One Month Post-Op

It is hard to believe that it has been one month since Hayes had his big surgery.  He has already come so far!  I love to just sit back and watch him take part in every day activities without his omphalocele...because it is almost like he is a brand new boy.  His range of motion is so much greater, he is able to bend and reach with a new found ease, and he is even attempting to do things that he never would before.  (Could he be crawling or walking soon?  We will just have to wait and see!)  To compensate for all of this new movement, his appetite has also greatly increased as well.  Our running joke right now is that we are going to have to take out a second mortgage to support his new eating habits.  Just the other day, Hayes managed to eat five Chick-Fil-A nuggets, two big waffle fries, and an entire squirty thing of apple sauce for lunch.  And then he still wanted a graham cracker for dessert too!  Pretty impressive considering just a short while ago, we would cheer if he even ate an ounce.  After ten long months, it feels like we are finally getting a taste of normalcy.  And boy, does it taste good!

Over the past month, I have boasted and bragged about how wonderful my little man has been doing, but I have to take a minute and also acknowledge all of you!  Everyone has been beyond gracious and supportive this past month, and words cannot ever express our deepest of gratitude.  From delicious meals...to cleaning our home...to the sweet comments on the blog from followers both old and new - we have definitely felt your love!  On the days that I have felt that I could no longer go on, all of you have been there to lift me up.  And on the days that I just want to dance and sing, all of you have been there to celebrate too.  I say it all the time, but this is not a journey that we have gone on alone.  Not in the least.  We have continuously felt the hand of God leading the way and have looked around to find the most amazing family, friends, medical staff, and so many more walking by our side.  It is pretty incredible to think that what started off as such an overwhelming and heart-wrenching situation has actually turned out to be the biggest blessing of our lives.  Just look at our little miracle boy today...

Posing.

Silly.

Perfect.

One month post-op.