Rowan's Status

Just wanted to update everyone on our little man's surgery status. In Rowan's first surgery they checked to see what condition all his intestines were in and were going to try and place them all back inside his body if all was good. After all was said and done, the Surgeon came to our room and told us how it went. She explained that they found that his intestines were not connected to his stomach so everything that he was taking in was just filling up in his gut and staying there because there was no exit. This made it very swollen and the intestines very small since they were not being used. Also, from being inside the aminotic fluid they are matted together so the geometry of the situation made so that they couldn't get it all back in. So, instead they put his intestines in his silo to get them to come apart and go back in on their own (with a little bit of help from the doctors). So over the past two days he has been in the NICU being kept on morphine so he doesn't feel any pain and gets plenty of rest. The nurses tell us that about half of the intestines have gone back in already, so he should be ready for surgery on Thursday or Friday of this week. They will then put the rest back in, and will put out one intestine that isn't connected to the stomach. It is called a stroma. This section is very swollen, so they do not want to connect it to the rest until it is the same size, otherwise it will cause complications. Once Rowan has recovered from that surgery, we will be able to take him home. He will still be on an IV, but it will be going straight into his heart, and we will be taught how to care for it. We will also help to change the bags over the stroma, where everything will be draining from. They told us he'll even be able to wear real clothes! They'll have to be a bit big on him and be button up, but that is better than nothing! We will have him at home for 2-3 months before he will come back for his final surgery to connect the stroma to his stomach. Then our baby boy will be home for good!

He's been doing wonderfully so far. He's a strong boy and has done so well with the surgery and dealing with all of the tubes. He can hear/tell when we are with him, as he always starts to stir and try to open his eyes to get a good look at his Mommy and Daddy. So when they are trying to let him rest, we will whisper so we don't disturb him. We had a great visit with him last night around midnight, where he was awake the whole time, looking at us and trying to move around. It was great to see him awake and doing so well. We both love him so much! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and concern for our handsome little man. We know it helps and that Heavenly Father is watching over him. :)