. He still is. But now he is also a closet momma's boy, but I'm not supposed to tell you that. That week in the hospital was very hard and watching him have to be in pain over and over again broke my heart. But unlike the first surgery I was blessed to be able to leave J & N and be by Daniels side the whole time and its a blessing I don't take for granted. It grew our relationship and my appreciation for just how tough that little boy really is. And my husband is awesome and selfless...we were supposed to switch places, but when his turn came to stay with Daniel, I told him I didn't think I could go. With no judgement or guilt laid on me, Brian said he understood and helped his parents hold down the home fort. I'm so so grateful for such an awesome family. So here we are, slowly making our way back into the world. We've been to lunch, the mall, the library and lots of neighbors houses as we return to everyday activities. And I'm grateful. So grateful, for every moment, every brothers quarrel, every moment of chaos in my home. I really am so very blessed.