Last night was great as Jack was able to sleep in his own bed and he slept like a rock from 7:30pm to 7:00am! He hasn't complained about any pain this morning - and seems to be getting back to his old sweet (non-whiney) self. It definitely felt SOOOO good to sleep in my own bed last night too! (being pregnant with twins and trying to curl up at the foot of Jack's bed was not much fun!)
It was good to be back with our Anna Grace too- we REALLY missed her- and Jack had been asking about her a lot more than I thought he would. I let them talk on the phone once and AG got really upset and cried her eyes out. This was the first time they have been apart for any length of time at all. :(
Last night was my first time using the distraction device- which has actually turned out to be less scary now that I know that it doesn't hurt him. (also, I figured that if I can stick an ng tube up his nose and push it into his stomach for the first 7 months of his life, I can turn this screw in his head!)
What the surgery consisted of was going in and breaking his jaw - then they attached screws to both bones. They they attached a very small screw that is protruding out from behind his ear. Every day I will turn this screw 1/2 mm twice a day (roughly the size of the side of a quarter each day) for 3 weeks to slowly extend the underdeveloped side of his jaw. They will then leave the screws for another 3 weeks to make sure that the skin has stretched enough not to pull the chin back into the original place. There is a high risk of infection since there is an "open" wound, but he will be on antibiotics daily (every 8 hours actually!) and I have to clean it several times a day so as long as we stay on top of this he should be fine. Well, that and making sure my active 3 year old nor his twin sister (or the kids are preschool!) don't hit or mess with the protruding device.
In spite of the swelling and bruising, I can see the changes already. I know the changes are so subtle that only I would really notice- but they are there! Like last night Jack was laying on the sofa looking at a book and his "relaxed face" had his lips touching- something that required an effort before!
Thank you again to all our friends and family for your prayers, thoughts and concerns! We made it through the hardest part of this ordeal - YAY!
Jack with his Grandma!
Jack and his new dinosaur toys!
To keep things together we stuck all of his new dinosaurs and sea creatures in his bath bucket.
Jack and one of his puzzles. He is only 3 but does puzzles of 100+ pieces for ages 5 and up. I have so many because he can put them together FAST!
Jack coloring in his new dinosaur coloring book that was in his basket of goodies from our small group.
Leaving CHOA- yay!
Relaxing on the sofa at home. Notice his relaxed face- lips closed!!!
