Back at Ronald McDonald House

Paul was in a room by 3pm yesterday afternoon. Again, it was hard to see him for the very first time following surgery, but I was better this go around. I felt more confident. This is the part that is hard to explain, but maybe you can understand. His mouth is all stitched up and perfect under the circumstances...but it still saddened me. Little Paul's mouth looks different. Well, duh. All I mean is that it was hard to see his new lip. I loved his old one. He does look different. But Carl reminded me that when the swelling goes down, it will look worlds better.

Paul was pretty miserable as you would expect...same ol' IV, wires and arm braces as before. He was mad about it all. I can't tell you how many times we sang Jingle Bells yesterday and today to help calm him through some rough spots. His greatest displeasure was, of course, being awakened every three hours and having the blood pressure cuff velcroed around his leg. It wasn't long before the nurses picked up on the magical powers of "Jingle Bells" and they soon began singing to him too. Dr. Kirschner's assistant visited us around 7am, followed by Dr. Kirschner around 8am. Carl told Dr. Kirschner that I was somewhat saddened by the change to Paul's look and Dr. Kirschner said such a sweet thing. He said, 'Yeah, before I began surgery I said to the nurses, "I sure hate to sew him up because he just looks so darn cute as he is." He captured my feelings precisely! Dr. Kirschner told us that Paul has a wonderful disposition and that he so looks forward to watching him grow up. We talked for a while longer and I have to say this once again...WE ARE SO GLAD WE CHOSE DR KIRSCHNER TO BE PAUL'S SURGEON!! Thank you, Lisa and Greg!!!

We were released from the hospital at 11am. Just before we were released, Steve Weiler stopped in for a visit. He was thrilled to see Paul up and running around. And he thought Paul looked great. Once again, we are touched by the kindness of the Weiler family and are so grateful for these wonderful new friends.

Except for supper, we were in the car all day giving Paul time to sleep. Bernie got to Columbus at 1pm, so he drove around with us for most of that time before he had to meet his friends for supper. At the restaurant tonight we ran into the speech therapist who is consulting with us at Nationwide and we had a nice visit with her. She has gone above and beyond to help us and it was nice running into her tonight!!

I'm sitting in the dark typing as Carl is trying to put Paul to bed. Little man is rooting around in his crib like a little pig. He can't get comfortable. I think my turn to try putting him asleep is approaching. So that's all for now.

Thank you for being a part of this with us.