Sleep, Baby, Sleep

Austin has finally gotten some much needed sleep the past few hours. I am hoping he will sleep until morning. The nurse just gave him some Morphine at my insistence, so he should sleep for a few more hours without me worrying that he will wake up in pain. Joseph is sleeping as well, and I was able to get a few precious hours of rest myself. Since I am awake, I might as well give a more complete update about our little peanut.

The surgery went well, but Austin is really struggling. It is imperative that he remain flat at all times for the first 24 hours, but that has been a bigger challenge than anyone could have imagined. Austin is a very strong child, and he has had numerous fits of either pain or anxiety since coming out of the surgery. He didn't close his eyes to sleep at all until about 11:00 or so last night. I was expecting him to sleep more after the surgery, but he didn't. It is hard to know how much of his suffering is pain and how much is from the nervous side effects of the medicine or the overstimulation of being poked and prodded by nurses all day. He has finally come to peace with his IV, I think, but he goes into a terrible fit whenever the nurses come in to give him medicine or to check his vitals. At times, it has taken three or more people to hold him down so he doesn't hurt himself. The first fit lasted for about two hours- it was exhausting. We will all be less stressed when he is able to move again without worrying about him doing damage to his spine. I am thankful that Joseph has been able to get some sleep these last few hours. He has been such a good father through all this. Physically, I don't think I could have handled Austin by myself last night. Joseph has to work the rest of the week during the nighttime hours, but my mom will be here to help me.

Baby David seems to be doing well through all this. I hadn't felt him move much during the day yesterday, but he has been more active throughout the night, which is a relief to me. I will be 30 week on Thanksgiving, and we are very thankful that the pregnancy is going smoothly, especially so that we can devote our energy to taking care of Austin right now.

Thank you all for your prayers. The surgery has been completed and was a success. Now we have several tough days and nights ahead of us as Austin recovers. It will take weeks for him to recover completely.

Here are some specific prayer requests:

1. Pray for Austin to have a calm spirit and not to be frightened or anxious during the rest of his stay in the hospital.

2. Pray that we would all be able to sleep and rest this week as much as possible. I am especially going to be struggling with getting enough rest.

3. Pray that Austin would have a willing spirit to cooperate with the nurses and doctors as they care for him and as he begins physical therapy on Wednesday.

4. Finally, pray that we will rejoice in the Lord in all circumstances and not be anxious, but that we will present our concerns to the Lord.