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."  

Things That Make Us Laugh: I'm on a Horse....

On a lighter note...

This makes us crack up laughing every time we see it... Have you seen this?!

Nick's Surgery

Thank you to so many of you for praying for Nick's surgery today... and also for all of your e-mails, phone calls, and texts.  We arrived at the hospital around noon, Nick went into pre-op around 1:15, his surgery lasted from 3 to 5, and he was in recovery until about 7.  I didn't get to see him until after he came out of recovery, so I was just chilling in the waiting room for about 5 hours.  It was a really strange feeling - kind of scary - when I knew that Nick was actually in the surgery.  I hadn't been worried until that moment, knowing that it was all completely out of my control.
  

Pre-surgery "johnny" hotness:

 

The doctor came down and talked to me after the surgery, and said that Nick had a "large disc protrusion" that was pressing against the nerve, and that he was able to remove it.  He also said he was doing fine.  I had to wait a few hours while they closed out the surgery and Nick was in recovery (I wish I had gotten to see him when he was loopy/in recovery, because that would have made for some funny moments, but alas, I did not).  

I finally got to come up to see Nick around 7, and was honestly kind of shocked by all the tubes and at how serious things looked.  He has tubes for oxygen and tubes for the pain meds and things on his legs that help with circulation and let off a "hiss hiss" sound every few minutes.  We're not sure if everything "worked" in terms of the sciatic nerve because he's still on pain meds, but we're very hopeful.  Our biggest fear is that it doesn't work - simply because we won't know what to do about the pain if it doesn't.  

Post-surgery "tubey" hotness

I just learned that I won't get to spend the night at the hospital with Nick after all, which is a really big bummer.  So, I'll probably head up to my apt. around 9:30 or so and come back tomorrow morning.  The nurse (who is very nice!) said that he would be here until sometime in the afternoon. 

Please do keep praying for Nick's recovery.  Seeing him makes me worried that it might be rougher than we thought, but then again he's just out of surgery.  And pray for little girl Smith to arrive at just the right time (which is hopefully not tonight! yikes!).  God is good, He is in control, and we trust in Him.