surgery and recovery

Elijah had surgery yesterday to put in a g-tube, which is a feeding tube going through his belly into his stomach. My heart hurts to see his sweet little tummy with a tube poking out of it, but we do feel this is the best decision for Elijah. We'll continue to feed him normally most of the time; now we can just get a little extra down and also have a way to feed him if he can't or won't eat. Elijah is very delayed developmentally, so he's old enough to need more than just formula and juice, but not "old enough" to handle semi-solids quite yet. If, in the future, he's able to eat really well, we can perhaps take the tube out someday. That's a comforting thought in some ways, because having an artificial opening into one's body is very drastic and not at all what we would normally choose to do.


Elijah's recovery is going pretty well. His incision looks good, but we can tell it hurts. The doctor said it was equivalent to having a stab wound, so I guess pain is to be expected.


We are thankful...for Todd's family, who came a long way to be with us here in the hospital; for my family, who has been such a support already during our stay in the USA; that my Grandma has opened her cozy little home for us to stay in; for friends who have loaned us their vehicle for a few weeks; for the good medical care that we are able to receive for Elijah. We are SO blessed!

Thank you, dear friends near and far, for your prayers. We are held in those everlasting arms tonight.

Sunset with the cows...this is next to my Grandma's house, where we are staying. Elijah seemed to like the cows. Being outside is his favorite thing, unless it's really cold. We had the first beautiful, swirly flakes of snow today! This is Elijah's 'hat' from a week ago, getting his EEG. What a trooper...
Here we are today, having a ph probe test. Poor Elijah has to have a little tube down his throat until tomorrow morning. He's had this test before, when he was about 9 months old, and it is remarkable how much better he's handling everything this time around. Consequently, we are much happier people, too!

Elijah was given a loaner kid cart to use until his own can be ordered! A few days ago, he went on his FIRST EVER walk without having to be carried! I felt that was such a huge milestone for us both! He made it about 1/4 mile without fussing!!

Before Elijah was born, I dreamed about taking our baby for walks in the new red stroller we were given at his baby shower. I couldn't wait to take our little one outside and explore the world! We attempted to take walks so many times, but either he was always crying and/or his stiff muscle tone made sitting in that or any other stroller impossible. So Elijah and I would just take short walks and I would carry him. Sometimes I would feel so discouraged by the effort it took just to get us outside for a few minutes! I know that the struggles definitely aren't over, but it was such a boost to push Elijah's little "stroller" down the street! To see him enjoying himself was the best part. We'll post a picture of his new wheels soon.

swings are good things

Todd is quite the Dad, pushing Elijah in my Grandma's tree swing and videotaping at the same time! This is a super-cute video of Elijah enjoying the swing with a little smile on his face. He even got to wear Dad's socks on his hands and feet (we haven't pulled out his winter gear from storage yet)! I came home from running errands and I was pretty impressed with how much fun my two men had. It is so, so nice to have a little break from the big city of Manila!