A Succesful 1st Surgery!

Henry had his 1st surgery to repair his lip and nose on Friday, June 28th.  We are so happy to tell you that everything went perfectly and Henry has been such a little champ! 

 

Here is a brief recap of the past 48 hours...

At our hotel
 

Evening cruise in Palo Alto

The day before the surgery, we drove to Palo Alto and had a nice, relaxing evening. We even got to spend a little time by our hotel pool and a dinner walk downtown. 

 

Scott, Henry & Father Jones

 
 


On the morning of the surgery, we were very fortunate to have Father Vern Jones come

to our hotel room to give Henry his very

own blessing.  This was particularly special,

because Henry is now the 4th generation of family members to have know Father Jones, beginning with Kristin's nana.  He has been an Episcopal priest for 61 years and is very active in the Stanford community. 

 

Henry went in at noon, and the actual surgery took about 3 hours.  Following an anxious afternoon, Dr. Khosla came out to tell us he was very pleased with the outcome, calling the prognosis "great."  Soon after, we were able to go see Henry in the recovery room as he was waking up. 

 

His lip and nose were both repaired with remarkably only one incision, with the team creating a left nostril and pulling the lips together.  Henry's little face was swollen, but we were so happy with the incredible work they did!!  He will have plastic stints in his nose for 6 weeks to help keep the form of the nostrils.  The stitches and glue on his lip will dissolve on their own in about 10 days.  He also has little bands for his arms called "no no's" so he doesn't touch the stitches.  So far, he doesn't seem to mind them too much!

 

After recovery we were admitted in our overnight room.  The night after surgery was long as Henry was in noticeable pain and was trying to orient himself, just as expected after any procedure.  Thankfully, he took to his bottle almost right away, eating little by little and impressing the doctors and nurses (no surprise to us, the chunk is 15 lbs at 3 months)!  The day after his surgery, he is already looking more alert and able to handle the pain better with every hour. 

 

Hanging out with Dad in the hospital room

Taking a walk around our floor to get some fresh air

Because he resumed eating so well and began managing the pain without the IV, we were released from the hospital by noon the next day.  On our 4 hour drive home to Reno, Henry slept the entire way, not making one peep! 

 

A very warm welcome home from Noni and Aunt Pibby!
 

Little swollen Henry, happy to be home and in his swing!

We cannot begin to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you!  You represent Henry's closest family and friends, and his biggest fans. You are his cheering section, and you are our support team. 

 

THANK YOU for your interest,

your time,

your genuine concern,

your letters, emails & phone calls, 

your prayers,

and especially your love

...they made all the difference in the world for Team Henry!

 

 

2 months!

It's hard to believe that Henry is already 2 months old!  Since the day he was born he has been a great eater, taking perfectly to his special bottle - and it shows.  At his 2 month check-up, he weighed 13.1 pounds (90th percentile) and measured at 26 inches (98th percentile).  This is outstanding news because the doctors wanted him to be 10 pounds for his first surgery - and he still has 3 more weeks!  This has been an incredible blessing, as some cleft palate babies have to be tube fed just to keep on weight.  

Henry's first surgery is set for June 28th and will repair his lip and nose, the external elements known as the cleft lip.  This surgery will not correct the palate. We have been told that this first surgery will take about 2-3 hours and we only have to stay in the hospital for one night.  We go in Friday morning and if everything goes according to plan, God willing, we will get to come home on Saturday!  

Today in the mail, we received word from our new insurance company that he has been APPROVED for surgery at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford!!!  We went through months of ups and downs, and were starting to be resigned to other options.  This is truly an answered prayer, thanks be to God!  

The past 2 months with this little guy in our lives has been nothing short of wonderful.  Just in the last couple weeks he has started to make a lot of little baby talk noises, becoming more aware and has even begun smiling a lot.  While his eyes started at a blue/grey color, they are now turning more brown, just like his big brother.  Speaking of, William continues to love him more and more everyday.  When we go in to pick William up from preschool, William is so proud to show off his baby brother to his friends and dotes on him with lots of kisses.  To this day, William has not said one word about Henry's lip or nose, even while most of his friends ask questions about Henry's "broken lip."  The older brother is doing a great job protecting his little brother!  

Here are a couple of our favorites from Henry's newborn pictures:

And a couple more highlights from the last 2 months:

Henry on his 1 month birthday (left) and 2 month birthday (right)

Hello world...it's me, Henry.