Judah's MRI (body scan)

Just a quick update tonight before I will hopefully lay my head on the pillow and not wake up until morning...and I don't mean like 1 or 2 or 3 in the morning, not 4 or 5 either. 6:00 would be okay, but I'd prefer a little later than that, too.

(You're gonna be getting the slap happy tired Briana here, by the way.)

Overall, we experienced so much of God's grace. There were several times today that I looked at my son and thanked God for giving him to me. What a gift our Judah is to us. He teaches us so much about God and brings us so much joy seeing God's amazing grace on him.

The fasting thing all day was not easy, but it really could have gone so much worse. The kids and I walked down to our dear friends, the Grigers, for a "J" breakfast: Jello jigglers and juice! Not the breakfast of champions, but what ya gotta do when you've got to otherwise starve a 3 year old all day.

We made it through most of the morning with only a few pleas for lunch. Eventually, Lawrence took just Judah out to run some errands and to a playground so as to take his mind off his hunger and allow me time to get things together for the rest of the day.

We arrived at Hopkins on time at 2:30, our procedure scheduled for 3:00. Lawrence's sister works at the hospital, in fact on the very floor where Judah's procedure was going to take place. When she stopped by to pay a visit, Judah said to her, "I'm going to be brave a little and I'm going to cry a little". Improvement from just last Friday when he was resolved to only cry! That's remarkable growth in a short amount of time, if you ask me.

And, that's precisely what he did. He was supremely brave! He did not cry even when I took him back the hallway and into the procedure room. He just held tightly to me, and tried not to look anyone in the eye. He let me reassure him, though, and I sensed so much of God's grace in that moment, being able to impart courage to my little boy at the very same time God was imparting courage to my own heart.

He began to cry only when I had to place him on the table and put the mask on his face. He struggled quite a bit, longer than any other procedure/surgery I remember in the past. But, eventually, it knocked him out. And, at that point I know what I will hear next, "Mom, why don't you give him a kiss and we'll take it from here." So, that's what I did, on cue, just like I've done so many times before and walked out of the room, entrusting my son to the care of doctors, nurses and ultimately to God.

I had my "little cry" then, and Lawrence and I took Bella to grab something to eat and wait. Two hours later, my little man was being wheeled to recovery, everything having gone smoothly. He woke up quickly in recovery but was very cranky. I always feel badly for the others in the recovery room having to deal with the cranky kid, especially when it's mine. Of course, that's to be expected and somewhat out of his control, but I feel badly nevertheless.

Our seasoned nurse and mom of a 3 year old herself knew to pop in a movie as quickly as possible. Madagascar, provided some relief but what really motivated him to stop crying and start drinking his water was when I mentioned we'd go home as soon as he proved to his nurse that he was ready to go home. By now, he knows what that means.

Consequently, we were released rather quickly and with enough stickers in hand for Judah's entire Sunday school class, we headed to the car a little after 7 p.m. We were doing fine until we strapped Judah into his carseat and he threw up all over. Actually, I was grateful. I knew he had a lot of air trapped in his stomach, and figured throwing up would help get some of the anesthesia out, too. We called just to make sure and were told that indeed throwing up is a rather normal response to anesthesia, that as long as he didn't throw up continuously thru the night, he should be fine. Dehydration is the concern.

We arrived home, and just after I had placed Judah on the couch, he threw up again. It's now 10:15, and he's cleaned up and in bed. We're hoping he won't throw up anymore. Please pray to that end. Also, he was intubated for the procedure and as is typical, is experiencing some hoarseness in his throat. Intubation can be a tricky thing with asthmatics, but it seems Judah fared well enough today. The anesthesiologists were pleased with his response. Nevertheless, we are also praying that his airway will remain clear and 'un'-infected.

As always, thanks for praying and caring for us.