Nick's Surgery: Coming Home!

Well, Itty Bitty Smitty decided it would be a good idea to hang out for another night and not come, which Nick and I both appreciated.  She is very obedient already.  I had some friends "on call" to take me to the hospital just in case something crazy happened, but I'm really glad we didn't have to go there!  Thanks for waiting, small one!

Today, Nick worked with a PT to get in and out of bed, sit in a chair, walk, and climb some stairs.  He got a little queasy walking up the stairs, but otherwise did GREAT!  He is standing straight again (which he hasn't been able to do for months), and there is no pain down his leg - all of the pain is centralized where the incision is.  He's now on the same amount of pain meds (percocet) as he was before we came in for surgery.  They said we could stay another night if we wanted to, but he would rather be home so they are discharging us this afternoon after he gets a good lunch and they can make sure he is still handling the pain meds/leftover anesthesia alright.

We had a lot of questions for the PT... like what Nick can and can't do, especially with the baby coming.  We had gotten the sense that the recovery would be a little tougher and more restrictive than we originally thought, but now we know it for sure.  He'll really need to lay low, walking only 10 minutes at a time at first.  He won't be able to lift things more than 7 lbs (about a gallon of milk) for about 6-8 weeks.  In real terms, this means he won't be able to get the baby in and out of the crib or put her down/lift her off the changing table.  We were grateful to hear that he'll be able to hold her though... someone will just need to bring her to him.  This is hard to grapple with, especially when imagining our parents no longer being around to help after a couple of weeks. 

BUT, with the pain he was feeling before, he really wasn't able to do much of this stuff anyway!  We are so glad that he will be able to be emotionally engaged and (hopefully) pain-free when our daughter comes.  We are so glad to hear that he can hold her, even if he can't pick her up.  We have a really good community around us, and we are finally getting to the point where we can humbly ask for help too :).

We have learned much in this process about trusting God, suffering, and marriage.  I'll probably blog a few of our lessons learned in the near future.  But for now, suffice it to say that He remains our "ever present help in trouble."