Carter's Surgery

(Carter all prepped and ready for surgery. He was sure to completely empty his stomach with 3 dirty diapers before)

Today was Carter's Big day. He had a total 5 surgeries done. All day I kept saying "poor baby". I just feel so bad for him and his tiny body. He had a tracheostomy (in the throat), G-tube (his new feeding tube, left side of belly), Nissen (band around his belly, the way too long scar down his belly), Broviac line (two white tubes in his leg), and a circumcision. I can't even begin to describe how nervous Trav and I were all morning leading up to it. It hurt to breath and felt so labored. The two hour wait felt like a lifetime. The thought of my baby being cut open in five different spots almost put me on my death bed.

After it was all over we walked into his room and saw his face with nothing on it for the first time in his entire life. I can't explain the feeling other than bliss. I don't think we even recognized all the other stuff. We had huge grins on our face and kept saying over and over again how cute he was. He is nice and puffy and will be for a couple days. The ENT who did the tracheostomy said everything went great. Before surgery Trav and I kept saying how in the world are they going to fit a trach under his chubby cheeks. Apparently it was a little difficult. Our nurse said the Doctor had to tape up his double chin to make way. We had a good laugh at that. The pediatric surgeon that did everything else said it was a "boring" surgery. The past couple weeks have been anything but "boring" so that was definitely music to our ears.

They will keep Carter completely paralyzed for the next 48 hours and then slowly wean him off pain meds and everything else. The puffyness will go away once he starts to eat again and move around a little bit. So probably in a week or so. They are keeping drops in his eyes to keep them moist since he isn't blinking. I didn't even think about that. Good thing Carter has such amazing Nurses and Doctors. Our favorite nurse Susan was his nurse today. Trav always says that he has to drag me away from that place and it's true, but when Susan is there it most definitely is a lot easier. The ventilator is pretty much doing all the breathing for him since he is completely sedated. Hopefully in about a week we will be able to start weaning him off that too.

Boston spent the day with his cousins. He had a blast and didn't mind that we were gone one tiny bit. Brandon and Emily came up from Waco to help us out. Can't tell you how blessed we are. Our family is Amazing and they certainly are no exception.


Thank you everyone for your prayers we are so blessed. Carter continues to be a fighter and amazes us with what his little body can do.