Surgery Success!!

Tuesday, March 24th Jackson had part of his spleen and gallbladder removed and all in all it has been a success. He was so strong and brave, I think it was harder on Zach and I to watch him get wheeled off into the operating room. Of course it helped that they had Jackson pretty doped up on drugs! I have to say, he was pretty funny and cute to watch! :-)

So at 9:00 a.m. they made their 1st incision, and the spleen was removed by 10:00 when they called down to us in the waiting room. At 10:00 they started on the gallbladder and that is a little tricker to remove, since there are so many valves that attach to other organs. By 11:00 they had called and said he was still doing great, but that it would be a little while longer....errrrr!! By 11:30, the surgeon called down to us and said everything was done and that Jackson was being moved to recovery!! I think those 2 1/2 hours were the longest 2 1/2 hours of Zach and my life!!!

Once we got to recovery, Jackson was already coming too and in allot of pain, it was hard to hold back the tears. We were in recovery for about an hour before they moved us to his room, where they continued him on heavy drugs and he slept on and off the rest of the day. We had a private room so that night both Zach and I were able to stay the night with him. On Wednesday, Zach stayed the day with him as I drove home to shower and spend some time with Max at Grandma's. Zach said Jackson was pretty sore and spent most of the day in bed. That night I headed back to UVA and Zach came home to get some sleep. I was able to get him to stand up and go to the bathroom on his own most of the night!! On Thursday, Jackson seemed to be doing so much better. He started to act silly and smile alot more and even walked down to the play area where he made some new friends. This was such a wonderful sight for both Zach and I to see and even cousin Kelly came for a visit and got to witness Jack at his silliest!! :-) That night the doctors said Jackson was doing great and we could go home in the morning, yippee!!!! Zach and I decided this was a good night for me to head home and get some much needed sleep in my own bed, Halejuhah !!! So Friday we headed home and I have to say Jackson is just doing fantastic! Kids certainly do bounce back pretty quick! He barely takes any pain medication and each day I see more and more energy coming back, it's so nice to see. We head back next week for a post surgery follow-up and hopefully from here on out, a once a year visit to UVA!!!

I want to thank everyone for all their support and prayers during this difficult time in our lives. You have no idea how much it meant to us, thank you, thank you!!!! I need to also send a big special Thank you to Mom O, for taking such good care of Max while all this was going on. It made life so much easier for me, to know that I didn't need to worry about Max because he was in good hands with someone who loves him very much, thanks Mom! :-)

So I thought I would share a few pictures of before surgery and after. :-)

Moving Right Along......

What a week we have had this week! First of all, it started out with Jackson crashing again and needing another blood transfusion on Monday. This is his 1st one this year, but 7th since he turned 3. Needless to say, we were really looking forward to what the doctors had to say when we meet with them on Thursday. Basically, we talked and decided to go ahead and set up surgery for this coming Tuesday, the 24th. Jackson has gallstones as well, so it seems he is just like his mama and will have both his spleen and gallbladder removed. Well, I should say 90% of his spleen will be removed. They are doing a partial splenectomy, leaving a little of the spleen to help him with his immune system in the future. With this proceedure though, he has to be cut open rather that laproscopic! This means a longer stay in the hospital, but better for him in the long run. We are nervous, yet anxious about the surgery. I know after all is said and done he's going to feel so much better, it's just hard watching your little guy go through this! Thank god for Mom O, Aunt Jeanette and Leah who have all offered to help with Max while we are at UVA. Max is such a trooper as well, he's a super easy kid. Give him his blanket, some food, a little Mickey Mouse and a place to nap and he's good! Of coarse it's going to be hard on this mama leaving her baby but I'll get through it, I have too! :-) I'll be sure to keep you all posted on how Jackson is doing next week! :-)

Disney Live!

So this weekend we took the boys to see Playhouse Disney Live and it was a hit! Both boys love Mickey Mouse (wonder where they get that from??) and they had such a good time seeing them up close. Although I have to say, both were a little disappointed they couldn't go up on stage to "see" them! We had great seats and it was just fun to watch their faces! :-)

In other news, we have Jackson going in for an ultrasound on his spleen and for us to meet the Surgeons on the 19th of this Month. Once we meet with them, we'll know when excactly his surgery will be. We will keep you posted on this as we find out more!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Well yesterday was my 33rd Birthday and needless to say, I am feeling a bit older these days! All in all it was a good day, here are some pictures of the boys and I and the cake they got for mommy! After our little party at home, Zach took me out to dinner to celebrate! It's always nice to get out on a date! :-) I also thought I would share some pictures of the boys in the bath, they love taking baths together! :-)

Max's Room!

Here a Few Pictures of Max's Room!

Winter Wonderland!

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks here! We finally got Maximillion moved into his new room this past weekend, but it has been a work in progress! I am so happy with how his room turned out and little Max settled in as if he had always been in this room! :-) He went right to sleep like nothing the very first night! The painters will be here this week starting on little miss Lola's room! I can't wait to get her nursery all together! I'll post pictures as soon as we are done!

In other news, Max is offically walking! He has been walking non-stop since the middle of last week and doing quite well I have to say! He loves to discover different rooms, with different flooring! Some soft with carpet, some with hardwood floors! It's fun to watch! Jackson has been doing really well, and we are meeting with Surgeons on the 19th of March to schedule a Splenactomy in early April! My baby boy is finally having his spleen removed with hopefully no further complications from his Spherocytosis!! We are relieved, but of course a little anxious and scared! All in all we know this is what he needs and he'll feel 100% better afterwards.

I'm feeling really big and getting really excited to meet this little girl! I had my sugar test last week and everything is good! Baby is doing great, weighing about 2.5 lbs at 29 weeks and I'm moving right along! My due date is officially the 17th of May. :-)

Check out these pictures of our winter wonderland! We received about 10 inches of snow overnight Monday! This is the first real snow fall I have seen here in Va, in the 5 years I have lived here! It was beautiful, but I'm ready for Spring!!! Zach took the Kayak out for the day and got a couple of beautiful pictures on the river:-)