Pain for Progress

Ezra has his first follow-up appointment today. They cleaned most of the boogers off the Latham device and tightened the elastic two links. Needless to say I gave him his last dose of Tylenol with codein today. I feel like the gap has closed considerably already and it has only been a week.

These are the pre-latham pictures from the Dr.
He didn't send the ones from today, but as soon as I get them
I will post them so you can all see the difference already.

Bob asked them how they placed the pins, and it is even worse than I thought. They are about 3/4 of an inch long and they just hammer them in with a dental mallet. Can you say ouch! No wonder they say the baby has the hardest time with the first surgery.

Here is one that I took today to show the progress.

As for the surgery Bob and I were amazed with how well we, and Ezra, did. I felt so good heading to the hospital and it wasn't even hard to hand him over (I was expecting to break down at this point), it just all went so fast. I got a little anxious waiting, but the only time I felt like crying was when they brought us into PACU (recovery) and he was screaming. Alas no time for tears, we had to play the comforting role. I am really grateful for the blessing that Bob gave me when we first found out that I was pregnant...in it we were promised that our little baby would be fine and healthy. That promise has seen me through Lyme disease, diagnosis of the cleft, him learning to eat, and surgery. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knows and cares for each one of us, and the strength and calm that he has given to me through all of this!